Brent Glass was appointed the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in October 2002, in the midst of the planning stages of a massive renovation project.
The museum is closed right now until summer 2008. What’s going on inside?
The center of the museum was gutted, and we’re literally going to bring more light into the museum and onto American history by installing a new skylight and removing walls to open up the space. We’re also adding artifact walls, floor-to-ceiling display cases on the first and second floors that will showcase objects from our collection that people have rarely or never seen.
What additions and changes will visitors notice?
It will be a new experience for people, with a new welcome center, a new gallery focusing on inventions in American history, and an abstract sculptural version of the Star-Spangled Banner, which will be the centerpiece of the museum. We hope to have regular naturalization ceremonies in this atrium. We’re also going to borrow the original Gettysburg Address from the White House, a document that hasn’t been seen by the general public.
What’s your favorite feature of the museum?
That’s like asking which child is your favorite child! Besides the artifact walls, I also am excited about the fixed landmark objects, which will be in front of each escalator. One will be a statue of George Washington, and another a John Bull locomotive.
What motivates you to capture history and display it?
I’m inspired when I see visitors interact with objects and each other — parents and kids, teachers and students, and friends.
What’s in store for the future?
When the museum opens, we’re planning a series of five new exhibits that visitors will see in the next few years. In the future, we’re also going to gut the east and west wings, although the museum won’t be shut down. We hope to finish by 2014 for the museum’s 50th anniversary.
