{"id":214,"date":"2019-02-16T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T14:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999938567"},"modified":"2019-02-16T06:00:05","modified_gmt":"2019-02-16T14:00:05","slug":"smithsonian-american-history-museum-latino-history-molina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/smithsonian-american-history-museum-latino-history-molina","title":{"rendered":"Plans move forward for Molina Family Latino Gallery at the Smithsonian"},"content":{"rendered":"

For now, the walls are gray in an empty exhibit space on the first floor of the\u00a0Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

But in two years, the 4,500-square-foot location will hold the museum’s first permanent gallery dedicated to the history of Latinos in the United States, with immersive multimedia activities, rotating exhibits and first-person narratives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eduardo Diaz, director of the Smithsonian Institution\u2019s Latino Center, said the exhibit is a milestone for the museum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“For the first time, the Smithsonian will have a designated space to tell the story of Latinos,” he said in an interview Monday.<\/p>\n

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Space for the future Molina Family Latino Gallery at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The gallery space was made possible through a lead gift of $10 million last year<\/a> from Long Beach’s Molina family. The five\u00a0Molina siblings\u2014Mario, Martha, John, Janet and Josephine\u2014made the donation in honor of their father, Dr. C. David Molina, a physician and founder of Molina Healthcare.<\/p>\n

(John Molina is a founding partner of Pacific6, the company that owns Long Beach Post.)<\/p>\n

While construction was held up slightly by the government shutdown, officials expect the gallery to open by the summer of 2021, Diaz said.<\/p>\n

The gallery will be located on the first floor of the\u00a0American History Museum across from an exhibit called “Food: Transforming the American Table.”<\/p>\n

The opening exhibit,\u00a0Making Home:<\/em> Latino Stories of Home and Belonging,\u00a0<\/em>will introduce visitors to the history of Latinos in the U.S. and invite them to reexamine what they know about Latinos and U.S. history.<\/p>\n

Diaz said there will also be a quality, online gallery for those, including working-class families from Long Beach, who may not have the means to travel to the National Mall.<\/p>\n

Molina siblings’ $10 million gift will give birth to Smithsonian’s first permanent Latino gallery space<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n