Philly’s Jewish Museum may become part of the Smithsonian Institution

On Wednesday, several members of the U.S. House and Senate proposed a new commission that would study the possibility of transferring ownership of Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History to the Smithsonian Institution.

Legislation was introduced to establish the commission, lawmakers said — a step on the path to the Smithsonian absorbing the museum.

Bringing the Weitzman under the wing of the Smithsonian is an idea that has been under consideration for several years, said Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Pa.), a co-sponsor of the bill in the House.

“There are certainly a lot of advantages,” said Boyle. “There is a certain prestige element that comes with that. It also attracts much more attention for the museum.”

Misha Galperin, president and CEO of the museum on Independence Mall, said that becoming a part of the Smithsonian would send “a very important message that we belong here, particularly at this time of record antisemitism.”

The museum already has a relationship with the Smithsonian as one of its many affiliate partners, but becoming a part of the Smithsonian brings the contribution of Jewish people in America to a different level of visibility, Galperin said. “This is saying we are part of the nation’s museums.”

Even if it becomes part of the Smithsonian, he said, the Weitzman would stay in Philadelphia.

“The museum was built on Independence Mall, the birthplace of America, symbolically, to underline the fact that American Jews are an integral part of the United States of America.”

Galperin said that an acquisition by the Smithsonian would mean the museum’s dissolution as a separate nonprofit organization. A Smithsonian Institution spokesperson declined to comment.

The introduction of the legislation is an early step in the process. No vote has been scheduled. The bill would have to gather support, pass the House and Senate, and be signed by President Joe Biden. Then, the commission would be formed within 90 days, and report to Congress within two years with a recommendation on whether the Weitzman should join with the Smithsonian.

Separate legislation would be required to make it happen.

“Integrating the Weitzman with the Smithsonian would pay tribute to the role that the Jewish American community has played in the progress of America,” Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.), the bill’s lead co-sponsor in the Senate, said in a statement. “With antisemitism on the rise, the Weitzman Museum stands as an opportunity to educate the next generation on the contributions Jewish Americans made to our nation and help stem the tide of hate.”

The bill has national and bipartisan support from a list that includes Sens. John Fetterman (D., Pa.), Mike Crapo (R., Ind.), Jacky Rosen (D., Nev.), and Susan Collins (R., Maine); and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.), Mike Turner (R., Ohio), and Max Miller (R., Ohio).

The museum was founded in 1976 in a building shared with Congregation Mikveh Israel and, in 2010, moved into its new building on Independence Mall. In 2020, facing debt from construction costs, the National Museum of American Jewish History — as it was then called — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, emerging from bankruptcy in 2021. It acquired its new name the same year when shoe entrepreneur Stuart Weitzman made a gift of an undisclosed sum that paid off the museum’s debt and allowed it to purchase its building.

Galperin announced in November that he would be stepping down and would stay until a successor was named. The search for a new president and CEO is ongoing, he said.

The Smithsonian operates mostly in Washington, but has several other museums outside of its base, such as the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in Manhattan.

Boyle said the commission studying the potential transfer of the museum to the Smithsonian would be a bipartisan-appointed group of nine members “who have subject matter expertise in the running of museum operations.”

He said the potential move was initiated by leaders of the Weitzman, and was not precipitated by the kind of financial pressures the museum has encountered in the past.

“The good news is especially since becoming the Weitzman, it is in an incredibly strong position,” said Boyle, “and is on sound financial footing regardless of whether it becomes part of the Smithsonian family or not.”