Museum Censorship
Artist Unknown
Digital Print, 2011
Los Angeles, CA
102924
The Biden-appointed Archivist of the United States, Dr. Colleen Shogan, has been accused of censoring exhibitions at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C. These claims came out in a Wall Street Journal report where nearly a dozen former or current museum employees revealed that Dr. Shogun and her team ordered the removal of objects and details from displays. This was done allegedly to avoid angering Republican legislators and prevent visitors from feeling "confronted." All this was BEFORE the election!
Some of the removed objects were inside an interactive photobooth, where Dr. Shogan’s senior staff ordered the planned photos of Civil Rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Dolores Huerta to be replaced with photos of Ronald Reagan with baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr. and Richard Nixon meeting Elvis Presley. Staff explained that they were hesitant to feature historical figures that visitors would not recognize—a staffer on Shogan’s team had suggested that people would not recognize Martin Luther King Jr. All the more reason to include him!!!
Left: "I Have a Dream" Bruce McGaw Graphics. Offset, 1997, Santa Cruz, CA, 9874
Right: Si, Se Puede! Jos Sances. Silkscreen, 1990, San Francisco, CA, 2283
Additional efforts to sanitize history were made in a display about Indigenous land displacement by white settlers during the 19th century. Details referencing Indigenous land displacement were removed after Dr. Shogan was reported to have asked staff, “Why is it so much about Indians?”
Another exhibit highlighting the abolition of slavery and the women’s suffrage movement was dramatically edited because it cast the Founding Fathers in a negative light. Other documents and testimonies revealed that Dr. Shogan and her team ordered museum staff to remove Dorothea Lange’s photographs of Japanese-American concentration camps claiming they were “too negative and controversial.”
Left: Big Mountain. Artist Unknown. Offset, Circa 1986, Denmark, 58499
Right: Justice Now! Reparations Now! James Kodani. Little Tokyo Art Workshop. Little Tokyo Peoples Right Organization. Silkscreen, 1981, Los Angeles, CA, 3084
Since her appointment in 2022, Dr. Shogan has faced criticism from Republican legislators alleging that she had a liberal bias based on her social media presence and past academic work. While this criticism might have influenced her decision to omit and sanitize history in the exhibitions at the National Archives Museum, it does not excuse her and her team's decision to “obey in advance” of the incoming administration and pander to right-wing politicians and audiences who may feel threatened by the holistic and accurate telling of U.S. history.
CSPG’s Posters of the week are examples of posters that could be censored because they tell challenging stories.
In positive news, a bill that would have given the incoming Trump administration the power to shut down 501 (c)(3) nonprofits failed in the House of Representatives this Tuesday. The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act would have given the Secretary of the Treasury the power to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit they deem to be “terrorist supporting,” with no requirement to provide an explanation or evidence.
This would mean the targeted nonprofits would not be able to accept donations, and many donors would likely cease supporting them. Advocates for civil liberties worried that this bill was created specifically to target pro-Palestinian groups, since it is already illegal under U.S. law to support terrorism, making this bill redundant and a politically motivated attempt to make nonprofits fear speaking out for Palestinian human rights.
145 Democrats and one Republican voted against the bill, barely preventing it from reaching the ⅔ majority needed to pass. 51 democrats, including Adam Schiff of California voted alongside 204 Republicans in favor of the bill, a massive betrayal of his constituents!
While for the moment this is a relief for non-profit organizations, the incoming Trump administration continues to threaten organizations which critique government policies and depend on their tax exempt status – like CSPG! It is more vital than ever for organizations to hold the government accountable, and retain their free speech rights!
"Don't Mourn, Organize!"
- Joe Hill (1878-1915), labor organizer and songwriter
References: