2026年9月20日 / 美国东部时间上午9:48 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
当朗尼·G·邦奇三世走过华盛顿特区的史密森尼国家航空航天博物馆时，他对历史的热爱尽显无遗。“我真的太爱这座博物馆了，”他说。
他最喜爱的藏品之一：1903年莱特兄弟的飞行器，第一架成功试飞的动力飞机。“我当时在北卡罗来纳州的基蒂霍克，去看了复制品，当时我就想说，‘我们有真品！’”他笑着说，“它现在就珍藏在史密森尼博物馆里，这样一来，人们永远都可以惊叹道，‘我的天’，并真正开始理解美国精神中与生俱来的创造力与喜悦。”
记者莫·罗卡与史密森尼博物馆馆长期朗尼·G·邦奇三世，在华盛顿特区的国家航空航天博物馆内，该馆藏有莱特兄弟1903年的飞机。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
作为史密森尼学会的馆长，邦奇负责管理整个机构，下辖20座博物馆和国家动物园。但正是这家航空航天博物馆在近50年前开启了他的职业生涯——当时他被该馆时任馆长、前阿波罗11号宇航员迈克尔·柯林斯聘用。
当被问及柯林斯在这位25岁的历史学家身上看到了什么时，邦奇回答说：“我想他大概看到了热情。我对历史无比热爱。当时我不知道自己未来会做什么，但我深爱这份事业。”
邦奇本人也在2019年创造了历史，成为史密森尼学会180年历史上首位历史学家出身及首位非裔美国人馆长。在七年前的就职典礼上，他曾表示：“我们今天站在这里，作为非裔美国人，在一个弗雷德里克·道格拉斯当年无法发声的地方，但我们现在已是截然不同的机构，我们已经取得了巨大的进步，并且还在继续前进。没有什么是不可能的。”
“我一直在想着弗雷德里克·道格拉斯，”邦奇告诉我们，“我当时真的很想说，‘他现在正在发声’。我只是想传递一个信号：无论故事多么艰难、多么令人痛苦，我永远都不会害怕讲述真实的故事。”
当被问及如果我们不去讲述那些艰难的故事会怎样时，邦奇回答说：“这就好比，你去看医生做体检，突然说‘只告诉我一半检查结果就行’，对吧？所以你只了解自己的一部分——你是不完整的。”
邦奇表示，博物馆是美国最优秀的讲故事的人。但在过去一年半的时间里，史密森尼学会本身却成了新闻焦点。2025年3月，特朗普总统发布行政命令，严厉谴责该机构所谓的“分裂性、以种族为中心的意识形态”，并威胁要削减其 funding。而且他在社交媒体上也毫不留情。2025年8月19日的一条帖子中，总统声称史密森尼的博物馆“已经失控，所有讨论的内容都是我们国家多么糟糕，奴隶制多么可恶……”
当被问及他的退休决定是否与白宫施加的压力有关时，邦奇回答说：“不，完全没有。事实上，我们经历的这些挑战，是我留任这么久的原因之一。我内心有个声音说，我应该永远留在这里，保护史密森尼，同时保护历史，以及应对那些将史密森尼抹黑成由左翼激进分子掌控、想要摧毁美国的不实言论。”
但在今年7月4日白宫进一步施压时，他们对史密森尼管理层的指责几乎就是如此。当时一份长达162页的报告猛烈抨击了国家美国历史博物馆。报告声称：“如果史密森尼的旗舰历史博物馆能在每个入口处都贴上标签，写着‘警告：本博物馆的展品由那些不想让你热爱自己国家的人筹备’，这对大多数美国人来说都会有好处，尤其是那些带孩子来参观的家长。”
“我甚至都不想对此置评，”邦奇说，“因为在史密森尼工作的人们都以极其深刻的方式热爱着自己的国家。问题在于，人们往往总想为复杂的问题寻找简单的答案。”
报告中的指控之一包括：博物馆没有为开国元勋们提供足够的纪念。“这些故事都在那里，”邦奇说，“我们能不能更全面地讲述它们？当然可以。但那种说它们不存在、说这里没有热爱——更重要的是，没有承认开国元勋们的特殊地位的说法，是错误的。”
当被问及他的爱国主义受到质疑是否让他个人感到被冒犯时，邦奇回答说：“任何了解我的人都知道我对这个国家的热爱。我是一名二战老兵的儿子。我还记得每个阵亡将士纪念日都会去参加游行。所以我成长的环境就是，让我们热爱这个国家，但不要害怕去了解我们完整的全貌。我坚信，你可以逃避历史，但你无法隐藏。”
这一信念是国家非裔美国人历史与文化博物馆创立的驱动力。该博物馆于10年前对外开放，获得了近乎一致的好评。邦奇是它的首任馆长。“毫无疑问，我职业生涯中做过的最重要的事情，就是参与创建了国家非裔美国人历史与文化博物馆，毫无疑问，”他说，“因为这座博物馆传递的信息是：‘这是我们所有人的故事。这是一个民族的旅程，也是一个国家的历史。’”
至于谁将成为史密森尼的下一任馆长，邦奇建议：“需要有人关心这个机构的历史；需要有人了解我们所处的政治环境；还需要有人有足够的勇气，在一切都失败的时候，把责任推给我——也就是我这个前任。”
在年底离职之前，邦奇表示，他所管理的机构将继续尽最大努力，为美国呈现一个完整的自我画像。
“史密森尼是美国集体的记忆，”他说，“你不会希望成为一个忘记过去的国家。”
网络独家内容：观看朗尼·G·邦奇三世的加长采访（视频）https://www.cbsnews.com/video/extended-interview-lonnie-g-bunch-iii/
加长采访：朗尼·G·邦奇三世 19:30
本报道由罗布yn·麦克法登制作。编辑：劳伦·巴内洛。
Retiring Smithsonian head Lonnie G. Bunch III: “You can run from history, but you can’t hide”
September 20, 2026 / 9:48 AM EDT / CBS News
When Lonnie G. Bunch III walks through the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., his love of history is on full display. “I just love this museum so much,” he said.
One of his favorite pieces: The 1903 Wright Brothers’ flyer, the first successfully-flown powered airplane. “I was in North Carolina, Kitty Hawk, and went to see the replica, and I wanted to say, ‘We got the real one!’” he laughed. “And it’s here in the Smithsonian, so that forever, people are going to be able to say, ‘Oh, my goodness,’ and really sort of begin to understand the creativity and the joy that is incumbent in the American spirit.”
Correspondent Mo Rocca with Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie G. Bunch III, at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., home to the Wright Brothers’ 1903 airplane. CBS News
As Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Bunch runs the place, overseeing 20 museums and the National Zoo. But it was the Air and Space Museum that launched his career nearly 50 years ago when he was hired by the museum’s then-director, former Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins.
Asked what Collins saw in the 25-year-old historian, Bunch replied, “I think he probably saw passion. I cared so much about history. I didn’t understand what I was going to do, but I loved it.”
Bunch made history himself in 2019, becoming both the first historian and the first African American to serve as Secretary in the Smithsonian’s 180-year history. At his installation ceremony seven years ago, he said, “We are here speaking in a place as an African American where Fredrick Douglass could not speak, but we are a different institution, we’ve made great changes and continue to do so. Nothing is impossible.
“I kept thinking about Frederick Douglass,” Bunch told us, “and I really wanted to say, ‘He’s now speaking.’ I just wanted to signal that I will never be afraid of telling truthful stories, no matter how hard or how painful they are.”
Asked what happens if we don’t tell difficult stories, Bunch replied, “It’s kind of like, you know, you go to the doctor, you get your physical. And suddenly, you say, ‘Only tell me half about what happened,’ right? So, you only know a little bit about who you are – you’re incomplete.”
Museums, Bunch says, are the best storytellers in America. But over the last year-and-a-half, the Smithsonian itself has become the story. In March 2025, President Trump issued an executive order excoriating the institution for what it called its “divisive, race-centered ideology,” and threatened to cut funding. And he hasn’t held back on social media. In an Aug. 19, 2025 post, the president claimed the Smithsonian’s museums were “out of control, where everything discussed is how horrible our county is, how bad slavery was…”
Asked if his decision to retire had anything to do with pressures from the White House, Bunch replied, “No, not really. And in fact, the challenges that we’ve experienced are one of the reasons I stayed so long. There’s a part of me that says I should stay forever to protect the Smithsonian, but also to protect history, as well as sort of dealing with mischaracterizations that the Smithsonian is this place run by left-wing radicals who want to destroy America.”
But that’s pretty much how the White House painted Smithsonian leadership when it turned the screws even tighter this past July 4, with a 162-page report blasting its National Museum of American History. It claimed: “It would benefit most Americans, especially parents bringing their children for a tour, if the Smithsonian’s flagship history museum had a label at every entrance that reads, ‘Warning: The exhibits in this museum were prepared by people who don’t want you to love your country.’”
“I can’t even comment on that,” said Bunch, “because the people who work at the Smithsonian love their country in profound ways. You know, the challenge is that often people look for simple answers to complex questions.”
Among the report’s allegations: The museum hasn’t done enough to honor the founding fathers. “Those stories are there,” said Bunch. “Could they be told more expansively? Sure. But I think the reality of saying that they aren’t there, that there’s not the love – more importantly, not the acknowledgment of the special nature of the Founding Fathers – is wrong.”
Asked if he were personally offended that his patriotism has been questioned, Bunch replied, “Anybody that knows me personally knows my love of this nation. I’m the son of somebody who was a World War II veteran. I can remember every Memorial Day going to parades. So, I come at it from a world of, let us love our nation, but let us not be afraid to understand the totality of who we are. I believe very strongly that you can run from history, but you can’t hide.”
That belief was the driving force behind the creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened its doors 10 years ago to near-universal acclaim. Bunch was its founding director. “There’s no doubt that the most important thing I’ve ever done in my career was be part of building the National Museum of African American History and Culture, no doubt about it,” he said. “Because that is a museum that says, ‘Here is a story of us all. Here is a people’s journey, but a nation’s story.’”
As far as who will be the next head of the Smithsonian, Bunch suggests, “It needs to be somebody who cares about the history of the institution; needs to be somebody who understands the political world we’re dealing in; and needs to be somebody who is courageous enough, when all else fails, to blame me” – the guy who was there before.
Until he leaves at the end of the year, Bunch says the institution he runs will continue doing its level best to give America a full picture of itself.
“The Smithsonian is America’s collective memory,” he said, “and you don’t want to be a nation that forgets.”
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch an extended interview with Lonnie G. Bunch III (Video)https://www.cbsnews.com/video/extended-interview-lonnie-g-bunch-iii/
Extended interview: Lonnie G. Bunch III 19:30
Story produced by Robbyn McFadden. Editor: Lauren Barnello.
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