Did you know that the peaks on the Grand Canyon are named Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma?  Clarence Edward Dutton, who scouted the canyon for the U.S. Geological Survey in 1880 and 1881, was certainly inspired by the grandeur of the peaks but he was also arguably influenced by the Indian American labor force he had for his job.

The history of Indian Americans can be traced back to the mid 1800s when Indian sailors jumped ship to escape the dominance of the colonial rule. From then until now when members of American business, scientific, political, entertainment community include a large contingent of  Indian Americans, the community has had a significant impact on almost every aspect of American life.

HomeSpun: The Indian American Heritage Project is the first sustained effort by the Smithsonian Institution to focus on Indian American history and perspectives. Francey Youngberg and Gautam Chandra, the team that is leading a national grassroots effort to create this exhibition chronicling the history of both immigrants from India and their descendants in America, were guests of honor at event hosted at the home of Dr. Jagdish and Meera Dinghra in Brookline, MA on September 26, 2009.

"Though Indian Americans number more than 2.7 million in the United States, the history, contributions, challenges, and perspectives of this vibrant community have yet to be told at the Smithsonian," said Francey Youngberg who is a leading member of the Asian American community in US and has worked to create other such successful exhibits.

"Our visit has a two fold purpose:

• We need to raise money for this exhibit. You can Join the HomeSpun "Founders’ Circle" by being one of the first 100 donors who contribute at least $2,500 to the Project and have your name etched at the Smithsonian. To raise funds you can also influence your congressman and senator to help us get funds appropriated to the project.
• We also need memorabilia that we can use for the exhibit. We are very interested in stories of how the earliest members of your family came to this country, especially those who came here prior to the 1965," said Gautaum Chandra.
  

|