Ronnie Bunch III, secretary who has led the Smithsonian Institution, the largest museum and research organization in the United States, will resign. The Donald Trump administration has criticized the institution's exhibitions and scholarly work as "anti-American ideology" and has kept up the pressure.
On the 8th (local time), Secretary Bunch said in a news release, "I spent nearly half my life working at the Smithsonian and being part of the Smithsonian family, and it has truly been a great honor."
Secretary Bunch will serve through the end of this year. The institution plans to announce an acting secretary before then and begin an open recruitment process to select a successor.
Joining the Smithsonian in 1978, Secretary Bunch worked as a curator at the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History. He then served for 14 years as director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and in June 2019 took office as the Smithsonian's first African American secretary.
He stood at the center of the history and culture debates led by the second Trump administration. President Trump in March last year signed an executive order directing museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo under the Smithsonian to eliminate "anti-American ideology" deemed inappropriate or socially divisive.
President Trump argued that the Smithsonian's exhibitions and scholarly work tilted toward "political correctness" opposing discrimination against racial and sexual minorities and toward diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies. He continued to criticize the institution and its affiliates afterward.
The White House Domestic Policy Council on July 4, the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, released a report titled "Saving American History." The report criticized the National Museum of American History for promoting a distorted view of history and inappropriate ideology, arguing, "Museums should teach the history of the American nation that we can be fond of and pass on to future generations."
After the report's release, President Trump ordered temporary signs to be installed around the museum. The intent was to note that the exhibits were inaccurate and to provide accurate information about American history.
The Associated Press said Bunch's resignation was announced two months after the White House report labeled Smithsonian leadership and officials at the Museum of American History as untrustworthy radical activists.
It added that "it suggests Trump may be preparing to fill the institution's next leadership with his own people."
The Smithsonian, the world's largest museum institution, operates 21 museums, 14 education and research centers, and the National Zoo centered in Washington, D.C. Its operating funds are covered by federal government subsidies and private donations.