In 2019, the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People is proposing an exhaustive feasibility study of the Museum. The study exploring creation of the Museum would be conducted by a consortium of major U.S. university museum studies programs in conjunction with funders supporting the museum.
The final report of the feasibility study would be presented to the President and to Congress. Funding for the report would come solely from supporters of the Museum using no taxpayer funds. The details of the study operation would be worked out by the funders, the consortium and the Museum coalition. It should take no more than a year to complete its work and present its findings.
The consortium could use the final report for the National Museum of African American History and Culture as a guide.
The NMAP feasibility study will explore and report on:
- The story the Museum will tell, develop an outline of that story and suggest the manner in which the story will be told
- Sites in Washington for the Museum with a primary focus on the Banneker Overlook site
- Requirements for the Museum building
- The scope and mission of the Museum
- Potential US audiences including school groups
- Visitors from around the world
- Costs, budget and staffing
- A fund-raising plan to plan, build and operate the Museum
- How the Museum will support state, local and ethnic museums in the U.S. with a similar mission
- The Museum’s governance, whether part of or separate from the Smithsonian Institution
- Ways for the Museum to communicate regularly with ethnic, nationality and minority organizations including more than 240 of these already supporting the Museum
- Components of the Museum
- Issues the Museum could encounter
- A plan to create the Museum
- A plan to gain public attention for the Museum
- A plan to pass legislation in support of the Museum
- Draft legislation to create an entity that would be responsible for building and funding the Museum
This blog is about the proposed National Museum of the American People which is about the making of the American People. The blog will be reporting regularly on a host of NMAP topics, American ethnic group histories, related museums, scholarship centered on the museum’s focus, relevant census and other demographic data, and pertinent political issues. The museum is a work in progress and we welcome thoughtful suggestions.
Sam Eskenazi, Director, Coalition for the National Museum of the American People