We cannot know American history without knowing Black history. That is the message of @ASALH, a community that welcomed me before anyone knew my name. Founded in 1915 by the father of Black History Month, Dr. Carter Woodson, ASALH's 2022 #BHM focus is Black Health and Wellness.
Black Health and Wellness are timely topics that are also close to my heart. One of my daughters works in emergency medicine and often encourages people of color to consider medical professions. She sees how important it is to have role models who look like you.
The entire trajectory of our family was transformed because my grandfather, a sharecropper, was able to attend a historically Black college in 1910. Thanks to doors this opened, he became a dentist. Education is key to improving diversity in any field, especially in medicine.
Dr. Woodson created Negro History Week, now #BlackHistoryMonth, as part of his quest to use Black history as a tool for racial uplift. As we explore the theme of Black Health and Wellness, I reflect on the continued vitality of this mission today. nmaahc.si.edu/explore/storie…
I explored the history of racism in medical schools, clinical care, and research during a conversation with my predecessor as Secretary of the Smithsonian @DavidJSkorton, President and CEO of @AAMCtoday. Take a listen.
I was weeping in the research room of the National Archives. I'd taken a pause from exhibition research to see if I could learn more about the earliest of my Bunch ancestors whose name I know: Candis Bunch.
Candis was an enslaved woman whose name I'd previously discovered attached to the marriage license for her son, my great grandfather Oscar Bunch. In a breakthrough at the Archives, I found mention of her death in 1870 as a 40-year-old freed woman in Wake County, North Carolina.
After that discovery, I nearly gave up. In the records of the Freedmen's Bureau, I unearthed a labor contract between her and a landowner. She'd received $11 for 44 days of farm work in 1867 and purchased items such as starch and seed cotton from the landowner.
It's not often that you leave a museum exhibition with a dramatically new way of looking at the world. This #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth, I challenge you to explore @SmithsonianNMAI's digital exhibition "Americans" and see what it reveals to you.
The first thing that struck me was how inundated we are with American Indian imagery, names, and stories in America. Jeep Cherokee, Tomahawk missile, street names, mascots. The exhibit asks: How is it that Indians can be so present and so absent in American life? #NDNsEverywhere
One of the most eye-opening sections takes a close look at one of our strangest yet most beloved holidays: Thanksgiving. How did a brunch in the forest get Indians in our heads?
Congressman John Lewis was the conscience of a nation. He challenged the country to live up to its ideals and to extend the blessings of liberty to all. We at the Smithsonian send our heartfelt thoughts and condolences to his family. s.si.edu/2CJ9Svh
His is an essential American story of strength, dignity, and courage. I am grateful to have known him and will continue to draw inspiration from his life and legacy. I'd like to share some of his story through @Smithsonian collections.
As the country's eyes turn to the memorial service for George Floyd today, my heart is heavy. I grieve for and extend my sympathies to George Floyd's family and community—and the far too many whose needless deaths were brought about by unjustified violence.
I am reminded of the day I spent with Mrs. Mamie Till Mobley, mother of Emmett Till, a child who was brutally murdered in 1955 for allegedly teasing a white clerk.
Mrs. Till Mobley decided to allow her son's casket to remain open during his funeral so that "the world could see what they did to my son." The images of Emmett Till published in the press galvanized the Civil Rights movement.
This #BlackHistoryMonth, I invited you to join me at your computer screens to do something that sounds simple and maybe a bit dull if you aren't a 19th century historian like myself—to look at old documents and type the words you see. I'm thrilled that so many of you joined me.
@TranscribeSI Maybe you captured a few words from an 1869 letter about a "Colored Orphans' Home" in the South. Or you typed an article from 1934 criticizing a D.C. ice cream parlor refusing to employ African American workers in an African American neighborhood. Your efforts make a difference.
@TranscribeSI@NMAAHC@USNatArchives@SmithsonianACM Transcribing brings the lives and stories within these brittle documents to light. Those of us doing the typing gain an appreciation for history while making documents more available to our researchers and anyone curious enough to do a Google search or browse our @TranscribeSI.
In 2006, I got great news. I'd be able to keep my job. I'd only been director of @NMAAHC for seven months but I was prepared to walk away if the Smithsonian selected an off-the-National-Mall site for the museum. With our spot on the Mall secured, I couldn't stop smiling.
Soon after the announcement of our location, people began to flood me with their opinions on what the museum should be. I heard from scholars, neighbors, politicians, educators, and more.
But it was someone I met in the Dallas airport whose thoughts stuck with me.
As a superstitious flyer, I like to get my shoes shined at the airport. After a long fundraising visit in Texas, I was delayed by storms and went in search of a shoeshine. An elderly African American man began to work on my shoes.