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<\/a><\/p>\nAn interior of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Courtesy of The Weitzman Museum)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A new congressional commission will study whether to make the museum part of the Smithsonian. Its members were sworn in Tuesday, when they also held their first meeting.<\/p>\n
In an exclusive interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the commission\u2019s new chair Philip Darivoff, a former longtime chair of the Weitzman, and vice chair Dara Horn, a New York Times bestselling author, said that the Weitzman joining the Smithsonian would send a powerful message that Jews are a crucial component of the history of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a different statement that our country makes when it says that the study of Jewish American history and culture is important to this nation,\u201d Darivoff said. Both he and Horn also hope that a boost in the Weitzman\u2019s profile could combat what they called an \u201cepidemic of ignorance\u201d among Americans when it comes to knowledge of Jewish history and culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis really would be an elevation of the Jewish community,\u201d Horn, author of \u201cPeople Love Dead Jews\u201d and \u201cThe Final Solution to the Jewish Question,\u201d told JTA. \u201cThe place that Jews show up in a school curriculum is typically more about the Holocaust\u201d \u2014 an area that the author has written critically about in the past as too limiting a view of Jewish life.<\/p>\n
Horn believes in the Weitzman project, she said, because she hopes to emphasize the ways that Jews have contributed to American founding ideals such as religious pluralism. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really interested in the connections between the Jewish story and a lot of our foundational ideas in this country,\u201d she said. Jewish ideas such as the Exodus from Egypt in the Passover story \u201cwere inspiring to Americans,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The wheels for the Weitzman joining the Smithsonian began turning in 2024, when Congress passed legislation in 2024, then signed by President Biden, to establish the commission. The group spent the next two years putting the commission together, and has two years from its first meeting to research and publish a report on the feasibility of such a move \u2014 though Darivoff said he hopes to finish the work well before the deadline.<\/p>\n
Adding a new member to the Smithsonian has been known to take years, if not decades. The two most recent additions, the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women\u2019s History Museum, were both long in the works. <\/p>\n
Founded in 1976, the Weitzman is already an existing, fully functioning institution \u2014 and also already a Smithsonian affiliate, meaning it can share resources with other museums in the system. Unlike a museum being built from scratch, the Weitzman already has a building and collection, which proponents hope could speed the process.<\/p>\n
Dan Tadmor, the Weitzman\u2019s CEO, told JTA that joining the Smithsonian would improve their educational mission.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a national footprint for our educational programming, but of course we\u2019d like to widen it,\u201d he said. \u201cWho would say no to a curriculum that\u2019s been developed by a Smithsonian museum?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Weitzman\u2019s bid for increased prominence within the Smithsonian comes as the Trump administration has sought to exert greater control over the latter \u2014 home to such storied institutions as the National Museum of American History, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Zoo. <\/p>\n
This summer the White House issued a report alleging \u201cradical ideology\u201d in the museums\u2019 content, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum recently announced plans for signs accusing Smithsonian leaders of ideological bias. Observers say such signs are indicative of larger administration priorities opposing the teaching of historical subjects such as slavery. Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III is stepping down at the end of the year. <\/p>\n
A representative from the Smithsonian declined to comment to JTA on the Weitzman\u2019s bid, or on its current political conditions. <\/p>\n
The commission\u2019s chair and vice chair of the new Weitzman said that the current political upheaval shouldn\u2019t affect their work. The Smithsonian, Horn said, \u201chas lasted through many political winds.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we see this as a long-term project that\u2019s about the place of Jewish Americans in this country\u2019s history,\u201d Darivoff said. \u201cThe Smithsonian is a really important institution for this country, and it is the great museum complex of our nation. God willing, it will be flourishing for centuries to come. It\u2019d be an honor to be included in the Smithsonian.\u201d<\/p>\n