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A visitor to the 2010 Smithsonian Folklife Festival learns about the APA Center through a trivia game
created by 2010 summer intern Terry Park (pictured left). Photo by Xiang Siow.

Our Mission and Objectives

The Smithsonian Institution, the nation's premier complex of museums, has embarked on an historic journey to incorporate the meaningful elements of Asian Pacific American (APA) heritages into its museum and offices.

In 1997, the Smithsonian established an advisory group headed by the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta with a mandate to research, deliberate, and then report to Secretary I. Michael Heyman on the Institution's ability to increase and diffuse knowledge about the nation's richly diverse APA communities.

The Asian Pacific American National Advisory Groups final report, released in June 1998, called for the creation of a program for Asian Pacific American Studies. This central program would provide vision, leadership, and support for all APA activities at the Smithsonian, while serving as a liaison to APA communities. Dr. Franklin Odo, who retired from his position in January 2010, is the Center's founding director.

The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center provides vision, leadership, and support for Asian and Pacific Islander American initiatives for the Smithsonian Institution and works to better reflect their contributions to the American experience, world culture, and the understanding of our planet and the natural world throughout Smithsonian Institution collections, research, exhibitions, outreach, and education programs.

For more information, please email Krista Aniel or call 202.633.2691.