#smithsonian

#smithsonian

In a new letter, the Trump White House has reignited its threat to pull funding from the Smithsonian Institution amid a probe of the federally funded organization's programming, budgets, and forthcoming commemorations for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. Dated December 18, the letter addressed to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III underscored that the institution has yet to provide the majority of the documents requested in August, including "current exhibition descriptions, draft plans for upcoming shows, upcoming programming materials, and internal guidelines used in exhibition development."

I didn't listen to my family as a child when they told me to avoid becoming the bearer of bad news. As part of Hyperallergic's News Team, I've spent much of the last year writing about the impact of President Trump's policies on the most cherished arts and cultural organizations in the United States, including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

EMBARGOED for 9/22: Two historians have spearheaded an effort to document everything in the Smithsonian before the Trump Administration makes any changes.