The Trump administration dismissed the Library of Congress, Dr. Carla D. Hayden, on Thursday, causing the fast of the Democrats. Dr. Hayden was the first African -American and the first woman to serve as head of the institution.
Dr. Hayden, appointed as the 14th Library of Congress by President Barack Obama in 2016, had the library through the first mandate of President Trump. The Library, the oldest cultural institution administered by the Government in the United States, rarely obtains a new leader. Dr. Hayden was the first since 1987.
He was fired by an email of two intentions of Trent Morse, the attached director of the White House staff, according to a screenshot published by Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, the main Democrat in the subcommittee of assignments in the legislative branch.
“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I write to inform him that the position as a librarian of the Congress is immediately rescued,” said email, without citing a cause. “Thanks for your service.”
A spokesman for the Congress Library, Roswell Encina, confirmed the dismissal. Consisted by phone, Dr. Hayden, 72, declined to comment.
The representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the leader of the Democratic minority, issued a statement that describes Dr. Hayden as a library leader “made, mainly and distinguished” of the library.
“Donald Trump’s unfair decision to fire Dr. Hayden in an email sent by a random political trick is a shame and the latest in his starting effort to ban books, bleach US history and go back the clock,” Jeffries said.
Mr. Morse did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Since he returned to office, President Trump has moved quickly to affirm control over US cultural institutions, assuming the John F. Kennedy center for performing arts and declaring the war against the universities of the Ivy League.
An impulse to purge the references to diversity and inclusion led to a page about Jackie Robinson’s military career, temporarily disappearing from the Pentagon website. The websites of the Arlington National Cemetery that highlight the tombs of the members of the black and female service disappeared. The books that include “To Kill A Mockingbird”, Harper Lee’s novel about racism in the southern era of depression, were purged from schools led by the Department of Defense, according to a lawsuit filed by US civil liberties.
The Library of Congress, which describes itself as the world’s Lark Library, is home to millions of articles, with collections of books about foreign languages and world history, as well as music, movies and rookies. It serves as the investigation arm of the Congress and is open to the public.
The representative Rosa Delauro, the main democrat in the Assignments Committee, said that Dr. Hayden was widely admired by the members of the Congress.
“His dismissal is not only an affront to his historical service, but a direct attack on the independence of one of our most straight institutions,” Delauro said in a statement.
Dr. Hayden became the librarian of Congress after a career such as the main library in Baltimore, her home for a long time, where she had reviewed the public library system in difficulties in the city.
He had met Mr. Obama since his early days as a librarian who works in the Chicago Public Library. He began as a librarian in Chicago in 1973 and finally became the main library of the city.
But she housed a special appreciation by the Library of Congress, which is called a “treasure chest.”
“It’s like heaven,” he said in a video published by the White House of Obama when he was nominated to be a library of Congress. In the video, he reflected on status as the first woman and first black librarian of Congress, saying that his selection showed “what can be a national library.”
“It’s inclusive,” he said. “It can be part of everyone’s history. I believe in what libraries can be for a civilized society and a country that is open to all.”
Catie Edmondson and Emily Cochrane Contributed reports.
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