In a second occurrence within the last seven days, someone found a noose on the premises of the Smithsonian’s historical center located in Washington, D.C. Linda St. Thomas. A representative for the museum spoke to the HuffPost regarding the matter. In her statement, she mentions that the incident occurred at the National Museum of African American History last Wednesday. Apparently, right when guests entered one of the exhibits, they noticed a small noose someone placed on the floor. St. Thomas declared that two people who booked a spot to see the event found the hate symbol lying on the ground.
She also noted that the parties immediately became disturbed by it.
Sources say The Smithsonian closed the exhibit shortly after and it remained that way for at least an hour. As aforementioned, this terrible act is the second racial incident to occur within the past week. Somebody keeps deliberately placing nooses near or on the grounds of the museum's African American exhibits.
Noose found days before
According to St. Thomas, guests found the first rope four days before Wednesday's incident. Someone placed it outside the Sculpture Garden and Hirshhorn Museum. It was dangling from a tree.
In a press conference surrounding the incident on Friday, St. Thomas commented that no one operating the museum didn’t know how long the noose was left hanging in the tree.
She said even though someone placed it outside in a public vicinity, the person who did it had intentions for it to be in The Smithsonian’s segregation exhibit.
Smithsonian history
The Smithsonian Institution today is traced all the way back to the acknowledgment of James Smithson's heritage. He passed the iconic museum down to the United States in his will back in 1826.
When Smithson died in 1829. Former U.S. President Andrew Jackson educated Congress about his gift to America, and they accepted it with open arms.
In 1838, the federal government acquired Smithson’s estate, which was worth more than $500,000 at the time. It passed the money on to the U.S. Mint and then proceeded to move those funds to the Treasury.
Eight years later, the United States formed The Smithsonian in honor of Smithson’s legacy.
The Institution has grown remarkably over the past century. Despite many years of witnessing segregation, violation of civil rights, and the mistreatment of blacks in America, in 2016 it opened the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Investigation continues
St. Thomas announced during the news briefing that all the exhibition hall at the institution have full security, which includes screening bags entering the museum as well as metal detectors investigating visitors upon entry. She further mentioned, however, that a little piece of rope that could be formed into a noose later would not have caused any of their security alarms to go off.
The United States Park Police are currently investigating this episode as the story develops, and its mysteries continue.
