Smithsonian National Museum of American History Director Anthea Hartig recently faced intense questioning from lawmakers during two Capitol Hill hearings. The hearings followed a White House Domestic Policy Council report accusing the museum of using taxpayer dollars to advance a radical activist ideology.

Concerns Over Exhibits

During a House hearing, Heritage Foundation expert Mike Gonzalez testified that a multiyear special exhibit titled ‘The Electric Dr. Franklin’ included a display that pondered whether Benjamin Franklin had ever done experiments on indentured servants or slaves. Gonzalez testified that the display included this suggestion without producing any evidence whatsoever, which he called ‘shocking’.

Rep. Brian Jack, R-Ga., confronted Hartig, asking if she had any regrets about the exhibits displayed during her tenure. Hartig answered that she was incredibly proud of the work they’ve done, but acknowledged that they are imperfect and have made mistakes. However, she stated that she didn’t have any regrets.

Response to Criticism

Hartig became director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in February 2019. The Benjamin Franklin exhibit opened to the public in 2021 and remained on display through 2025. The museum currently has a webpage containing expanded material from the exhibit, which states that researchers used people as conductors to determine how far an electrical charge might travel, and that Franklin wrote about experiments in which he took shocks and used family and friends in these ways.

A sweeping new White House report concluded that the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History has become a taxpayer-backed institution of ideological capture and extreme political activism. The report stated that the museum treats the American story as a political tool rather than a shared national inheritance.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.