Dr. Linda Trinh Vo, VAOHP Director and Co-Curator of Vietnamese Focus exhibition, along with other organization leaders and academics, sends petition to President Obama to create a National Museum of the American People:
FOR RELEASE: CONTACT:
Thursday, October 1, 2015 Sam Eskenazi, 202-744-1868
sam@nmap2015.com
84 Ethnic Groups, 103 Scholars Ask President To Study American People Museum
WASHINGTON, DC – A wide range of 187 ethnic and minority leaders and scholars asked the President today to create a bipartisan Presidential Commission to study establishment of the National Museum of the American People.
The museum will tell the dramatic story of every group of people from throughout the world who came here and became Americans.
The letter, signed by 84 ethnic leaders and 103 scholars, says, “The National Museum of the American People will showcase how, when, why and from where we arrived in this land, our movements across the plains and mountains of the country, what each group encountered and how each helped to transform our nation.”
The letter, keyed to the 50th anniversary of the 1965 Immigration Act, says the museum celebrates every group that helped make this country the world’s economic, military, scientific and cultural leader.
Right now there is no museum in our nation’s capital telling the full story, from the first humans here, Native Americans, to every group’s story after them through today, said Sam Eskenazi, Director of the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People. “It is well past time for telling about our incredible and dramatic story about ‘We the People’.”
Former Rep. Jim Moran, D-VA, said that he expects the museum to be the best storytelling museum in the nation. “Everyone will want to see how their own story is depicted and they will learn about all of the others.”
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NOTES FOR MEDIA:
Available for interviews to discuss the museum:
Former Rep. Jim Moran – Contact: Gayle Reuter, greuter@mwe.com, 202-756-8746
Alan Kraut, Professor of History, American University – Contact: akraut@american.edu, 202-885-2410
Sam Eskenazi, Director, CNMAP – Contact: sam@nmap2015.com, 202-744-1868
For more information about this project, go to www.nmap2015.com
To print out or download a PDF of the letter to President Obama please click here.
October 1, 2015
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On October 3rd, our nation will mark the 50th Anniversary of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 that opened the door to millions of new Americans and their descendants. To help build on the legacy of that landmark law, we urge you to create a bipartisan commission to study establishment of the National Museum of the American People.
The museum will relate the history of the making of the American People, a story which embodies our original national motto: E Pluribus Unum. This museum will celebrate every group from every land who have become Americans — “We the People.” It will show how people from every place on Earth helped make this country the world’s economic, military, scientific and cultural leader.
The National Museum of the American People will showcase how, when, why and from where we arrived in this land, our movements across the plains and mountains of the country, what each group encountered and how each helped to transform our nation.
The narrative begins in the prehistoric period and progresses through waves of migration and immigration until today. We expect it to be the best storytelling museum in the world as it depicts one of the world’s greatest stories.
The museum will shine a bright light on our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, and show how they helped to shape the American character and infuse the values that bind us — especially important now when so much of the world is riven by sectarian strife.
The National Museum of the American People will become a lasting cultural legacy. All Americans will come to learn the story of their own ethnic, national or minority groups, and to learn about all of the others. Foreign visitors will come to better understand our incredibly diverse nation.
We seek no appropriated funds to plan, design, build or operate the museum. We envision a commission like the one that led to the creation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. We look forward to working with you to realize the National Museum of the American People.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
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