If the label was changed due to political strong-arming, I would object
to that. However, after reading the article, including the letter to
Senator Sanders from the Martin Sullivan, Director of the U.S. National
Portrait Gallery, it appears as though the original label was conveying
a message that the Portrait Gallery did not intend, and that the
re-writing was to clarify the Gallery's intended message. It's a bit
troubling that the request to reconsider the text comes from a Senator,
but really, Senators are part of the public as well--I'd like to think
the Portrait Gallery would be as responsive to any of their visitors
pointing out misleading text in any of their labels. I am surprised,
though, that such a gaff would have gotten through the Portrait
Gallery's review process--we wouldn't let ambiguous text like this
through in any of our labeling, and we're no where near the scale of a
U.S. National museum....
Of course, Sullivan's response might be a "cover story;" that the
label really was intended to link the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to 9/11,
and that it was changed due to political pressure. In such case, it is
incredibly sad and distressing (though, I guess, not surprising--at
least, not to this outside observer) that the U.S. national institutions
are not entitled to free speech. And, more disturbing than changing the
text, is Sullivan's lack of support for his staff.
------------------------------------------------------------
Tim McShane, Assistant--Cultural History
Esplanade Museum
401 First Street SE
Medicine Hat, AB T1A 8W2
Tel: (403) 502-8587
[log in to unmask]
>>> Richard Fields <[log in to unmask]> 1/14/2009 10:01 AM >>>
Here's something that is in the news that is interesting to the museum
community. The plaque for President Bush's portrait in the National
Gallery currently reads " *Expecting that the success of his
presidency would hinge, as it had when he was governor, on his
negotiating skills and ability to solve problems, Bush found his two
terms in office were instead marked by a series of catastrophic events:
the attacks on September 11, 2001, that led to wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq; the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina; and a financial
crisis during his last months in office.*
Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont complained that the wording linked
the September 11 attacks to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and
requested the wording be changed. The Gallery's Director, Martin
Sullivan has agreed to change the wording, removing the words "Led to."
National Gallery Historians wrote the words used on the plaque.
What bothers me here is the direct intervention of a US Senator in
wording of a display at the Smithsonian. I realize there have been other
dust ups in the past, for example, the Enola Gay exhibit, but this just
kind of slipped under the wire. Does this bother anyone besides me? For
an article on the change see
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=41859.
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