Smithsonian unveils first Latino history exhibit, new gallery
A Latino history exhibit opens to the public at the new Molina Family Latino gallery at the National Museum of American History.
WASHINGTON — The Smithsonian's first gallery dedicated to Latino history and culture is opening its doors to the public this weekend at the National Museum of American History.
Billed as a precursor to a national Latino museum to be incorporated to the Smithsonian Institution, the Molina Family Latino Gallery will open on June 18 in the nation's capital with the exhibition, "¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States."
The Molina Gallery, with a variety of rotating exhibits and interactive displays, is set up over 4,500 square feet on the first floor, right off the main entrance of the museum.
The "¡Presente!" exhibit will highlight stories of Latinos and Latinas across the generations, such as the colonial-era Indigenous freedom fighter Toypurina, Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente, labor and farmworker leader Dolores Huerta, Cuban-American singer Celia Cruz, and the first Latina Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor.
A scene from the inaugural Molina Family Latino Gallery exhibition at the Smithsonian's Natural Museum of American History, which opens to the public on June 18. Patricia Guadalupe for NBC NewsDisplayed both in English and Spanish, the exhibit is divided into four themes — “Colonial Legacies,” “War and U.S. Expansion,” “Immigration Stories” and “Shaping the Nation.”
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