Conservative PragerU ‘Founders Museum’ displayed at Nebraska Capitol

LINCOLN — As lawmakers return for a new session, the Nebraska Capitol walls are lined with golden-colored, framed portraits of the signers of the Declaration of Independence distributed online by conservative nonprofit PragerU. 

The 82 paintings along the first-floor hallway highlight the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, key events from the founding of the United States and women of the American Revolution. The display is part of a push from the Trump administration’s White House Task Force 250, an outreach effort this year designed to celebrate America’s semiquincentennial. 

The White House has sent letters to state governors and leaders encouraging them to put the “Founders Museum” in state capitols, schools and embassies, NPR has reported. The White House also partnered with Hillsdale College to produce a history video series. Some view the Christian liberal arts school of about 2,000 students in Michigan as a conservative alternative to traditional higher education.

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen said the purpose of hosting the exhibit is to let the state “celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary” and do things that put Nebraska on the map.

The state also unveiled a logo for the semiquincentennial and a website link listing upcoming events in the state and nationally for the 250th anniversary. The state’s Semiquincentennial Commission sponsored the “Founders Museum” at the Capitol, officials said.

Conservative radio host Dennis Prager and Allen Estrin, Prager’s producer at the time, founded PragerU in 2009 to produce short videos on viewing historical, economic and climate issues using a conservative lens. The group has touted itself as a “free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media and education.” 

PragerU has faced criticism for sharing content historians consider misleading and inaccurate. The nonprofit has pushed the view that the U.S. was founded on“Judeo-Christian values” and it is and should remain a Christian nation. 

When asked about the leanings of the nonprofit and criticisms of it, Pillen said that if people have a problem, he would tell them, “Hey, we’re the United States of America. We are Americans.” 

“Let’s celebrate America together and focus on unity, and let’s not get distracted by the 1/10 of 1%,” Pillen said, referring to what he described as the far ends of both sides.

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon has said the traveling exhibit is dedicated “to the purpose of patriotic civics education in this country.” She said she hoped students and others would honor the founders by learning and debating their ideas.

“Patriotic education does not mean propaganda to produce blind allegiance to the government,” McMahon said during the opening last year of PragerU’s exhibit at the White House. “The patriotism of the revolution was the opposite of blind allegiance.” 

Next to the portraits in Lincoln are short biographies with QR codes that link to artificial intelligence-generated videos from PragerU featuring the historical figures talking about their lives.

Brendan Gillis, director of teaching & learning at the American Historical Association, told NPR that he has “real concerns about the extent to which they weave together words that are preserved in primary sources from historical figures with other sort of commentary.

An AI-generated John Adams says in modern political language, “Facts do not care about your feelings” in his video.