Preaching to the choir: outsourcing the telling of history at our well-managed state museum comes at a cost.

• Author: Mildenberg, David
• Position: Up Front

My Billy Graham credentials match a lot of folks who grew up in Protestant middle America in the '60s and '70s. My saintly grandmother considered his crusades must-watch television, on par with Lawrence Welk. My less-devout mom played George Beverly Shea LPs over and over. I enjoyed Graham's Charlotte crusade in 1996.

It makes perfect sense, then, that the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh is showcasing a man whose global impact tops any other Tar Heel, except maybe a certain basketball player from Wilmington. Still, perhaps influenced by our history-obsessed former editor, David Kinney, I have gained respect for the sanctity of keeping it real. Our magazine's stories are not credible if they lack fair, thorough context. So I wondered if our state museum is sticking to history or hero-worshipping my grandmother's beloved TV preacher, who, like all of us, made some mistakes along the way?

The answer suggests society's waning interest in unadorned truth-telling. We prefer to let interest groups pick up the check to present more sanitized versions, just as we rely on television networks and websites that confirm our opinions. Museum Director Ken Howard deals with such pressures daily and oversees the exhibit that was written, produced and paid for by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Museum staff read and approved its content. Though it has been open for several weeks, Howard says his staff plans to tone down what he...