A new museum focusing on national diversity may be added to the Smithsonian Institution in the District. A coalition of 131 organizations, representing over 50 ethnic, racial and minority groups, is gathering support to build the National Museum of the American People.

The exhibits would tell the story of the American “melting pot,” focusing on immigration and migration, from the development of Native American culture to immigration in the 21st century, according to the website of the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People. The museum would focus on the identities of immigrants, why they came to the U.S., what happened to them when they arrived and how their cultures and existing U.S. culture have changed as a result.

Boston College professor of history Kevin Kenny, one of over 50 professors and scholars worldwide who have voiced support for the project, believes that the National Museum of the American People would provide college students with a sense of American diversity and commonality.

“The museum has the potential to explore inclusion and exclusion, acceptance and discrimination, racism and assimilation, in a way that reveals the limitations but also the radical potential of American democracy,” he said in an email.

Glenn Ojeda (SFS ’14), said he was in favor of the museum because he believes that a nation of immigrants should seek its common humanity.

“If we come a bit closer, we can see that those alleged differences are not as big,” Ojeda said.

Similar to the style and presentation of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People envisions an approach that follows a timeline, combining artifacts with a variety of media, according to the organization’s website. The website states that the coalition also wants the museum to include the National Genealogical Center, a database of genealogical information that would utilize a DNA contribution program, available to visitors and internet browsers. Another planned project is the Center for Advanced Studies of the American People, which would publish and sponsor scholarly work, according to the website.

The proposed project is similar to museums that already exist in other North American countries; Mexico’s National Museum of Anthropology and the Canadian Museum of Civilization also tell the stories of individuals that settled their lands.

“Americans do not have a comprehensive and accurate picture of the peoples who created and continue to build this country,” reads the introduction of House bill 6883, which would create a commission charged with creating an organized plan for the museum’s development.

The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives in September 2008 by Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) and eight co-sponsors.

Once the commission’s report is complete, it would recommend a second piece of legislation, calling for the establishment of the museum. According to the coalition’s projected timeline, such an act would be submitted to President Obama’s desk in 2012. The projected opening day would be in 2018.

Although planning is in the preliminary stages, five possible sites have been identified as possible museum locations, all of which lie directly on or near the National Mall, according to the website. The coalition proposes on its website that construction be financed privately, without federal tax dollars.