Smithsonian museum director on hot seat over display of ‘crotch harness’
by Stephen Dinan · The Washington TimesThe Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History comes with a parental advisory warning, the museum’s director told Congress on Wednesday, as she spent a second day struggling to defend a sexually charged exhibit that showed what one congresswoman called a “crotch harness.”
Anthea Hartig, the director, said her museum’s policy requires all children under 18 to be accompanied by an adult, and they urge those adults to make sure the content is suitable for their children before going through exhibits.
Ms. Hartig said the “gay liberation” exhibit that’s drawn so much scrutiny was closed years ago, but did have a parental warning attached.
That didn’t sit right with Rep. Mary Miller, who said Ms. Hartig herself, in a welcome video, specifically invited children to attend the exhibit.
“You chose to display the fetish attire of a very small subset of Americans with weird sexual proclivities, and you welcomed children to the exhibit,” the Illinois Republican said.
She peppered Ms. Hartig with questions.
“What is a crotch harness? You chose to make a display of it,” she said.
Ms. Hartig defended the exhibit as “small” and described the attire in question as a “two-piece garment.”
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“All the people who came by that display case, no one complained,” she said.
The House Administration Committee, which oversees the Smithsonian, was holding a hearing to examine what Republicans have described as the American history museum’s woke-washing of U.S. history, elevating trendy liberal causes in its exhibits while relegating more traditional stories such as the country’s founders to dry tellings.
Wednesday’s hearing was the second in a row, following a similar one with Ms. Hartig in the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday.
Ms. Hartig, who took the reins at the museum in 2019, was pummeled with questions for which she had no answers — or refused to give them.
She refused to explain her hundreds of political contributions, distanced herself from a “toolkit” that mocked historians’ objectivity as a tool of White supremacy, and had no answer when asked why her museum, while telling other stories, doesn’t tackle the 50 million abortions that have occurred since 1973’s Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.
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“I’m not here at this hearing to discuss that,” Ms. Hartig told lawmakers.
She also wouldn’t say whether she thought it was appropriate for her gift shop to sell “Latina Power” items, and she declined multiple invitations to say what a woman is.
“We strive to represent, and not categorize, all Americans,” Ms. Hartig said.
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Stephen Dinan
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