New Americans Museum Opens in San Diego

After years of operating out of a tiny downtown office, San Diego’s first-ever museum dedicated to immigration (The New Americans Museum) is opening its doors in Point Loma (near San Diego) next weekend.

Personal stories of the immigrant experience are a vital component of the New Americans Museum’s efforts to illuminate the many facets of contemporary immigration to the United States. The Oral and Visual Histories Project is intended to collect and preserve these narratives. An advisory council of scholars, immigrant leaders, and media experts will provide ongoing guidance. The archived stories will make accounts of the immigrant experience readily available to family descendents and researchers as well as the general public. The histories will be available at the Museum and on its web site, in audio and digital video format, and as part of interactive exhibitions. This project is slated for substantial growth in 2008, as it represents a core collection for the Museum.

The inaugural exhibition is on Teenagers and Immigration. To see the New Americans Museum website, click here.

KJ