National Museum of the American People

A proposed design of the National Museum of the American People at the Banneker Overlook site in Washington, D.C. at the south end of L'Enfant Promenade Design concept by MTFA Architecture.

The National Museum of the American People is a proposed museum to be built in Washington, D.C. A bipartisan resolution calling for a Presidential Commission to study the creation of this museum was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 7, 2011 by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) with the support of John Duncan (R-TN).^[1][2]

Overview

Proposed by the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People, composed of more than 140 ethnic, national and genealogical private non-profit organizations, the Museum would "tell the story of every group of that came from the prehistoric period through today."^[3] The organization announced this project at a press event in February, 2011 and began gathering support in Congress.^[4][5] In July of 2011, a Bipartisan Resolution, H.Con.Res. 63, was introduced in Congress by Rep. Jim Moran with 13 other original cosponsors representing both Democrats and Republicans.^[6][7]

History

The Coalition for the National Museum of the American People was created by Sam Eskenazi, former Director of Public Information for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. According to Eskenazi, the concept for the museum originated when he was passing the Jamie L. Whitten Building, the only office building on the National Mall. According to Eskenazi:

I asked myself, “If this were a museum, what kind of museum could it be?” The answer: a museum that would tell the stories of all of the peoples coming to this land. I came up with a name for the museum on the spot - the National Museum of the American People. It is a testament to the need for the museum that many people, when told about the proposal, were surprised that such a museum doesn't already exist.^[8]

On September 11, 2008, Congressman Maurice Hinchey introduced a bill, H.R. 6883, into the 110th United States Congress to "establish a commission to study the establishment of the National Museum of the American People, ....".^[9] However, the bill did not leave the United States House Committee on Natural Resources.^[10] Eskenazi then created a coalition of private not-for-profit ethnic and nationality groups to support the creation of the museum in 2009 and 2010. In February, 2011 these organizations announced a formal launch of the project at a press event in Washington, D.C.^[11] Shortly thereafter the Washington City Paper named it "D.C.'s Best Museum That Doesn't Exist Yet" as part of their "Best Of D.C. 2011" issue.^[12]

In May 2011 Congressman Jim Moran agreed to be the originating sponsor of a resolution calling for a study group, expressing concerns about balkanization of the National Mall.^[13] In partnership with Eskenazi's Coalition for the National Museum of the American People, Moran introduced into the 112th United States Congress on July 7, 2011, H.Con.Res. 63, "supporting the formation of a bipartisan Presidential Commisssion to study the establishment of a National Museum of the American People".^[14][15]

One site proposed for the museum is an overlook at the south end of L'Enfant Promenade that now contains the National Park Service's Benjamin Banneker Park, a half mile (800 m) south of the Smithsonian Institution's "Castle" on the National Mall.^[16][17][18]

Museum contents and exhibitions

Logo of the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People

The Museum project creators have proposed a number of components to be considered for a final institution. Among these are a permanent exhibition (tentatively called The Story of the American People), a Center for Advanced Studies drawing upon a group of over 50 scholars who have offered their support to the project,^[19] a National Genealogical Center, an Education and Resource Center and an archival library of American Migration and Immigration.^[20]

In addition the permanent collection is intended to be presented in a narrative manner, told as four chapters ^[21]:

Chapter I, The First Peoples Come, 20,000 before present (est.)-1607
Chapter II, The Nation Takes Form, 1607-1820
Chapter III, The Great In-Gathering, 1820-1924
Chapter IV, And Still They Come, 1924-Present

References

1. ^ Llorente, Elizabeth (2011-07-07). "Lawmakers Push for an Immigration Museum on the National Mall". http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/07/07/lawmakers-push-for-immigration-museum-on-national-mall/. Retrieved 2011-09-18. 
2. ^ Roig-Franzia, Manuel (2011-09-30). "Proposed ‘melting pot’ of American history: One museum over all?". http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/one-museum-over-all/2011/09/23/gIQA537mAL_story.html. Retrieved 2011-10-07. 
3. ^ Lancaster, Jeffrey (2011-08-06). "National Museum of the American People". Coalition of the National Museum of the American People. http://www.nmap2015.com/. Retrieved 2011-08-06. 
4. ^ Trescott, Jacqueline (2011-02-09). "Coalition supports a new museum for "American People"". http://voices.washingtonpost.com/arts-post/2011/02/coalition_supports_a_new_museu.html. Retrieved 2011-08-11. 
5. ^ Persinko, Tim (2011-02-10). "Another Museum May Land on the National Mall". http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/DC-Room-for-One-More-115663614.html. Retrieved 2011-08-11. 
6. ^ Zongker, Brent (2011-07-07). "Lawmakers want immigration museum in D.C.". http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post_now/post/lawmakers-want-immigration-museum-in-dc/2011/07/07/gIQANBTr1H_blog.html. Retrieved 2011-08-11. 
7. ^ Trescott, Jacqueline (2011-02-09). "Coalition supports a new museum for "American People"". http://voices.washingtonpost.com/arts-post/2011/02/coalition_supports_a_new_museu.html. Retrieved 2011-08-11. 
8. ^ Eskenazi, Sam (2011-09-25). "The Story Behind the Museum". National Museum of the American People. Coalition of the National Museum of the American People. http://www.nmap2015.com/history.html. Retrieved 2011-10-06. 
9. ^ Hinchey, Maurice (2008-09-11). "H.R. 6883, 110th Congress, 2d Session". Government Printing Office. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-110hr6883ih/pdf/BILLS-110hr6883ih.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-06. 
10. ^ "Bill Summary & Status: 110th Congress (2007-2008): H.R. 6883: All Congressional Actions". THOMAS. Library of Congress. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d110:1:./temp/~bdQ1zg:@@@X. Retrieved 2011-10-06. 
11. ^ Conneen, Mike (2011-07-09). "Group wants to build National Museum of the American People immigration museum". http://www.tbd.com/articles/2011/02/group-wants-to-build-national-museum-of-the-american-people-immigration-museum-51662.html. Retrieved 2011-09-18. 
12. ^ DePillis, Lydia. "Best Museum That Doesn’t Exist Yet". http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/bestofdc/peopleandplaces/2011/best-museum-that-doesn-t-exist-yet. Retrieved 2011-09-21. 
13. ^ Hopkinson, Natalie (2011-05-20). "Will White People Go to the National Black Museum?". http://www.theroot.com/views/not-welcome-neighborhood. Retrieved 2011-09-18. 
14. ^ Moran, Jim (2011-07-06). "Telling the story of all Americans". http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58404.html. Retrieved 2011-09-21. 
15. ^ Moran, Jim (2011-07-07). "H. Con. Res. 63, 112th Congress, 1st Session". Government Printing Office. http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hconres63ih/pdf/BILLS-112hconres63ih.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-05. 
16. ^ "Stunning Design Suggested for National American People Museum At Washington, DC's L'Enfant Plaza Overlook Site". National Museum of the American People. Coalition of the National Museum of the American People. 2011-10-07. http://www.nmap2015.com/news_architecture.html. Retrieved 2011-10-09. 
17. ^ Roig-Franzia, Manuel (2011-09-30). "Proposed 'melting pot' of American history: One museum over all?". Lifestyle. The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/one-museum-over-all/2011/09/23/gIQA537mAL_story.html. Retrieved 2011-10-05. 
18. ^ Environmental Assessment for Improvements to L'Enfant Promenade and Benjamin Banneker Park. Department of Transportation, Government of the District of Columbia and Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division, Federal Highway Administration. 2006-06. pp. 1-3, 1-4, 1–5, 1–6. http://www.efl.fhwa.dot.gov/files/projects/environment/LEnfantPublicEA_Document.pdf. Retrieved 2011-10-09. 
19. ^ "List of Scholars". http://www.nmap2015.com/scholars.html. Retrieved 2011-09-21. 
20. ^ "Components". http://www.nmap2015.com/components.html. Retrieved 2011-09-21. 
21. ^ "Coalition envisions new National Museum of the American People". 2011-02-11. http://inparknews.blogspot.com/2011/02/coalition-envisions-new-national-museum.html. Retrieved 2011-09-21.