Openings at the Smithsonian

Public meetings -- and a remodeled museum -- are welcome.

THOUSANDS OF people lined up last week for the Smithsonian Institution's long-awaited opening of the remodeled National Museum of American History. It wasn't the only Smithsonian opening to be celebrated. Earlier in the week, the Smithsonian's regents held their first-ever public meeting, an event that also will help improve the institution's tattered image.

Far fewer crowds turned out for last Monday's town hall meeting than for Friday's reopening of the history museum, but that doesn't diminish the significance of the event. As The Post's Jacqueline Trescott reported, for two hours members of the public were able to pepper the Smithsonian's governing board with questions and concerns. Fittingly, the very first question dealt with the scandal caused by former secretary Lawrence M. Small's spending, an episode that sullied the Smithsonian's reputation and raised questions about its governance.

The regents, 15 of whom attended the session, took the controversy to heart and instituted a series of reforms to become more transparent. Ms. Trescott aptly called the open session "the first small step" because, of course, there is still more to be done. Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), a critic of Smithsonian practices, is right in noting that most business is still done behind closed doors, with selected details given to the public after the fact. Also troubling is the Smithsonian's resistance to being covered by the Freedom of Information Act. Nonetheless, the board should be congratulated for its willingness to engage the public -- as well as on overseeing a gorgeous remodeling of one of America's favorite places.