Agency history, 1997-

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Subject

  • Odo, Franklin
  • Ng, Konrad Gar-Yeu 1974-
  • Sasaki, Lisa
  • Gonzalves, Theodore S
  • Mineta, Norman Yoshio 1931-
  • You, Yao-Fen
  • Asian Pacific American National Advisory Group
  • Smithsonian Program in Asian Pacific American Studies
  • Smithsonian Institution Asian Pacific American Program
  • Smithsonian Institution Office of the Under Secretary for Museums and Research/Provost
  • Smithsonian Institution Office of the Provost
  • Smithsonian Institution Office of the Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture
  • Smithsonian Institution Office of the Under Secretary for History and Culture
  • Smithsonian Institution Office of the Under Secretary for Museums and Culture
  • Smithsonian Institution Office of the Under Secretary for American Museums and National Programs

Category

Agency History

Notes

  • This is an agency history. It does not describe actual records. The Smithsonian Institution Archives uses these histories as brief accounts of the origin, development, and functions of an office or administrative unit to set that unit in its historical context. To find information on record holdings, please double-click the highlighted field "Creator/Author", which will open on a brief view of relevant records.
  • Smithsonian Annals, 1997
  • Smithsonian Annals, 1998
  • "Asian Pacific American Program: Who we are," http://www.apa.si.edu/whoweare.html, July 12, 2001
  • "Talk Story: Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center," blog post, The Bigger Picture, Smithsonian Institution Archives, https://siarchives.si.edu/blog/talk-story-smithsonian-asian-pacific-american-center, 7/1/2021
  • SI Email Announcement, "Message from the Under Secretary for Museums and Culture: Interim Director named for the Asian Pacific American Center," February 11, 2022
  • In 1997, the Smithsonian Institution established an advisory group, headed by Norman Yoshio Mineta (former U.S. Congressman and the 14th Secretary of Transportation) and tasked to research, examine, and report on the Smithsonian's progress in covering the nation's diverse Asian Pacific American communities. The Asian Pacific American National Advisory Group's final report was released in June 1998 and called for the creation of an Asian Pacific American studies program.
  • The Smithsonian Program for Asian Pacific American Studies was established thereafter that same year with Franklin Odo as the founding director. Its mission from its creation until today is to be a resource to "enrich the American Story with the voices of Asian Pacific Americans."
  • In 2001 the office was renamed the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and in 2012, it became the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. Over the years the Center has presented innovative, community-centered museum experiences through the United States and the world. Through their work with communities, their exhibitions, educational programs, digital storytelling, culture labs, and public programs, the Center presents the history, art, and culture of Asian Pacific Americans.
  • The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center has fallen under a variety of offices at the Smithsonian including the Office of the Provost; Office of the Under Secretary for American Museums and National Programs; Office of the Under Secretary for History and Culture; Office of the Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture; the Office of the Under Secretary for Museums and Research/Provost; and the Office of the Under Secretary for Museums and Culture.
  • After Odo retired in 2010, Konrad Gar-Yeu Ng was director from 2011 to 2015. Ng was followed by Lisa Sasaki who started her tenure as director in November 2016. In March 2021, Sasaki was appointed interim director for the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum and Dr. Theodore S. Gonzalves, curator of Asian Pacific American history at the National Museum of American History was appointed interim director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. Gonzalves served as interim director until February 2022, when Yao-Fen You, Senior Curator and Head of Product Design and Decorative Arts at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, was appointed acting director.
  • For a history of the larger creating unit, refer to "Forms part of " above.

Repository Loc.

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507; 600 Maryland Avenue, SW; Washington, DC 20024-2520

Date

  • 1997
  • 1997-

Topic

  • Multiculturalism
  • Public relations
  • Congresses and conventions
  • Education
  • Study and teaching
  • Museums
  • Asian Americans
  • Museums--Public relations
  • Museums--Educational aspects
  • Pacific Islanders
  • Museum exhibits
  • Asian Americans--Study and teaching

Form/Genre

Mixed archival materials

Local number

SIA AH00299

Full Record

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