AHA executive director Sarah Weicksel reiterated the Association’s support for the Smithsonian in news coverage of the White House Domestic Policy Council’s recent report, which undermined the independence of the National Museum of American History. Political interference in curatorial work, she told Straight Arrow News, “places at risk the integrity and accuracy of historical interpretation.” In an interview with ABC News, she emphasized that “history is under attack right now, and we [historians] are seeing our expertise devalued in the public sphere,” and questioned the report’s claims that the museum neglects the nation’s founding and its founders in the New York Times.
Weicksel also spoke about the impacts of underfunding the National Archives and Records Administration in a Block Club Chicago article on the planned closure of NARA’s Chicago facility.
Director of teaching and learning Brendan Gillis also spoke about historical integrity in an interview with New England Public Media about the importance of caution and vigilance around AI-generated historical content.