The full story of the making of the American People starts with the first migrations to this land some 20,000 years ago and extends through waves of migration and immigration to the present.

The Washington, D.C. office of the law firm K&L Gates LLP is generously providing pro bono support for the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People.

• K&L Gates Home

A bipartisan National Commission to study the establishment of the National Museum of the American People is being proposed. The Commission could be created by the President or Congress.

• Commission Proposal

Congressmen Maurice Hinchey, D-NY, and Tim Bishop, D-NY, introduced a bill, H.R. 6883, calling on Congress to consider the establishment of a major new national museum in Washington, D.C. ­ the National Museum of the American People. The bill was introduced at the end of the 110th Congress on September 11, too late to advance.

• H.R. 6883 (.pdf)
• Congressional Release (.pdf)

If legislation or an executive order by the President is approved this year, the National Museum of the American People could open in 2016.

• Museum Timeline

As of , ethnic, national and minority organizations have signed on to the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People which is seeking a bipartisan federal commission to study the establishment of the Museum. The Museum would tell the stories of all of the peoples who have come to this land from some 20,000 years ago through today.

• List of Organizations in the Coalition

Scholars from around the globe specializing in the migration and immigration of peoples are now affiliated with the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People. The scholars represent a range of disciplines, including historians, anthropologists and sociologists. The Museum will be a scholarly driven institution.

• List of Scholars

The gathering of peoples from throughout the world is one of the essential and ongoing stories of our nation. Yet, at the central gathering point in our nation’s capital on or near the National Mall, there is little that tells a full and coherent story about all of the peoples that came to make this nation. Without this story being told here, there’s a monumental void in the midst of our capital.

• Arts & Industries Building (1)
• Agriculture Dept. HQ (2)
• Auditor’s Building (3)
• Liberty Loan Site (4)
• Banneker Overlook Site (5)

Sam Eskenazi, director of the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People, met at the White House on March 5 to discuss the prospect of Obama Administration support for the bipartisan Museum project.

President Obama and the National Museum of the American People would share a similar view of the American People. At his November 4 election night speech he said, “This is our moment. This is our time — to ... reaffirm that fundamental truth — that out of many, we are one ....” Other quotations from President Obama include the following:

• Obama quotes
• Quotes from George Washington to Jack Parr

The Museum could tell the full story of the American people in four chapters.

• I — The First Peoples Come: 20,000 BCE – 1607
• II — Nation Takes Form: 1607 – 1820
• III — Great In-Gathering: 1820 – 1924
• IV — Still They Come: 1924 – Present

The National Museum of the American People would show how, from many, we are one. And it would celebrate all of the peoples who have come to this land.