Smithsonian's Franklin Exhibit Ignites Culture War Amidst White House Scrutiny

In November 2021, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History unveiled "The Electric Dr. Franklin," an exhibition dedicated to Benjamin Franklin's groundbreaking work in electrical science. Beyond his scientific achievements, the exhibit also delved into Franklin's personal life, acknowledging his ownership of enslaved individuals in his household before he became an abolitionist. A particularly striking statement within the exhibit declared, "Benjamin Franklin’s remarkable scientific accomplishments were, in part, enabled by slavery." The exhibition further posited a speculative connection between Franklin's electrical research and the labor of enslaved people, noting, "Franklin wrote about experiments in which he took shocks and used family and friends in these ways, although he seldom identified who in particular assisted him." It expanded on this possibility by suggesting, "Indentured servants and enslaved people in his household could also have been used, although we may never know for certain." This specific conjecture—that one of America's most celebrated Founding Fathers might have subjected individuals held in involuntary servitude to potentially painful electrical experiments—became a significant point of contention. The exhibit concluded its physical run in 2025 but remains accessible through its online presence. The controversy surrounding the exhibit gained considerable momentum with the release of a detailed 162-page White House report in July. This report leveled severe accusations, asserting that the Smithsonian had fallen victim to "ideological capture." According to the report's authors, this alleged capture had fundamentally altered the Museum’s primary mission, steering it "away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform our country." This critique positions the Smithsonian's approach to historical interpretation as a focal point in broader cultural and political debates concerning national identity and the reckoning with the nation's past. Benjamin Franklin, a figure of immense historical complexity, thus finds himself at the center of these contentious discussions regarding how historical narratives are presented and understood in the contemporary era.