There are many artifacts at the Smithsonian Institution that honor American history, culture, and new ideas. However, some things are thought to be too controversial to show in public. Some of the items can make people very angry and bring up sensitive issues. Their exhibitions are a delicate issue because they may show uncomfortable truths about the past of society.
#1: The Original Enola Gay Script
The Smithsonian planned an exhibit for the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in 1995. It would have been centered around the B-29 Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb. The first display script had pictures of people who had been ki**ed by bombs and asked if the bombing was really necessary. This caused anger, which led the museum director to quit. In the end, they took down the original story and put up a simpler display of the plane itself.
#2: The “Racial Brain” Collection
The Museum of Natural History has the disturbing “Racial Brain” collection, which includes hundreds of human brains that were taken without permission in the early 1900s. Aleš Hrdlička collected these specimens to support old and false ideas about racial superiority. There was a lot of concern about showing these collections because of the ethical issues that came up.
#3: The “Tuskegee Syphilis” Medical Vials
The National Museum of African American History and Culture has items related to the well-known Tuskegee Syphilis Study, which took place from 1932 to 1972. This study involved subjects who were denied treatment for syphilis, which is a severe violation of medical ethics. The materials are not shown to avoid making the victims’ suffering seem worse than it is.
#4: Nazi “Propaganda” Art Collection
There is a huge collection of art that the Nazis paid for and the U.S. Army took after World War II. The museum doesn’t want to show this art because it worries that it could spark neo-Nazi feelings or be a place for hate groups to gather, even though it is historically important. It is important to know the past so as never to repeat mistakes of such magnitude.
#5: The “Kennewick Man” Casts
The Smithsonian got into a legal battle with local Native American tribes over the 9,000-year-old remains found in Washington State. The real bones were sent back and buried in 2017, but detailed casts are still there to honor the tribes’ spiritual requests. Keeping these casts out of the public eye shows respect for the tribes’ wishes not to study their ancestors.
#6: J. Edgar Hoover’s “Secret Files” (Selected)
There are also some personal items that belonged to J. Edgar Hoover, such as papers that show how he spied on civil rights leaders in the 1960s. A lot of these records are still off-limits, which shows the tension between privacy and openness. This collection is one that needs careful thought because it could put the people Hoover was spying on in danger.
#7: The “Sacred” Ghost Dance Shirts
Shirts taken from the Lakota people during the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre are some of the most sensitive items in the Smithsonian’s collection. People thought that these shirts would keep people safe from bullets in the afterlife. A lot of Lakota people consider these things sacred, and showing them is disrespectful.
#8: Slave Shackles from Children
The institution has shackles that enslaved adults wore on display, but the fact that there are smaller shackles made for children raises moral issues. Curators think that the children’s shackles are too upsetting and evocative for the general public. They are afraid that explaining these artifacts will take away from their main goal of teaching people about the horrors of slavery.
#9: The “Exploding” Cigars Meant for Fidel Castro
Some of the CIA’s stranger and deadlier tools are also stored, like exploding cigars that were meant to ki*l Fidel Castro. But some deadly prototypes are kept out of sight so that people don’t sensationalize ki**ings that happen outside of the law. This selection leads to a bigger discussion about the effects of violence supported by the state.
#10: Cult Leader Jim Jones’s Personal Belongings
There are a lot of things from Jonestown that are connected to the tragic mass sui*ide that happened there in 1978. For many, the memories of this event are still very painful, so it is not right to show these things in public. People care about the victims’ families and want to remember events of such great tragedy with care and respect.
#11: The “Hottentot Venus” Style Casts
In the past, plaster casts of living people from colonized areas were made to show off “exotic” bodies. People now see these casts as very dehumanizing and unfair. The Smithsonian keeps them hidden away while it tries to deal with the need to face up to past wrongs and the “human zoo” era.
#12: Original “Mammy” Caricature Jars
A lot of racist items were collected from the 1800s and 1900s, like “Mammy” caricature jars. Some artifacts help people learn about Jim Crow laws, but there are worries that there are too many of them. Curators talk all the time about how much of this art is really educational and how much is just offensive. The institution faces a difficult challenge in balancing the act of teaching with being aware of the painful history.
#13: Unexploded Ordnance from the Vietnam War
Some Vietnam War weapons at the Air and Space Museum are still controversial because they are linked to real-life violence. There are a lot of different kinds of deactivated weapons on display, but some are still locked up. Showing these artifacts can make both veterans and anti-war activists very angry.
#14: The “Witch” Trials Evidence (Replica/Affidavits)
The Smithsonian has a lot of legal papers and records of “spectral evidence” from the witch trials of the 1600s, mostly from Salem. These important items are kept hidden because they deal with sensitive religious histories and the “moral panic” that was common in the American colonies. It can be hard to present this material because it needs to be put in context, which might be hard for modern tourists to understand.
#15: The “Blackface” Minstrel Costumes
There are also costumes worn by famous 19th-century blackface performers, which is a painful reminder of racism in American theater. These costumes are important to history, but they haven’t been shown in recent exhibitions. The pictures they show can make it hard to have deep conversations about how these performances changed American culture.
#16: Radioactive Remains of the “Radium Girls”
The truth about the history of workers’ rights can be seen in the things used by the “Radium Girls,” factory workers who were poisoned by glow-in-the-dark clock paint in the early 1900s. These things are still radioactive and need to be kept in lead-lined containers. Their story is very important for labor rights, but it is not safe to show these items in public because of the physical danger.
#17: The “Stolen” Parthenon Fragments
Small pieces of ancient Greek temples were also stored in the early 1900s. This is part of the ongoing global debate over whether or not to return cultural artifacts to their home countries. Greece keeps asking for these pieces back, but the museum is careful about showing them because they don’t want to start a diplomatic fight.
#18: The “Contaminated” Apollo 11 Tools
Things from Apollo 11 that may have come into contact with “lunar dust” are kept hidden because they could be contaminated. These were once on display, but the chemical decontamination process that took place in the late 1960s may have changed them, making them “chemically compromised.” Consequently, certain tools are preserved in the archives to uphold both their historical integrity and the integrity of future scientific research.
#19: The “Piss Christ” Controversy Documentation
In the late 1980s, a picture of a crucifix in urine caused cultural debate about art funding. The Smithsonian has a lot of things related to this “Culture War,” but it is still hard to show the photo or protest materials. People are afraid of losing federal funding, and there are still tensions between art and religion.
#20: Tobacco Industry “Marketing Secrets”
We can also find internal documents and marketing materials from big tobacco companies, especially those aimed at kids in the 1970s. We talk about controversial objects because they show a corporate plan to get minors hooked and could start debates about tobacco laws. They are still bad for people’s health, and some even react to news like this.
#21: The “Kevorkian” Suicide Machine
Dr. Jack Kevorkian made the “Thanatron” for assisted sui*ides, and the institution was given it. There was so much disagreement about whether this device was a “medical advancement” or an “instrument of death” that the museum decided not to show it. Logically, they are trying not to take sides in the ongoing debate about the right to die.
#22: The “Incomplete” Wright Brothers Patent
The famous 1903 Flyer gets most of the attention, but the museum has legal documents that tell the story of how the Wright brothers fought hard against other inventors in court. This part of their story shows a different side of these aviation pioneers. Showing these papers may ruin the happy mood that usually surrounds the Wright brothers.
#23: The “Salami” Used in 1960s Space Experiments
Scientists used processed meats like salami to see what happened when they were exposed to radiation and vacuum during space experiments. These “food relics” are now hidden away because they look like rotting mummified remains and aren’t very interesting to learn about. The choice to keep them in storage shows how museums have to find a balance between sharing knowledge and avoiding “gross-out” situations.
#24: Confederate General’s “Blo*dy” Uniforms
The Smithsonian has uniforms worn by high-ranking Confederate officers that are stained with blo*d from their last battles. The controversy over these things comes from what they stand for. Some people see them as important historical artifacts from the “Lost Cause,” while others see them as reminders of a rebellion that was based on slavery.
