Smithsonian secretary says it helps America understand itself

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G Bunch answering questions from the audience about his new book “A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama and Trump" at the National Press Club. Photo: Victoria Gaither

 

Lonnie G. Bunch III, the new Smithsonian Institution secretary, sees its network of 19 museums, 21 libraries, 9 research centers, a TV channel, magazine, and National Zoo, as an “educational engine” that helps America “see itself through many different lenses.”

Introducing the Smithsonian’s first historian and African-American CEO at the National Press Club Headliners event Monday, former Club President Jeff Ballou asked about Bunch's latest book, “A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama and Trump” and the Smithsonian’s mission and challenges.

“The Smithsonian has always been a place of possibility,” he said, a place for the public and schools everywhere to understand our history and see a reflection of the world we live in. The challenge for the Smithsonian is to both listen and lead.

“It needs to lead the way to help American understand itself," Bunch said.

According to this historian of the 19th century, museums often give simple answers to complex questions” while he sees ambiguity, nuance and complexity.

“I want the right tension between tradition and innovation”—reveling in our past but never held captive by it, he told the large audience.

Here are some challenges the 14th Smithsonian secretary faces: Figuring out how the Smithsonian is a 21st Century institution. Ensuring it is the trusted source. Attracting younger and diverse new audiences. Using every platform to reach every school and home through the virtual Smithsonian. Being a better collaborator and helping transform education and schools to do a better job.

Bunch made his first visit to the Smithsonian as a 10-year-old boy fascinated by the Civil War. His dad told him: “Here’s a place where you can understand yourself and your country and not be worried by the color of your skin.”   Bunch told the audience, “I wanted to give back to those institutions that shaped everything I am.” 

When creating the nation’s first museum of African-American History, he found opponents and skeptics. But since it opened on the Washington Mall in 2016, it has drawn more than 6 million visitors. There’s “something really powerful” about people clamoring to get into a museum, he said, ready to explore difficult topics.

“The story of black America is the quintessential American story,” Bunch said.  “Seventy percent of the [museum’s] artifacts came out of the basements, trunks and attics in people’s homes.”

Working collaboratively beyond the United States is important to him. It’s 50 percent ad hoc, he said, but must be mission-driven. He reports that the African-American museum’s creation has encouraged the Netherlands to explore the Dutch role in the slave trade.

He has no plans to remove the Freer-Sackler name from the largest collection of Asian art in the world. It’s about a contractual agreement the Smithsonian had and the long relationship with donors that he respects. He is also committed to keeping Smithsonian museums free.

Building maintenance, construction and backlogs are other obvious challenges as is the “chasm” between the central administration and the museums. “It’s important to recognize that you can’t create the new Smithsonian if you don’t fix the internal processes,” he said.

Ballou asked about his constant acknowledgment of his staff’s work, and Bunch said that was what made him the proudest--his relationships with them.  He sees himself as an education secretary: “I am so committed to education and outreach, maybe because I’m the son of two teachers.”