For more than a decade I have served on the board of trustees of the public library in the progressive town where I live and work. When I joined the board, our usual business was pretty straightforward; it was hardly the kind of stuff that put anyone on the frontlines of the culture wars.

That now seems like another lifetime.

Since President Donald Trump has returned to office, he has launched an ambitious assault on libraries, museums and other repositories of America’s history. Most recently, his administration has set its sights on the Smithsonian, one of the crown jewels of this country’s cultural institutions.

In an article posted on its website on Thursday, the White House targeted five of the Smithsonian’s museums for their exhibitions and content: the National Museum of American

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