WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian Institution has begun quietly removing some artifacts from the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), according to two museum employees and at least one high-profile donor.

The Rev. Amos Brown, a longtime civil rights activist and pastor, tells WUSA9 he was notified via email this month that several artifacts he donated — including a Bible he carried during civil rights demonstrations — were being returned to him.

He email he shared with WUSA9 from the NMAAHC says: 

I wanted to alert you that the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will be returning your Bible and book we borrowed for our exhibition, “Segregation.”  Both books have been on display at the NMAAHC since we opened our doors to the public in September 2016.  We are grateful for the loan of these important objects and the ability to share them with the public.  In order to preserve them and not display them for too long, we are now returning them to you.”

Brown said he doesn’t believe it’s about the conditions of the books and says a museum should know how to preserve them. 

“The flimsy excuse was because they were under too much light,” Brown told WUSA9.

Brown said he never requested the return of his items, which includes a bible and a historic copy of “The History of the Negro Race in America,” one of the first books to document racism in the United States.

“I had called them and told them how unfortunate and ideological it is,” he added.

Brown has been a civil rights activist for more than 70 years, marching alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. The Bible and book, he said, have been on display at the museum since it opened in 2016.

When WUSA9 visited the museum Saturday, the artifacts were no longer in their previous exhibit space.

“It was right here to the left of the narrative,” Brown said, pointing to the empty display.

He also expressed concern that the iconic lunch counter from the sit in movement started by four students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. The lunch counter is one of the key features of the museum — Amos says there are discussions on removing that. WUSA9 has not independently verified that claim. During our visit, the lunch counter remained on display.

Visitors we spoke with say the news is both emotional and troubling.

“I feel like that’s crazy,” said Samiyyah Greene, who traveled from North Carolina. “That’s like taking a big part of our culture away.”

“It’s very frustrating,” said Wynter Barton-Brown of Boston. “I’m glad I had my glasses on because I didn’t want my children to see the emotion that was driven up.”

In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for the removal of “improper, divisive or anti-American ideology” from federally funded institutions, specifically naming the African American museum.

“That was the most unfortunate directive,” Brown said. “It’s about someone being against diversity, inclusion and equity for African Americans and all people who’ve been marginalized in this country.”

WUSA9 has reached out to the Smithsonian Institution and the National Museum of African American History and Culture for comment. The full statement is below:

Recent reports about the Smithsonian removing the historic Greensboro, North Carolina, lunch counter and a stool from the National Museum of American History and National Museum of African American History and Culture, respectively, are inaccurate.
 
Both the Greensboro lunch counter and stools where college students sat in protest during the Civil Rights Movement are and continue to be on display. A stool from the sit-ins remains on view at the National Museum of African American History and Culture as the centerpiece of an interactive exhibition. The larger section of the Greensboro counter also remains on display at the National Museum of American History. Suggestions that the Smithsonian had planned or intended to remove these items are false.
 
Further, the Smithsonian routinely returns loaned artifacts per applicable loan agreements and rotates objects on display in accordance with the Smithsonian’s high standards of care and preservation and as part of our regular museum turnover. Recent claims that objects have been removed for reasons other than adherence to standard loan agreements or museum practices are false.
 
As the steward of our nation’s treasures and history, the Smithsonian preserves and protects all objects and artifacts in its collection to ensure their long-term conservation and to safeguard them for future generations.

Brown says the lack of communication from the museum leaves him worried for its future.

“We aren’t going to let anyone tell us what we can’t read and celebrate as our artifacts,” he said.