Heritage Foundation Legal Scholar Demands Smithsonian Leadership Removal Over Museum’s Historical Narrative

A senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation is pushing for sweeping personnel changes at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, contending the institution has adopted a darkly framed interpretation of the nation’s past. Cully Stimson, who previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that the museum reflects what he characterizes as a coordinated leftist effort to reshape how Americans understand their own history through an oppressor-oppressed framework.

Stimson’s remarks follow a July 2026 White House report that alleged the Smithsonian has promoted diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives alongside ideological agendas. The criticism sparked two congressional hearings during which National Museum of American History Director Anthea Hartig faced intense questioning from lawmakers about whether political activism has infiltrated museum exhibits. Hartig defended the institution as politically neutral and stated it does not align with any partisan position in American political debates.

During testimony before Congress, Stimson argued, Hartig displayed “smug and self-righteous” conduct that demonstrated contempt for the American public and legislative oversight. He asserted she should have been dismissed immediately following the hearing and suggested the museum requires a complete institutional reconstruction to address what he called “bile” masquerading as historical education.

Stimson criticized specific exhibits unveiled during July’s 250th anniversary celebrations, claiming visitors encountered sexually explicit material and displays that emphasized the Founding Fathers’ connection to slavery rather than their constitutional contributions. He contended the museum lacks substantive sections dedicated to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the Reconstruction Amendments, instead prioritizing what he termed “flagellation and self-loathing” rather than national celebration.

The Heritage Foundation scholar rejected Democratic characterizations that Republican criticism amounts to historical revisionism. He emphasized that acknowledging darker chapters of American history does not require rejecting national pride, noting that civilizations across human experience have confronted slavery without defining themselves entirely through that experience.

Stimson indicated the ideological approach extends beyond museums into higher education, secondary schools and elementary institutions across the country. He referenced the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for parental awareness of classroom content, crediting homeschooling growth and school choice expansion to parents’ desire to control their children’s historical instruction themselves.