Editing Smithsonian Institution (section)

==Cultural Centers==

The Smithsonian Institution includes three cultural centers among its units:

* [[Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage]]
* [[Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center]]
* [[Smithsonian Latino Center]]

===Smithsonian Latino Center===
In 1997, the Smithsonian Latino Center was created as a way to recognize Latinos across the Smithsonian Institution. The primary purpose of the center is to place Latino contributions to the arts, history, science, and national culture across the Smithsonian's museums and research centers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://latino.si.edu/About|title=About the Center |website=latino.si.edu |publisher= Smithsonian Institution |access-date=May 18, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602232938/http://latino.si.edu/About|archive-date=June 2, 2016}}</ref>

The center is a division of the Smithsonian Institution.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://latino.si.edu/PDF/2007/YAP_PR_6.26.07.pdf|title=Smithsonian Latino Center's Young Ambassadors Arrive for Week of Cultural Programs in Washington, D.C.|last=Lara|first=Isabel|date=June 26, 2007| website= latino.si.edu |publisher= Smithsonian Institution |access-date=May 18, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216050238/http://latino.si.edu/PDF/2007/YAP_PR_6.26.07.pdf|archive-date=February 16, 2017}}</ref> As of May 2016, the center is run by an executive director, Eduardo Díaz.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://latino.si.edu/About/Staff|title=Smithsonian Latino Center Staff| website= latino.si.edu |publisher= Smithsonian Institution |access-date=May 18, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160611141733/http://latino.si.edu/About/Staff|archive-date=June 11, 2016}}</ref>

====History====
At the time of its creation, the Smithsonian Institution had other entities dedicated to other minority groups: National Museum of the American Indian, Freer-Sackler Gallery for Asian Arts and Culture, African Art Museum, and the National Museum of African-American Heritage and Culture.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/documents/smithsonian/OlearyIGdeclaration.pdf|title=Declaration|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216085038/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/documents/smithsonian/OlearyIGdeclaration.pdf|archive-date=February 16, 2017|access-date=September 12, 2017}}</ref>

The opening of the center was prompted, in part, by the publishing of a report called "Willful Neglect: The Smithsonian and U.S. Latinos".<ref name=":2" />

According to documents obtained by ''[[The Washington Post]]'', when former Latino Center executive director [[Pilar O'Leary]] first took the job, the center faced employees who had "serious performance issues". No performance plans existed for the staff and unfulfilled financial obligations to sponsors existed. The website's quality was poor, and the center did not have a public affairs manager, a programs director, adequate human resources support, or cohesive mission statement.<ref name=":2" />

After difficult times in the first few years, the center improved. According to the Smithsonian, the center "support[s] scholarly research, exhibitions, public and educational programs, web-based content and virtual platforms, and collections and archives. [It] also manage[s] leadership and professional development programs for Latino youth, emerging scholars and museum professionals."<ref name=":0" /> Today, the website features a high-tech virtual museum including self-guided virtual tours of past and present exhibits.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://latino.si.edu/LVM|title=Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum | website= latino.si.edu |publisher= Smithsonian Institution |access-date=May 18, 2016|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510114004/http://latino.si.edu/LVM|archive-date=May 10, 2016}}</ref>

====Young Ambassadors Program====
The Smithsonian Latino Center's Young Ambassadors Program (YAP) is a program within the Latino Center that reaches out to Latino high school students with the goal of encouraging them to become leaders in arts, sciences, and the humanities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://latino.si.edu/Education/YAP|title=Young Ambassadors Program| website= latino.si.edu |publisher= Smithsonian Institution |access-date=May 18, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510115706/http://latino.si.edu/Education/YAP|archive-date=May 10, 2016}}</ref>

Students selected for the program travel to Washington, D.C. for an "enrichment seminar" that lasts approximately five days. Afterwards, students return to their communities to serve in a paid, one-month internship.<ref name=":1" />

Pilar O'Leary launched the program when she served as executive director of the Smithsonian Latino Center.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://issuu.com/washingtonlife/docs/holiday_2006__100mb_/80|title=Con Sabor!|date=2006|work=Washington Life Magazine "Substance and Style" Issue|access-date=May 18, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616154819/https://issuu.com/washingtonlife/docs/holiday_2006__100mb_/80|archive-date=June 16, 2016}}</ref> According to the Latino Center, O'Leary told the press in 2007: "Our goal is to help our Young Ambassadors become the next generation of leaders in the arts and culture fields. This program encourages students to be proud of their roots and learn more about their cultural heritage to inspire them to educate the public in their own communities about how Latinos are enriching America's cultural fabric."<ref name=":1" />