Smithsonian's Black history museum marks 10 years amid Trump administration pressure

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is marking its 10th anniversary with celebrations, even as it faces pressure from the administration of President Donald Trump over how American history is presented in federally supported museums.

The museum, which opened on 24 September 2016, plans a weekend of events at its National Mall location and The Wharf along the Washington Channel. The celebrations will begin Thursday with activities throughout the museum and include a discussion titled "Understanding America", featuring Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, the museum's founding director.

The anniversary will also have a family-style feel, including a performance of Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday".

"Our anniversary is really founded on this theme of 'Welcome Home. Our Legacy Continues,'" said Shanita Brackett, the museum's acting director. "It means we are planning our next 10, frankly 20 years of exhibitions right now."

The museum, often affectionately called the "Blacksonian" by visitors and supporters, has come under scrutiny from the Trump administration.

Trump signed an executive order last year seeking changes at a number of federally supported museums and landmarks. The Interior Department has also removed dozens of displays from national monuments that focused on social activists, people of colour, women and LGBTQ people, among others.

The order directed federal officials to work with Congress to prevent the Smithsonian from using federal funds for exhibits that allegedly "degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programmes or ideologies inconsistent with federal law".

However, museum officials say their work has continued without interference.

"We have not changed any exhibitions. We haven't changed our language. We know that what we do is steeped in scholarship," Brackett said.

'No changes' to museum's mission

The Smithsonian receives funding from both the federal government and private sources. Its funding structure and governance, which includes lawmakers from both parties, private donors and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, have made it more difficult for the administration to directly control its exhibits.

Still, supporters of the museum have expressed concern about possible changes to its exhibitions over the past two years.

Trump's administration has also announced measures aimed at the Smithsonian. Trump ordered signs to be placed outside some Smithsonian buildings warning visitors that they could encounter exhibits presenting what the administration considers an inaccurate portrayal of American history.

Brackett said the museum remains committed to its original mission of presenting "the unvarnished truth of African American history and culture".

"We know that Black history is a part of American history, and it's our job to ensure that everyone who comes to this museum, who engages in our programming, who visits us online, understands exactly how all of this evolved," she said.

She said the museum also seeks to show how African Americans' contributions have helped advance the United States.

"There are no changes to exhibits other than rotating objects that need conservation," Brackett said.

Some visitors had feared that displays such as the casket of Emmett Till and a Greensboro lunch counter at the nearby National Museum of American History might have been changed to address concerns from the administration.

Brackett said there had been no such changes.

"Nothing has changed," she said.

More than a century of advocacy

The idea of creating a major landmark on the National Mall to recognise African American contributions dates back more than 100 years.

In 1915, Black Civil War veterans urged lawmakers to establish a memorial honouring their contributions to the war, during which many had fought for their own freedom.

The proposal moved forward slowly over the following decades. Later, efforts to honour the legacy of the civil rights movement gained support among lawmakers.

Congress approved the museum in 2003, and it opened its doors on 24 September 2016.

At the opening ceremony, then-President Barack Obama described African American history as an important part of the broader American story.

"It is a glorious story, the one that's told here. It is complicated, and it is messy, and it is full of contradictions, as all great stories are," Obama said.

Over the past decade, the museum has welcomed nearly 14 million visitors from 200 countries and more than 26,000 school groups, according to the Smithsonian.

The 10-storey museum has five floors above ground that focus on African American art and cultural achievements, while five underground floors explore the community's deeper history.

Its exhibitions present both the difficult and triumphant chapters of African American history and their place in the wider history of the United States.

Visitors eager to experience the museum

A day before the anniversary, Shallary Duncan of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, visited the museum for the first time.

"With all of the changes in our country, it made me yearn to be here. I don't want to see any changes that would mitigate the reality of this experience," said Duncan, a psychologist and self-described history enthusiast.

She said it was important for African Americans to have a voice in preserving their history.

"We know that African Americans have been in this country for as long as the country has been here, so it's important for us that we are a part of a voice that says this is real, our history is real and we don't want it to change," she said.

More than a dozen students from a group of historically Black colleges and universities also visited the museum on Wednesday to learn from its exhibitions. Some said they had been visiting since childhood.

For Jaina Dotson, a student at Tuskegee University studying architecture, the visit was especially meaningful. She had visited the museum as a child while growing up in Maryland and wanted to see how her perspective had changed.

The visit also connected with her studies, as she had researched the museum's design for an architecture project.

"Looking at the outside facade, the corona, and the intention of the design behind that, as well as the layout of the museum itself, was an integral part of my research," Dotson said.

"The layout of the museum, its architecture, is really important for the experience. So it'll be fun to actually experience that as a patron."