Why Our Nation Needs the NMAP

The United States needs the National Museum of the American People because it will:

  1. be America's only national institution devoted exclusively to telling the full story about the making of the American People;
  2. tell how our nation was uniquely created and built by peoples from every land and how they made us the world's economic, military, scientific and cultural leader;
  3. celebrate all of the peoples who came to this land and nation, from the very first to the most recent;
  4. tell the compelling stories about the circumstances of every group's migration here and their subsequent migrations within the country;
  5. foster a sense of belonging to the nation by telling about the mosaic of people that have come here;
  6. contribute to our national identity and unity;
  7. foster learning by visitors, both Americans and foreigners about the making of the American people;
  8. attract people from every American ethnic, nationality, minority and genealogical group to see how their own group's story is told and to learn the stories of every other group;
  9. have the support of more virtually every major American ethnic and minority group;
  10. attract foreign visitors who will come to learn about natives of their countries who became Americans;
  11. be a top destination for school groups visiting Washington;
  12. foster learning nationwide through its education and curriculum programs;
  13. possibly become a national pilgrimage destination and be among the most visited museums in the world;
  14. be built on the intellectual bedrock provided by eminent scholars;
  15. incorporate a Center for the Advanced Study of the American People to foster knowledge about who we are;
  16. be a resource for state, local and ethnic museums throughout the nation;
  17. have bipartisan support;
  18. belong near the National Mall in Washington telling the central story of our nation;
  19. incorporate these components: a film center, genealogical center, nationwide peopling of America sites, bookstore, public programs, collections and special and travelling exhibits;
  20. provide a range of knowledge, learning, stimulation and entertainment for visitors;
  21. not require federal tax money to design, build or operate it;
  22. show how our central documents, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, helped shape the American character;
  23. tell who "We the People" are;
  24. embody our original national motto: E Pluribus Unum - From Many One;
  25. be the best story-telling museum in our nation;
  26. be the most important American museum that doesn't exist ... YET!
  27. bring all Americans together.