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Kevin Young, the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, is stepping down after four years in the role, the museum said Friday.
In a statement, the museum said that Mr. Young said he wanted to focus on his writing. He remains the poetry editor of The New Yorker.
His departure comes as President Trump has targeted the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, in an executive order. But Mr. Young went on leave before the order was issued; the Washington Post reported that he left on personal leave on March 14.
The original leave was said to be for an indeterminate period of time, the Post reported. In recent weeks, Shanita Brackett, the museum’s associate director of operations, has been serving as its interim director. But on Friday the museum said that Mr. Young was leaving the museum.
At the time of his appointment in 2020, Mr. Young was director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a division of the New York Public Library, and poetry editor at The New Yorker magazine. He began work at the museum in 2021 and during his tenure there, he has continued as poetry editor of The New Yorker.
The museum, which opened in 2016, was built on the National Mall to tell the African American story for all Americans. Mr. Young was the second director of the African American museum, succeeding the founding director, Lonnie G. Bunch III, who in 2019 became the secretary of the Smithsonian, its most senior position.
Before his time at the Schomburg Center, Mr. Young, a poet, archivist, author and editor, spent 11 years as a professor of creative writing and English at Emory University in Atlanta, where he also curated its poetry and literary collection.
He directed the Schomburg Center, in Harlem, for four years.
In an executive order last month, President Trump called to reshape the Smithsonian, which he wants to make into a “symbol of inspiration and American greatness.” The order singled out the African American history museum, leading to speculation that it could face particular scrutiny by the administration.
In the order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” Mr. Trump took aim at what he described as a “revisionist movement” across the country that “seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”
His order claimed that the Smithsonian, in particular, had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” and that it promotes “narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.”
The executive order presents a test for Mr. Bunch, who was not told of it in advance. Though he has not commented publicly, he last week sent an email to Smithsonian employees indicating an intention to persevere, saying that “we remain committed to telling the multifaceted stories of this country’s extraordinary heritage.”
Mr. Bunch won praise for creating and leading the African American museum. But in an indication of the pressure he is expected to feel from the Trump administration going forward, Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, described Mr. Bunch in a statement earlier this week, as a “failure.”
Jennifer Schuessler and Robin Pogrebin contributed reporting.
