Our Mission and Objectives

The Smithsonian Institution, the nation's premier complex of museums, has embarked on an historic journey to incorporate the meaningful elements of Asian Pacific American (APA) heritages into its museum and offices.

In 1997, the Smithsonian established an advisory group headed by the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta with a mandate to research, deliberate, and then report to Secretary I. Michael Heyman on the Institution's ability to increase and diffuse knowledge about the nation's richly diverse APA communities.

The Asian Pacific American National Advisory Groups final report, released in June 1998, called for the creation of a program for Asian Pacific American Studies. This central program would provide vision, leadership, and support for all APA activities at the Smithsonian, while serving as a liaison to APA communities.

Today the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program works to better reflect the APA experience in Smithsonian exhibitions, programs, and research. It therefore improves the public's appreciation of the crucial roles that Asian Pacific Americans have played in American history and, simultaneously, empowers APA communities in their sense of inclusion within our national culture. Dr. Franklin Odo is the Director of the Program.

For more information, please contact Franklin Odo at odof@si.edu or call 202.633.3590.