Bristol Resident Earns Prestigious Honor

By Dean Wright, The Bristol Press

July 2, 2021

As part of new leadership announcements, Bristol resident Barbara Franklin and Argentina native Enrique Segura were named as new leaders to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History Board.

Franklin is a former U.S. secretary of commerce and business executive while Segura is chairman of the board of the ENSE Group, said the release. Segura will succeed Chairman Emeritus of A+E Networks Abbe Raven and Franklin will succeed CEO of North Ten Mile Associates Barry Meyer. Franklin will serve as the 22-member museum board vice chair.

“We are looking forward to the vast expertise and expansion of perspectives our board leadership brings to our shared work in transforming our museum as a place of dialogue and understanding of the layered complexity of American history,” said Anthea M. Hartig, the museum’s Elizabeth MacMillan Director in the release. “Dr. Segura and Secretary Franklin have a deep commitment to public service and to our museum’s goal to become the nation’s most accessible, inclusive, relevant and sustainable public history institution.”

Franklin is the CEO and president of private international consultancy firm Barbara Franklin Enterprises. According to the release, she has served under five U.S. presidents and was a staff assistant to President Richard Nixon. She pushed White House efforts for women to serve in policy making decisions in the federal government and as the secretary of commerce she led a presidential mission to China in the name of restoring economic relations. She has been recognized as one of the “50 Women Who Made American Political History” by Time magazine.

Franklin is the board chair emerita of the National Association of Corporate Directors, said the release, and the Economic Club of New York. She currently sits as a board member with the National Committee on U.S. China relations and the National Symphony Orchestra. She is a trustee of the George and Barbara Bush Foundation. Franklin is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and one of the first women graduates of Harvard Business School. She lives in both Bristol and Washington D.C.

According to the release, the museum board includes philanthropists, active alumni, philanthropists, business leaders, historians and congressional members. It was established in 1996 and members advise the director with exhibitions, programs, finance, development and facilities. The museum director, Secretary of the Smithsonian and the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for Museums and Culture are considered ex officio members.