• Indian Youth Against Racism, a group from Columbia University, documented violence against Indians in New Jersey and implemented educational programs on South Asian cultures in Jersey City schools. The group also helped pass a bill in the New Jersey legislature raising mandatory penalties for bias crimes. Corky Lee / Smithsonian
    Indian Youth Against Racism, a group from Columbia University, documented violence against Indians in New Jersey and implemented educational programs on South Asian cultures in Jersey City schools. The group also helped pass a bill in the New Jersey legislature raising mandatory penalties for bias crimes. Corky Lee / Smithsonian
  • Indian contributions to the American religious landscape are showcased as part of Beyond Bollywood. Swami Vivekananda and guests at Green Acre School, Eliot, Maine, circa 1894. This school, a meeting-place for the study of world religions, was just one stop on a tour in which Vivekenanda introduced the West to Hinduism and yoga. Courtesy Eliot Baha’i Archives and Maine Memory Network / Smithsonian
    Indian contributions to the American religious landscape are showcased as part of Beyond Bollywood. Swami Vivekananda and guests at Green Acre School, Eliot, Maine, circa 1894. This school, a meeting-place for the study of world religions, was just one stop on a tour in which Vivekenanda introduced the West to Hinduism and yoga. Courtesy Eliot Baha’i Archives and Maine Memory Network / Smithsonian
  • DJ Rekha, producer, and activist Rekha Malhotra, popularly known as DJ Rekha, is credited with popularising bhangra (Punjabi folk music) in America. Courtesy Eco Magazine / Smithsonian
    DJ Rekha, producer, and activist Rekha Malhotra, popularly known as DJ Rekha, is credited with popularising bhangra (Punjabi folk music) in America. Courtesy Eco Magazine / Smithsonian
  • Indian immigrants work on the construction of the Pacific and Eastern Railroad in Oregon, circa 1906. Courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society / Smithsonian
    Indian immigrants work on the construction of the Pacific and Eastern Railroad in Oregon, circa 1906. Courtesy Southern Oregon Historical Society / Smithsonian
  • Also featured in the Indian-American include a silver Olympic medal won by the gymnast Mohini Bhardwaj in Athens. Stephen Dunn / Getty Images
    Also featured in the Indian-American include a silver Olympic medal won by the gymnast Mohini Bhardwaj in Athens. Stephen Dunn / Getty Images
  • Sameer Mishra of West Lafayette, Indiana, reacts after winning the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee. On display is he first US spelling bee trophy won by an Indian-American in 1985. Coincidentally, Indian-American students have been on a spelling bee winning streak for most of the past decade. Alex Wong / Getty Images
    Sameer Mishra of West Lafayette, Indiana, reacts after winning the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee. On display is he first US spelling bee trophy won by an Indian-American in 1985. Coincidentally, Indian-American students have been on a spelling bee winning streak for most of the past decade. Alex Wong / Getty Images
  • Congressman Dalip Singh Saund, with Senators John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson in 1958. Courtesy Eric Saund / Smithsonian
    Congressman Dalip Singh Saund, with Senators John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson in 1958. Courtesy Eric Saund / Smithsonian
  • Family photographs collected from around the United States are featured in Beyond Bollywood. Here, Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Shrimati Sanjukta Ghosh, with Vikram (Boomba) Ghosh at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Lagunitas, California, circa 1970. Ali Akbar Khan / Smithsonian
    Family photographs collected from around the United States are featured in Beyond Bollywood. Here, Pandit Shankar Ghosh, Shrimati Sanjukta Ghosh, with Vikram (Boomba) Ghosh at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, Lagunitas, California, circa 1970. Ali Akbar Khan / Smithsonian
  • An Indian immigrant worker harvests beets in Hamilton City, California for the Sacramento Valley Sugar Company, circa 1907-1915. Courtesy California State University, Chico, Meriam Library Special Collections / Smithsonian
    An Indian immigrant worker harvests beets in Hamilton City, California for the Sacramento Valley Sugar Company, circa 1907-1915. Courtesy California State University, Chico, Meriam Library Special Collections / Smithsonian
  • This handout photo provided by the Smithsonian shows a dress designed by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan for first lady Michelle Obama. It was worn to the 2012 Governors Dinner and is now on display at the Smithsonian’s first major exhibit: Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation on Indian-American influences in US history. Khan has designed several dresses for Mrs Obama. Smithsonian / AP photo
    This handout photo provided by the Smithsonian shows a dress designed by Indian-American designer Naeem Khan for first lady Michelle Obama. It was worn to the 2012 Governors Dinner and is now on display at the Smithsonian’s first major exhibit: Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation on Indian-American influences in US history. Khan has designed several dresses for Mrs Obama. Smithsonian / AP photo
  • Designer Naeem Khan appears on the runway following the showing of his Fall 2014 collection at Fashion Week in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
    Designer Naeem Khan appears on the runway following the showing of his Fall 2014 collection at Fashion Week in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2014. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
  • The Sharma family in San Francisco in 1983. Prithvi Sharma / Smithsonian
    The Sharma family in San Francisco in 1983. Prithvi Sharma / Smithsonian

Art

In pictures: India’s influence on the US at the Smithsonian

Olga Camacho

February 26, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center will open Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation, an exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, detailing the history of Indian Americans and their contributions to the United States from the 1700s to the present.

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