Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian, did not set out to make the exhibit “American Aspirations” his swan song.
But he said on Thursday that his organizing of an exhibition that honors America’s 250th anniversary could well be among his final acts as secretary.
“It’s probably the last exhibit I will curate, there’s no doubt about that,” he said wistfully in a walk-through of the show, which opens to the public at the Smithsonian Castle on June 2.
The Trump administration has asserted that the Smithsonian is too negative in its depiction of the United States and that it hopes to take control of the board that has kept Mr. Bunch at the helm. It is very possible that allies of President Trump could hold a majority of the seats by the fall.
Mr. Bunch — a historian, the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian’s secretary since 2019 — has spoken openly about his intention to buck efforts to diminish the institution’s independence, though he recognizes that two-thirds of its funding comes from the federal government.
“I love the Smithsonian, and I love thinking creatively about, how do you protect the Smithsonian?” Mr. Bunch said in the interview. “How do you make sure issues of scholarship and integrity are there?”
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