Autry in history

I find the statement by Autry National Center President John Gray -- “To tell everyone’s story in the most respectful way, we could not have a building that referenced one particular culture or one specific time in the American West” -- rather disingenuous [“Autry Planning a Natural Look,” by Mike Boehm, March 12]. He has chosen to do just that. He has chosen to tell the story of our culture, now, in this time. Gray has chosen to represent a historical era of obsequious bureaucrats offering their fawning apologia. And an era of cookie-cutter, office-building architecture. By their very nature, museums protect the past, not revise it. The very past Gray wishes to wash away is itself a part of the influences and history of the indigenous people of California.

Gray hopes to do what all good bureaucrats hope to do: place himself in charge of a big building project with a nice fat budget. The only people who have Gray to thank for anything are the architect and the construction company! The Autry National Center’s budget would be better spent in the museum, not on it.

N. Craig Bryant

Santa Barbara