Smithsonian Abandons Education for Radical Activism, Expert Confirms After Shocking Museum Visit

The National Museum of American History has completely abandoned its educational mission and transformed into an indoctrination center for left-wing political activism, according to a prominent historian who recently visited the institution for the first time in over a decade.

Dr. Jody Edward Ginn pulled no punches in his assessment after traveling from Texas specifically to investigate mounting complaints from the Trump administration and congressional Republicans about the museum’s radical transformation.

“It’s a completely different place than when I was there in 2012,” Dr. Ginn declared. “Its mission is clearly exactly what they changed it to be. It is a museum for activism. They use history, but that’s kind of the problem. These folks aren’t scholars anymore. They’re activists.”

The Activist Agenda Becomes Crystal Clear

The transformation hit Ginn immediately upon entering the building. What was once America’s premier institution for presenting our national story has become something unrecognizable—a propaganda mill designed to push visitors toward predetermined political conclusions rather than allowing them to think independently.

“From the moment I walked in, it’s a very different experience,” Ginn explained. The museum now seeks to “specifically direct” visitors “to action” rather than provide information that allows Americans to “make their own decisions.”

This represents a fundamental betrayal of the museum’s core purpose. “It became this goal, their own stated goal, to turn museums from institutions of education, of public education, into institutions to encourage activism, which could also be said to indoctrinate,” Ginn stated.

Lies of Commission and Omission

The problems extend far beyond political bias. Ginn discovered “factually incorrect information” scattered throughout multiple exhibits. But the real deception lies in what the museum deliberately conceals from visitors.

“The biggest problem is in what they leave out,” he emphasized.

This selective presentation of history—carefully curated to support a left-wing narrative while suppressing inconvenient truths—represents the worst kind of academic dishonesty. It’s not scholarship. It’s propaganda.

Sexually Explicit Content Has No Place in a Family Museum

Perhaps most disturbing are the museum’s “graphic” and sexually explicit exhibits that have no business being displayed in an institution frequented by children and families.

“These are geared towards all ages,” Ginn noted with obvious concern. “Why would you do that? All of that’s out of sync with what museums were just a few years ago.”

During a recent House hearing, lawmakers confronted National Museum of American History Director Anthea Hartig about the exhibit titled “Illegal to Be You: Gay History Beyond Stonewall,” which featured a bondage harness and other sexually explicit materials.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., didn’t mince words: “You have pictures of bondage, you have some overtly sexual things up there, you have transgender folks.”

These displays have nothing to do with educating Americans about their history. They exist solely to normalize radical sexual ideology and push it on impressioned young visitors.

The Ideology Behind the Madness

The museum’s corruption didn’t happen by accident. Lawmakers questioned Hartig about the 2017 MASS Action Toolkit, a guide for museum professionals that references the Ferguson, Missouri, police shooting and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests while describing “objectivity” as a characteristic of “white supremacy culture.”

Read that again. The Smithsonian—America’s premier museum system—has officially adopted materials claiming that objective truth itself represents white supremacy.

This isn’t education. It’s ideological warfare against Western civilization itself.

A Director Who Won’t Own Her Agenda

Ginn found Hartig’s congressional testimony “very disappointing” and noted it did not represent “a scholarly presentation whatsoever.”

“If that’s the kind of museum you’ve been approved to run, then just own it,” he said. “Don’t say you’re being unbiased when it’s really evident.”

But Hartig persists in claiming neutrality while pushing an overtly political agenda. She criticized the museum for maintaining that it hasn’t taken a side, noting its revised mission statement “changed the purpose of that museum.”

The smoking gun came in a 2024 presentation to college students, when Hartig explained the museum removed the mention of “American history” from its mission statement because it was “hard to get out of the ‘America First’ mentality.”

There it is. The director of the National Museum of American History believes prioritizing American history represents a problem that needed solving.

That’s not just bias. That’s hostility toward the very nation the museum exists to serve.

A Profession-Wide Cancer

Ginn emphasized that the Smithsonian’s corruption represents a much larger problem. His visit confirmed what he described as a “massive shift” in the museum profession, with the Smithsonian serving as “the highest-profile symptom of a process that’s been going on for some time.”

“It is my opinion as a public historian that the mission we’ve always had is to educate the public and provide scholarly information,” he said. “To me, that’s what the National Museum of American History should be.”

But that’s not what it is anymore.

The Path Forward Requires Total Transformation

The good news? Ginn believes the problem can be fixed. The bad news? It won’t be easy.

“You’re going to have to put in new people who are committed to scholarly standards and non-politicized educational programming,” he explained. “These people have bought into it, hook, line and sinker.”

The current staff has demonstrated zero commitment to actual scholarship or educational integrity. They’ve embraced radical activism completely and will not voluntarily return to the museum’s original mission.

That means wholesale personnel changes. New leadership. New curators. New historians committed to truth rather than ideology.

America Deserves Better

The National Museum of American History belongs to the American people. It exists to preserve and present our national story—the triumphs and failures, the heroes and villains, the complexity and grandeur of the American experiment.

Instead, it has become a weapon wielded against traditional American values by left-wing activists masquerading as scholars.

The Trump administration recognized this problem and began taking action. Congress is investigating. And experts like Dr. Ginn are documenting the corruption for all Americans to see.

The Smithsonian Institution receives substantial taxpayer funding. Americans have every right to demand that their money not be used to indoctrinate their children with radical political ideology disguised as history.

The question now is whether our leaders have the courage to clean house and restore these vital institutions to their proper purpose—or whether they’ll allow the activists to continue their ideological conquest of America’s cultural heritage.

Based on what Dr. Ginn witnessed, half-measures won’t cut it. This requires a complete restoration of scholarly standards and a return to the fundamental mission of education over activism.

America’s history is worth preserving honestly. Our children deserve to learn it accurately. And the Smithsonian needs to remember that it serves the American people—not a radical political agenda.