America at 250: History, Memory, and Truth

Museums are the classrooms of our country. They play a crucial role in helping us understand the nation’s complex past. This December, Lonnie G. Bunch III will step down after seven years as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Join us for one of his last public conversations in the role, a dynamic exchange with Lynette Clemetson, Director of Wallace House Center for Journalists, on the significance of the 250th anniversary of the United States.

At a moment in which discussions about our shared past and collective future feel especially urgent, this is a rare chance to hear a leader reflect on a career devoted to informing and inspiring Americans to strive for the public good.

Q & A will follow, and copies of Secretary Bunch's book ,"A Fool's Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump," will be available for purchase.

This 2026 Marc and Constance Jacobson Lecture is presented by the U-M Institute for the Humanities in partnership with Wallace House Center for Journalists. Additional support provided by the Initiative for Democracy & Civic Empowerment, Life-Changing Education, Museum Studies Program, U-M Library, and the U-M Museum of Art.