{"id":748,"date":"2013-02-13T13:23:18","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T13:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/?p=748"},"modified":"2013-02-13T13:23:18","modified_gmt":"2013-02-13T13:23:18","slug":"a-call-to-action-to-have-the-smithsonian-to-recognize-irish-american-heritage-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/2013\/02\/13\/a-call-to-action-to-have-the-smithsonian-to-recognize-irish-american-heritage-month\/","title":{"rendered":"A Call to Action to have the Smithsonian to Recognize Irish American Heritage Month"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/aoh.com\/gobansaer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/smithsonianHeritage.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-749\" style=\"border: 0px none; margin: 5px;\" alt=\"smithsonianHeritage\" src=\"https:\/\/aoh.com\/gobansaer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/smithsonianHeritage-300x215.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" \/><\/a>The AOH continues to work to have Irish American Heritage Month recognized and commemorated by our public institutions with the same level of commitment as they recognize other heritages.\u00a0 In particular, the Smithsonian Institute, which claims to be America\u2019s leading educational institution, honors with extensive programs Black History Month, Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and American Indian Heritage Month but continues to ignore Irish American Heritage Month.\u00a0 We have tried to engage the administration of the Smithsonian several times, and have met with what can only be described as practiced bureaucratic obfuscation:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First, we pointed to the President\u2019s yearly proclamation calling for recognition of Irish American Heritage Month by \u201cappropriate programs and activities.\u00a0 To but it colloquially, the Smithsonian doesn\u2019t seem to be acting on the boss\u2019s memo as concerns Irish American Heritage Month.\u00a0 We were told that \u201cthere are many presidential proclamations, we only recognize those Months that have been recognized by law.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>We responded pointing out that Irish American Heritage month was proclaimed in Public Law 101-418.<\/li>\n<li>We were then told by a Smithsonian representative that the Smithsonian, often called the \u201cNation\u2019s Attic\u201d, did not have any items in their collection to support an exhibit on Irish American Heritage Month.\u00a0 This was incredible!\u00a0 We quickly pointed out that the Smithsonian had the Apollo Command capsule commanded by Michael Collins (who was also the Smithsonian\u2019s first director of the Air and Space Museum) and we felt confident that the Smithsonian likewise must have material to honor the tremendous contribution Irish American women such as Colonel Eileen Collins, Dr. Katherine Sullivan and Christa McAuliffe have played in space exploration.\u00a0 We would certainly hope that the Smithsonian as America\u2019s foremost educational institution would also have materials on the nine Irish American signers of the Declaration of Independence, Commodore John Barry, the Irish Brigade \u00a0and the numerous Irish born awardees of the Medal of Honor.<\/li>\n<li>Most recently, we have been told that there is just no funding for an Irish American Heritage Month programming.\u00a0\u00a0 This is an unacceptable argument:\u00a0 the Smithsonian can\u2019t fund programs for other heritages and then say the \u201ccoffers are dry\u201d when it comes to recognizing the Irish.\u00a0 It is particularly unjust given that Irish Americans have always given of their treasurer and their blood to this Nation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is clear that for reasons which are not clear, and which they seem hesitant to directly articulate, that the administration of the Smithsonian are resistant to recognizing the contribution of Irish Americans and Irish American Heritage Month.\u00a0 We therefore ask that every Hibernian and their family members send a letter to the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian asking that this prominent taxpayer funded institution recognize the heritage of Irish Americans with comparable exhibits to the other heritages that the Smithsonian currently celebrates annually.\u00a0 The Chancellor of the Board of Regents is Chief Justice Roberts of the Supreme Court, certainly a man we should be able to appreciate an appeal to fairness and justice.<b>\u00a0 <\/b><b><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The address and a suggested letter can be found below.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p>Isn\u2019t out heritage worth a few moments and a stamp?\u00a0 If we as Hibernians can deliver a few hundred to the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian I am confident inquires will be made by the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian into the reasons why Irish American Heritage Month is currently ignored by the Smithsonian administration.\u00a0 As Hibernians dedicate to \u201cFriendship, Unity and Christian Charity\u201d let us make in all our discussions on Irish American Heritage Month one point abundantly clear:\u00a0 <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">we do not dispute the rightful recognition of other Heritages to tell with pride their contributions to the great American narrative, rather we are looking for the tremendous contribution of Irish Americans to our nation to be accorded the same recognition and respect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>To paraphrase David McCullough, our Heritage is who we are and why we are the way we are.\u00a0 No group has given more to the creation, formation and defense of our nation than the Irish, yet the contributions of our ancestors continue to be overlooked and underrepresented, \u00a0particularly be educational institutions such as the Smithsonian.\u00a0 We owe it as a debt of gratitude that the courage, loyalty and sacrifices of our forebears is honored and their memory passed on to future generations.\u00a0 Our Oath calls us to action in this mission and I thank you in advance for your support.<\/p>\n<p>Neil F. Cosgrove, Irish American Heritage Month Committee Chair<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/aoh.com\/gobansaer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/BoardofRegentsLetter.pdf\"><em><strong>Download Letter to Smithsonian Board of Regents<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<div class = 'socialMediaOnEveryPost'><div id=\"sgmbShare1-1\" class=\"sgmbShare jssocials-theme-classic sgmbWidget1-1\"><\/div><div class=\"dropdownWrapper dropdownWrapper1 dropdownWrapper-for-widget \" id=\"dropdownWrapper-for-widget\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"dropdownLabel\" id=\"dropdownLabel-share-list\"><span class=\"sgmbButtonListLabel1\">Share List<\/span><\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"dropdownPanel dropdownPanel1-1\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><script>  SGMB_URL = \"https:\/\/aoh.com\/gobansaer\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-builder\/\"; jQuery(\".dropdownWrapper\").hide(); SGMB_GOOGLE_ACOUNT = \"\"; <\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n\t\tjQuery(document).ready(function($){var widget = new SGMBWidget();widget.show({\"id\":\"1\",\"title\":\"Default\",\"options\":{\"currentUrl\":\"1\",\"url\":\"\",\"shareText\":\"\",\"fontSize\":\"10\",\"betweenButtons\":\"1px\",\"theme\":\"classic\",\"sgmbButtonsPosition\":\"bottomRight\",\"socialTheme\":\"classic\",\"icon\":\"default\",\"buttonsPanelEffect\":\"No Effect\",\"buttonsEffect\":\"No Effect\",\"iconsEffect\":\"No Effect\",\"buttons\":\"{\\\"facebook\\\":{\\\"label\\\":\\\"Share\\\",\\\"icon\\\":\\\"default-facebook\\\"},\\\"twitter\\\":{\\\"label\\\":\\\"Tweet\\\",\\\"icon\\\":\\\"default-twitter\\\",\\\"via\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"hashtags\\\":\\\"\\\"},\\\"googleplus\\\":{\\\"label\\\":\\\"+1\\\",\\\"icon\\\":\\\"default-googleplus\\\"},\\\"email\\\":{\\\"label\\\":\\\"E-mail\\\",\\\"icon\\\":\\\"default-email\\\"}}\",\"roundButton\":\"\",\"showLabels\":\"on\",\"showCounts\":\"\",\"showCenter\":\"\",\"showButtonsAsList\":\"\",\"sgmbDropdownColor\":\"\",\"sgmbDropdownLabelFontSize\":\"14\",\"sgmbDropdownLabelColor\":\"\",\"showButtonsOnEveryPost\":\"on\",\"selectedOrExcluded\":\"\",\"showButtonsOnEveryPage\":\"\",\"textOnEveryPost\":\"\",\"showButtonsOnCustomPost\":\"\",\"textOnCustomPost\":\"\",\"showButtonsOnMobileDirect\":\"on\",\"showButtonsOnDesktopDirect\":\"on\",\"sgmbSelectedPages\":[\"\"],\"sgmbExcludedPosts\":[\"\"],\"sgmbSelectedCustomPosts\":[],\"showButtonsInPopup\":\"\",\"titleOfPopup\":\"\",\"descriptionOfPopup\":\"\",\"showPopupOnLoad\":\"\",\"showPopupOnScroll\":\"\",\"showPopupOnExit\":\"\",\"openSecondsOfPopup\":\"\",\"googleAnaliticsAccount\":\"\"},\"buttonOptions\":{\"facebook\":{\"label\":\"Share\",\"icon\":\"default-facebook\"},\"twitter\":{\"label\":\"Tweet\",\"icon\":\"default-twitter\",\"via\":\"\",\"hashtags\":\"\"},\"googleplus\":{\"label\":\"+1\",\"icon\":\"default-googleplus\"},\"email\":{\"label\":\"E-mail\",\"icon\":\"default-email\"}},\"button\":[\"facebook\",\"twitter\",\"googleplus\",\"email\"]}, 1, '', 'https:\/\/aoh.com\/gobansaer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/smithsonianHeritage-300x215.jpg', '', 'https:\/\/aoh.com\/2013\/02\/13\/a-call-to-action-to-have-the-smithsonian-to-recognize-irish-american-heritage-month\/'); });<\/script><\/div><script> jQuery(\".socialMediaOnEveryPost\").addClass(\"sgmb-right\") <\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The AOH continues to work to have Irish American Heritage Month recognized and commemorated by our public institutions with the same level of commitment as they recognize other heritages.\u00a0 In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"National Board","author_link":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/author\/aohnatl\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aoh.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}