The National Museum of the American Latino is a future Smithsonian Institution museum dedicated to highlighting the contributions of American Latinos in U.S. history and culture. It will be situated in a "signature location on the National Mall" in Washington, D.C., in the United States. A commission to study the idea of the museum was originally created in 2008, and its May 2011 report called for federal legislation to establish a museum. Legislation was subsequently introduced in Congress and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 established the museum.
History
Background and beginnings
The idea for a national Smithsonian museum dedicated to the artistic, musical, literary, political, economic, and other socio-economic contributions of Americans with Cuban, Mexican, South American, and Spanish backgrounds (among others) was first broached in the mid-1990s. In April 1993, Robert McCormick Adams, Jr., Secretary of the Smithsonian, and Under Secretary Constance Berry Newman appointed a 15-member task force to study the role of and focus on Latinos in Smithsonian Institution budget, collections and exhibits, governance, personnel policies, and programs. In 1994, it issued a report, titled Willful Neglect, which concluded that the Smithsonian had ignored the contributions of Hispanics and Latinos in its exhibits and that a new national museum might help to correct the problem.
In 2003, Representative Xavier Becerra introduced legislation to establish a commission to study such a museum. It became law on May 8, 2008, creating the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American Latino, with 23 members appointed by the president and congressional leadership. The commission was authorized to spend $3.2 million over two years, and charged with studying the need for a museum, the museum's vision and purpose, possible governance structure, potential sites, construction costs, and how funds for the museum might be raised. The commission held its inaugural meeting on September 18–19, 2009. Henry Munoz III, a San Antonio architect, was chosen as the commission's chairman.
In February 2010, the commission gave a preliminary estimate of $250 million to $500 million for construction alone. The commission hired contractors to help with its feasibility studies. A series of public meetings were held to judge public interest in a museum, and provide input and feedback on the issues under discussion by the commission. In May 2010, commission staff said that the commission was considering a traveling or virtual museum, as well as locating the museum in a city other than Washington, D.C. The commission also heard testimony voicing concern over the use of the word "Latino" in the museum's name.
Report
On April 21, 2011, the New York Times reported that the commission had already settled on a building about in size, which would be approximately the same size as the $250 million National Museum of African American History and Culture. The commission was said to have selected four sites on the National Mall for the proposed museum.
The commission issued its report on May 4, 2011. Nine sites were considered for the potential museum, including one on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. But this site, although preferred by the commission, was ultimately rejected due to security concerns and because the land would continue to be owned by the United States Senate and not the Smithsonian. Instead, it recommended that an underground museum be built on the National Mall next to and below the Arts and Industries Building, with an entrance and introductory displays within a portion of that historic structure. The commission said it would cost $600 million to build and endow the museum, and said that half of this money should be raised from private donors. Congress would not need to provide funding until at least 2017. Fundraising for both construction and the endowment would take 10 years.
Legislative attempts to establish a museum
In November 2011, nine members of the Senate and two members of the House of Representatives introduced legislation (H.R. 3459) in Congress to authorize the Smithsonian to establish the new museum and to proceed with planning and fund-raising. On December 8, the group Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino (FRIENDS) announced that actress Eva Longoria and music producer Emilio Estefan would lead a campaign to build support for the museum. The museum proposal drew criticism for encouraging cultural isolationism, for seeking space on the already-crowded National Mall, and for its cost. The 2011 legislation was not acted on.