The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is marking the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with a temporary presentation of artifacts from New York, the Pentagon and the Flight 93 crash site. The display is scheduled to remain open through Saturday, according to The Associated Press.
A collecting mandate behind the display
Congress directed the museum in 2002 to preserve material connected to the attacks. Curators began acquiring objects from the three major crash sites within months, and the institution has since rotated portions of the collection through its galleries, according to PBS. The museum has previously presented related material on uncovered tables, including during a 10-day commemoration in September 2011, Smithsonian Magazine reported.
The current presentation uses open tables rather than enclosed cases, bringing together objects connected to the three crash sites. Among them are material from United Airlines Flight 93, the telephone associated with Barbara Olson’s call to her husband, then-Solicitor General Ted Olson, and personal belongings recovered at the World Trade Center, according to KXAN’s report of the AP story.
The institution’s separate political dispute
The exhibit arrives amid a separate dispute over how the Smithsonian presents American history. President Trump and congressional Republicans have criticized the institution, while the House Oversight Committee has said it is examining what it describes as the National Museum of American History’s agenda. Director Anthea Hartig defended the museum’s effort to document American life neutrally, and historians warned against political pressure to revise historical interpretation, according to the House Oversight Committee and KXAN.
The dispute has included a presidential order directing the Interior Department to install warning signs near the National Museum of American History, although the signs had not been placed in front of the museum. The Interior Department also sent the Smithsonian a letter in August concerning its leadership and institutional approach, according to Al Jazeera.
The Smithsonian’s federal funding
The Smithsonian’s funding structure helps explain why congressional scrutiny matters to its museums. According to the Smithsonian Institution’s fiscal 2025 financial report, approximately two-thirds of the institution’s funding comes from the federal government. The institution said its final federal appropriation for fiscal year 2024, which began Oct. 1, 2023, was $1.09 billion, according to the Smithsonian.
Bunch to leave at year’s end
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch said he plans to step down at the end of the year. He became the institution’s first Black secretary when he was appointed in 2019, after serving as director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Al Jazeera reported. The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents will select his successor.
