How the Smithsonian Became the Latest Front in Trump’s Culture War

The original Star-Spangled Banner, seen in 1969 at what was then the National Museum of History and Technology, now called the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History Smithsonian Institution Archives In November 2021, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History opened an exhibit called “The Electric Dr. Franklin,” describing “Benjamin Franklin’s pioneering contributions to electrical science.” The exhibit explained that, prior to becoming an abolitionist, he had enslaved people in his household. “Benjamin Franklin’s remarkable scientific accomplishments were, in part, enabled by slavery,” it declared. The exhibit speculated that Franklin may have used enslaved people in his electrical research.