Lonnie Bunch | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 14th Secretary of theSmithsonian Institution | |
| Assumed office June 16, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | David J. Skorton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1952-11-18)November 18, 1952 (age 73) Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Education | Howard University American University (BA,MA,PhD) |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | History of the United States African American studies |
| Institutions | |
Lonnie Griffith Bunch III (born November 18, 1952) is an American educator andhistorian. Bunch is the fourteenth secretary of theSmithsonian Institution, the firstAfrican American and first historian to serve as head of the Smithsonian. He has spent most of his career as a history museumcurator and administrator.
Bunch served as the founding director of the Smithsonian'sNational Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) from 2005 to 2019. He previously served as president and director of theChicago History Museum (Chicago Historical Society) from 2000 to 2005.[1] In the 1980s, he was the first curator at theCalifornia African American Museum, and then a curator at the Smithsonian'sNational Museum of American History, where, in the 1990s, he rose to head curatorial affairs. In 2020, he was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society.[2]
Bunch was born inNewark, New Jersey, in 1952[3] to Lonnie Bunch II, a science and chemistry public school teacher, and Montrose Bunch, a third-grade public school teacher,[4] both graduates ofShaw University, one of the oldestHBCUs in the South.[5] He grew up inBelleville, New Jersey, where his family were the onlyAfrican Americans in their neighborhood. His grandfather, a formersharecropper, moved into the area as one of the first black dentists in the region.[6] As a child, he experienced racism from white teenagers in his neighborhood.[6] Bunch credits his childhood experiences with localItalian immigrants and his reading of biographies as a youth with inspiring him to study history. He wanted to give a voice to those who were "anonymous" or not written about. Reflecting in 2011 on the early exposures, Bunch said: "I was in junior high, and we were reading biographies of historic figures. I remember one onGen. ‘Mad Anthony’ Wayne, and one onClara Barton, andDorothea Dix. I thought, ‘Were there no histories of black people?’ One day, I was going through my grandfather's trunk and I found a book about black soldiers in theFirst World War. I devoured it."[5]
He graduated fromBelleville High School inBelleville, New Jersey in 1970.[3] Bunch attendedHoward University[3] and later transferred toAmerican University in,Washington, D.C., where he earned hisB.A.,M.A., andPh.D. inAmerican andAfrican-American history.[7][3]
Bunch began working at theSmithsonian Institution while completing his master's degree. After graduating, he joined theUniversity of Maryland faculty as a history professor. In 1983, he became the firstcurator at theCalifornia African American Museum.[3] He worked at theNational Museum of American History from 1989 until 1994 as a curator. From 1990 to 2000, he was also a professor in the Museum Studies and History departments at The George Washington University.[8] He was promoted to associate director for curatorial affairs at the museum before leaving in 2000 to become the president of one of the nation's oldest history museums, theChicago Historical Society (Chicago History Museum), from 2001 to 2005.[9] In Chicago he led a successful capital campaign, and promoted outreach to diverse communities. One noted exhibit,Teen Chicago, focused on teenager life.[10]
In 2005, Bunch was named the director of the Smithsonian Institution'sNational Museum of African American History and Culture.[7] As founding director he designed a program of traveling exhibitions and public events prior to the opening of the museum.[11]
He also served on the Commission for the Preservation of theWhite House during theGeorge W. Bush administration[3] and was reappointed to the Commission by PresidentBarack Obama in 2010.
On May 28, 2019, Bunch was elected secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He became the first historian and first African American to lead the Smithsonian in its 173-year history,[12] he began his new role on June 16, 2019.[13]
On February 12, 2021, Bunch was appointed to the Congressionally-mandatedCommission on the Naming of Items of the Department of Defense that Commemorate the Confederate States of America or Any Person Who Served Voluntarily with the Confederate States of America.[14] He later withdrew from the commission for personal reasons prior to the swearing-in ceremony.[15]
He curated the National Museum of American History's exhibitionThe American Presidency: A Glorious Burden.[5] The exhibition was curated, built, and opened within eight months.[16]
Bunch met his wife Maria Marable in graduate school.[17] They have two daughters.[18]
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | 14th Secretary of theSmithsonian Institution 2019–present | Incumbent |
