Cité nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration
France · Europe
About
The Musée nationale de l'histoire de l'immigration (French pronunciation: [site nɑsjɔnal də listwaʁ də limiɡʁaɑsjɔ̃]) is a museum of immigration history located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris at 293, avenue Daumesnil. The nearest métro station is Porte Dorée. It is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; there is an admission fee. The museum was conceived in 1989 by Algerian immigrant Zaïr Kédadouche, supported initially by historians including Pierre Milza and Gérard Noiriel, but the idea was paused in 1993. The 1998 French World Cup win reunified the people of France, and former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin approved its creation almost immediately. Years passed and hope for the Museum to come to fruition faded until President Jacques Chirac was reelected in 2002. He put Jacques Toubon in charge of bringing the Museum to life with a mission to "contribute to the recognition of the integration of immigrants into French society and advance the views and attitudes on immigration in France". It opened without public ceremony in late 2007 under his successor, President Nicolas Sarkozy, amid political controversy in which eight of the twelve academics involved in the project resigned. The museum occupies the Palais de la Porte Dorée, a historical monument in Paris, which was built in 1931 to serve as the Colonial International
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.