From this Morning's Washington Post:


Smithsonian Benefactor Cancels $38 Million Gift

By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 5, 2002; Page A01

Local businesswoman Catherine B. Reynolds told the Smithsonian Institution yesterday that she will withdraw most of a planned $38 million donation that would have created an exhibit on individual achievement at the National Museum of American History.

"Never in our wildest dreams did we anticipate that the notion of inspiring young people by telling the stories of prominent Americans from all disciplines would be so controversial," Reynolds wrote in a letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small.

The gift, announced last May, was supposed to create a 10,000-square-foot hall of achievement that would feature the life stories of eminent Americans. In announcing the plans, Reynolds suggested the hall could feature Nobel laureates and Medal of Honor winners, as well as people such as AOL Time Warner Chairman Steve Case, entrepreneur Martha Stewart, civil rights activist Coretta Scott King, skater Dorothy Hamill and newsman Sam Donaldson.

The idea immediately drew loud and sustained criticism from curators at the museum. They questioned Reynolds's close involvement in the development of a museum presentation and said the Smithsonian hierarchy was putting fundraising ahead of scholarly integrity. They attacked the planned emphasis on famous individuals instead of focusing on demographic groups or ordinary Americans. They worried about the exhibit's connection to the American Academy of Achievement, a little-known organization run by Reynolds's husband, Wayne, that organizes an annual gathering that brings together dozens of "superachievers" with hundreds of high school students.

Reynolds said yesterday that such criticism was the prime reason she had changed her mind about the donation.

"Apparently, the basic philosophy for the exhibit -- 'the power of the individual to make a difference' -- is the antithesis of that espoused by many within the Smithsonian bureaucracy, which is 'only movements and institutions make a difference, not individuals.' After much contemplation, I see no way to reconcile these diametrically opposed philosophical viewpoints," she said.

Small could not be reached for comment last night. Smithsonian officials had maintained throughout the eight months of increasingly strident debate that they would maintain final say over the nature of the exhibit. That sentiment was repeated yesterday in a statement by Marc Pachter, acting director of the American History Museum.

"We are disappointed that the Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation has decided to withdraw from this project, which was being developed in strict accordance with Smithsonian standards," he said.

Officials at the Smithsonian said Reynolds had already given one installment of her pledge, although the precise amount could not be determined last night.

The debate over the Reynolds donation played out against a backdrop of concern over the power of private contributors to define the contents and appearance of the country's premier public museum complex. The Smithsonian receives 70 percent of its budget from the federal government, but that doesn't make much of a dent in its $1 billion backlog in building renovations, much less address the need for reworking major standing exhibits.

Small has emphasized the need to raise private money for the Smithsonian, and he has been a successful fundraiser, bringing in more than $300 million in the past three years. American History has received $40 million from the family of inventor Jerome Lemelson for an inventors' center and $80 million from businessman Kenneth E. Behring for modernization of the building and exhibits.

At the same time, Small has alienated Smithsonian scientists with a proposal to reorganize the nature of its scientific research. In particular, a suggestion to close a Front Royal, Va., research facility run by the National Zoo drew vociferous criticism from members of Congress and scientists around the world. The idea was later dropped, and a blue-ribbon commission is examining the direction of research at the Smithsonian.

Reynolds, in her letter, lamented that the criticism had damaged Small's efforts to attract private contributions. "This outcome is especially regrettable as our arrangement would have been a sterling example of the kind of private-public partnership that enables institutions like the Smithsonian to modernize and grow for the benefit of the public," she said.

With her gift to the Smithsonian last year, Reynolds also stepped forward as a major donor to Washington arts organizations. In an interview at the time, she said she wanted to give to cultural groups to increase exposure to the arts for greater numbers of residents. In December, she chaired the annual ball for the National Symphony Orchestra and raised the bar for such events with her celebrity lineup and underwriting. The next day the Kennedy Center announced she had donated $10 million for a series of productions that the center would choose.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company


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Matthew White
Director, Hands-On Science Center
Smithsonian
National Museum of American History
Behring Center
14th Street and Constition Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20560-0646
202/786-2307
FAX:202/357-3328
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