The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will add objects from Telemundo, one of the historic Spanish-language television networks in the U.S. whose roots go back to the 1950s, its local stations and employees to the national collections.
The donation recognizes the contributions to U.S. Spanish-language broadcasting history from the network and its owned local stations: KVEA-TV, Los Angeles; WSCV-TV, Miami-Fort Lauderdale; WNJU-TV, New York; and Puerto Rico’s WKAQ-TV. Telemundo’s donation is part of the museum’s initiative, Escúchame: the History of Spanish-language Broadcasting in the U.S., which grew out of the American Enterprise exhibition that opened in 2015 to chronicle the role of business from the mid-1700s to the present.
More than 40 Telemundo current and former employees contributed to the initiative either by participating in oral-history interviews about their role in Spanish-language broadcasting and/or by contributing to the collection of objects that reflect the material culture of broadcasting.
“Telemundo has a deep and long-standing commitment to celebrate, promote and preserve Hispanic culture. Spanish-language television is a way of life for the Hispanic community. We are thrilled to partner with the Smithsonian to bring awareness to the important role it has played in American broadcast television history and to collaborate in this effort to capture our rich legacy for future generations,” said Mónica Gil, EVP, Corporate Affairs, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises.