JANM Decries Ongoing Efforts to Dismantle the Humanities, Museums, and Libraries, and Erase the Nation’s History

Editors please note: JANM’s Pavilion is closed for renovation; programs will continue on the JANM campus and at other locations at janm.org/OnTheGo. 

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) is deeply concerned by the ongoing efforts to systematically dismantle pillars of diversity and democracy like the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and erase the contributions of people of color, women, LGBTQIA+ people, and other marginalized communities.

The administration is targeting the NEH with the aim of reducing its staff, cutting its grant programs, and withdrawing grants that have already been awarded. The Department of Government Efficiency recommended staff reductions by as much as 70 to 80 percent and cancellation of all grants made under the previous administration that have not been fully funded. 

In the executive order, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, the IMLS is one of seven independent federal agencies targeted for dismantlement. The IMLS advances, supports, and empowers America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations in all fifty states and US territories through grantmaking, research, and policy development. The IMLS placed its entire staff on administrative leave. The administration plans to cancel 891 open awards to museums with $180 million in federal funds.

The executive order, Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History, aims to alter how the nation’s story is told at the Smithsonian Institution and on Department of Interior monuments, memorials, statues, and markers. The order aims to replace nonpartisan, research-based, and comprehensive history of the US with a grandiose and simplistic narrative that omits the nation’s injustices, mistakes, and dark chapters.

“We cannot reverse course on our nation’s journey towards a more just and equitable future. Museums like JANM create educational opportunities for younger generations to grapple with complexity. They invoke a sense of social obligation, and they encourage action to protect democracy and foster empathy. At JANM, we embrace and honor the complexity of Japanese American history. It is part of our country’s history and has profoundly shaped the nation. When the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie G. Bunch III, spoke at JANM, he reminded us that ‘the great strength of a nation is looking at its past, learning from that past and using that past to point us toward a different future.’ Widespread dismantling of federal agencies that support our work and the attempts at the wholesale erasure of history will not help us achieve a more just America. History does not yield to censorship or political ideologies. It thrives on critical thinking and depends on new evidence and interpretation. It demands honest, open conversations, and a commitment to having an evolving understanding of how the past shapes the present and the future. We must continue to embody our mission, carry the lessons of history forward, and celebrate the richly diverse stories and untold histories,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM President and CEO. 

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