
Rendering of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, under construction on a five-acre site adjacent to the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. Drawing by Freelon Adjaye Bond/Smith Group, the museum’s architectural and engineering team; courtesy NMAAHC.
By Barbara Franco
In November 2015, the Smithsonian Institution’s long awaited National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) plans to open its doors in a new building on the mall in Washington, D.C. The opening will come exactly one hundred years after a Civil War veterans’ organization first began collecting funds for a suitable memorial building to honor the contributions of African Americans in military service, as well as in art, literature, invention, science, industry, and other areas of human endeavor. Although Congress passed legislation authorizing construction of the memorial in 1929, the long anticipated museum had never materialized despite various commissions, site studies, and Smithsonian plans.
Nonetheless, some people never gave up on the idea of an African American museum in the nation’s capital. With bipartisan support Congress established a Presidential Commission on December 28, 2001, to create an implementation plan for a National African American Museum of History and Culture as part of the Smithsonian Institution. The commission’s plan led to legislation creating NMAAHC signed by President George W. Bush on December 16, 2003. Lonnie G. Bunch III was named Founding Director in 2005, and site selection was completed in 2006. Read more
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