The Capitol Hill siege may have taken place just eight days ago, but it’s already one for the history books, according to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.
According to Smithsonian, the magazine published by the Smithsonian, museum curators have already gathered dozens of materials from the attack that will someday be considered historic artifacts. Among the items obtained were a sign reading, “Off with their heads — stop the steal,” and a small, hand-written poster saying, “Trump won, swamp stole.”
Anthea Hartig, the director of the National Museum of American History, said preserving these materials is important for future generations to understand the deadly events of Jan. 6, a day when lawmakers convened to count electoral votes and affirm President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.
“As an institution, we are committed to understanding how Americans make change. This election season has offered remarkable instances of the pain and possibility involved in that process of reckoning with the past and shaping the future,” she said. “As curators from the museum’s Division of Political and Military History continue to document the election of 2020, in the midst of a deadly pandemic, they will include objects and stories that help future generations remember and contextualize Jan. 6 and its aftermath.”
Hartig asked members of the public who currently possess materials related to the riots to consider donating them to the museum.
“As stewards of the nation’s leading history museum, we want to hear from you. Please safely save any materials that could be considered for future acquisition and send photos and brief descriptions of these objects to [email protected],” she said. “Your contributions help us in our goal of educating each new generation about the historical roots of our moment and empowering them to shape our future.”
The protest-turned-riot that led to a lockdown on Capitol Hill jump-started a week of historic political proceedings. Widely criticized for his involvement in the siege, President Trump was subsequently impeached with bipartisan support by the House, becoming the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice. Convicting Trump in the Senate requires a two-thirds supermajority, or 67 senators.
