Hispanic and Latino people make up the largest ethnic minority in the United States and their contributions to American history run deep -- including back to the Civil War and the Texas Revolution.

So where's their Smithsonian museum?

That's the question a group of advocates will ask during a House Committee on Natural Resources meeting Thursday in support of a bill to create the National Museum of the American Latino in the Smithsonian Institution.

The initiative is backed by the group Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino. CNN reached out to them via a contact forum on their website, but did not immediately receive a response.

The museum would strive to "educate, inspire and encourage respect and understanding of the richness and diversity of the American Latino experience" by highlighting the contributions of Latino people to the US, the group's website states.

The group's testimony during a House committee meeting will be a big step toward reaching that vision, but more work lies ahead.