The Smithsonian Institution has decided to locate the National Museum of the American Latino in the Arts and Industries Building, obviating congressional approval for building a new museum on the National Mall.
The Smithsonian Board of Regents settled on the 145-year-old building between the Smithsonian Castle and the Hirshhorn Museum after a years-long selection process. Congress authorized the creation of the museum in 2020.
The board had considered sites on Jefferson Drive SW and along the Tidal Basin. But both sites are managed by the National Park Service and would have required congressional approval.
Since the Smithsonian already owns the Arts and Industries Building, no legislation by Congress is needed to situate the American Latino museum inside.
Congressional Republicans had opposed the museum over its interpretation of Latino history in the U.S., though a provision attempting to block funding to the museum was ultimately cut from the 2024 spending bill.
The Trump administration’s budget proposal this year also stripped the museum of funding, offering an alternative “Smithsonian Latino Center” that would help put up exhibits centered around Latinos at existing Smithsonian facilities, according to The New York Times.
An exhibit at the National Museum of American History centered on Latinos also drew the administration’s ire for “pro-illegal alien activism.”
In a July 4 report called “Saving America’s Story,” the White House said, “a visitor encountering the exhibits on display at NMAH or the educational materials provided online will notice how it is the illegal alien whose rights and interests NMAH seeks to prioritize and tell the story of, not the American people’s.”
The Arts and Industries Building is the second-oldest building owned by the Smithsonian. It opened in 1881 as the first U.S. National Museum, according to the Smithsonian website.
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