Two U.S. senators think it鈥檚 time for a women’s history museum.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said a museum that chronicles the achievements of the nation’s women is “long overdue.” , Collins announced that she and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein have to try and make such a Smithsonian museum a reality.
Eleanor Holmes-Norton, D-DC, is a co-sponsor of that was also introduced in the House last Thursday.
While folks at the Smithsonian are behind the idea, the Institution鈥檚 chief spokesperson said they’re hammering away at other pressing priorities.
鈥淲hat we don’t have the resources for right now is a new building, a physical structure,鈥� said Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas. 鈥淲e would have to have the legislation passed, and then we would have to have an appropriation. So I think that that might be a ways down the road. Our last museum took 13 years, plus.鈥�
But the team 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� supports the idea behind the legislation, St. Thomas said.
鈥淭hat is why we began last year with the Women鈥檚 History Initiative across all Smithsonian museums.鈥�
There will be many more exhibits, a book and other programs about the contributions women have made to the country. Thomas said a recent exhibit that focuses on women鈥檚 suffrage, called , opened on March 29 at the National Portrait Gallery.
At present, St. Thomas said taking care of current museum projects is at the top of the priority list.
鈥淢any of them, including the castle, are old and in need of a lot of repair,鈥� St. Thomas told 海角社区app.
鈥淪o right now we have requested $650 million for the complete renovation of the National Air and Space Museum. We’ve really got our hands full taking care of what we now have, which is millions of square feet of museum space,” said St. Thomas.
“Right now, we’re focused on that, and we’ve turned our attention to our . Rather than focus on a building, we’re doing this throughout the museums.鈥�
