National Museum of the American Latino

The Commission to Study the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American Latino (popularly known as the National Museum of the American Latino Commission) is an independent commission established by the federal government of the United States in 2008 to study the feasibility of creating a national museum dedicated to highlighting the contributions of American Latinos. The commission released a report in May 2011 calling for federal legislation to establish a museum. Legislation was introduced in Congress in March 2013 to establish the museum.

The idea for a national Smithsonian museum dedicated to the artistic, musical, literary, political, economic, and other socio-economic contributions of Americans with Cuban, Mexican, South American, and Spanish backgrounds (among others) was first broached in the mid-1990s. In April 1993, Robert McCormick Adams, Jr., Secretary of the Smithsonian, and Constance Berry Newman, Under Secretary, appointed a 15-member task force to study the role of and focus on Latinos in Smithsonian Institution budget, collections and exhibits, governance, personnel policies, and programs. On May 10, 1994, the task issued a report, titled Willful Neglect, which concluded that the Smithsonian had ignored the contributions of Hispanics and Latinos in its exhibits and that a new national museum might help to correct the problem.

In 2003, Representative Xavier Becerra introduced legislation to establish a commission to study such a museum. However, the bill did not become law for several years. On May 8, 2008, the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American Latino Act of 2007 was signed into law. The law created a 23-member commission whose members were appointed by the President and the leadership of the House and Senate. The commission was authorized to spend $3.2 million over two years, and charged with studying the need for a museum, the museum's vision and purpose, possible governance structure, potential sites, construction costs, and how funds for the museum might be raised. (It is not charged with making proposals about the specific exhibits or content of any museum.) The commission held its inaugural meeting on September 18-19, 2009. Henry Munoz III, a San Antonio, Texas, architect, was chosen as the commission's chairman.

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