WASHINGTON, DC - A coalition of 130 ethnic and minority groups announced today at a Capitol Hill press conference the launch of the effort to establish the National Museum of the American People. The museum will tell the stories of all of the groups that came to this land and this nation from prehistoric times up to the present. The museum will reflect the nation’s original national motto: "E Pluribus Unum" - From Many We Are One!

The coalition emphasized that no federal tax dollars will be sought to build this new national museum in Washington. Its first step is to seek a bipartisan Presidential Commission to study the establishment of the museum and a bipartisan Congressional resolution in support of the commission.

The museum's mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about the story of the making of the American people, to reflect upon questions that are raised by that story, and to take pride in it. The museum will highlight the diversity and richness of the cultures from which Americans came. It will foster a sense of belonging to the nation by the successive waves of people who have come here and made us the leading economic, military, scientific and cultural force in the world.

The museum will tell who the people were that came here, when they came, where they came from, why they left their homeland, how they got here, where they first settled, who was already here, what they encountered, where they moved after they arrived, how they became Americans, and how they transformed our land and nation.

"The stories about the migration and immigration of our ancestors as well as those coming today are dramatic and will be compelling in this museum," said Sam Eskenazi, director of the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People. "This will be America's only national institution devoted exclusively to telling the full story of the making of the American people."

"This museum will help us all understand our own heritage and, at the same time, the story of all other Americans," Eskenazi said. "As President Obama said in his inaugural address, 'We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth ...'"

The museum's full story could be told in four chapters: (1) The First Peoples Come, from the prehistoric period to 1607 with the English settlement in Jamestown; (2) The Nation Takes Form, from 1607 to 1820: the story of American Indians, English and other European settlement, the African slave trade, Hispanic settlement, the establishment of the nation and the beginning of its expansion; (3) The Great In-Gathering, from 1820 to 1924: the story of this country’s century of immigration, when the ancestors of most Americans arrived; (4) And Still They Come, from 1924 to the present: the ongoing story of American immigration and migration. Each of these story lines will be developed by eminent scholars and vetted by scores of others, as will all the exhibitions the museum curates.

So far, 50 notable scholars from around the nation and the world are formally supporting establishment of the museum. A range of scholars, including historians, anthropologists, archeologists, ethnologists, human geographers, demographers, geneticists, linguists and others will help tell the story. While the museum will follow a consensus of their views, significant evidence-based historic and scientific dissenting views will also be included. The museum’s goal will be to tell the story with force and clarity and avoid mythology.

Eskenazi said that he envisioned the museum telling its story as if the visitor were walking through a compelling documentary film about the making of the American people. Following in the tradition of some of today's most successful museums such as the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Museum of the American People will use a mix of authentic artifacts, mixed media, and the latest innovations of exhibition designers to make the story authentic and compelling.

The Coalition believes that the museum will attract visitors and school children from throughout the nation to learn about their own history and will attract foreign visitors who would come to learn about natives of their countries who became Americans. Both Canada and Mexico have major national museums in their capitals telling the stories of their people and they are the most visited museums in those nations.

Eskenazi said that museum components will include a national genealogical center, a scholars' center, archival collections, and a film center. In addition, the museum will offer educational as well as a variety of other museum programs. It will also assist state, local and ethnic museums throughout the nation.

The 130 organizations in the museum's coalition represent 50 different ethnic, minority and nationality groups in the nation, including American Indian, English American, Irish American, Italian American, German American, African American, Hispanic American, Scottish American, Greek American, Jewish American, Asian Pacific American, Arab American, Chinese American, French American and many others, including the Daughters of the American Revolution.

If the Presidential Commission is created this year, the museum could open in 2018, according to Eskenazi. There are a variety of sites where the museum could be located in Washington, including three on or across the street from the National Mall and two sites just off of the Mall.

The creation of the coalition began in early 2009. Many additional organizations and groups are expected to join the coalition in the coming months. The coalition plans to work with the ethnic, minority and nationality Congressional caucuses on Capitol Hill to help get its bipartisan resolution adopted by Congress. Most recent major museums in Washington have started off with a federal commission to study their feasibility. Following a final report by the commission to the President and Congress, the goal will be to have Congress create an entity charged with doing two things: building the museum and raising all of the money required to build it.