Feb. 27, 2012

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and former First Lady Laura Bush attended a February 22 groundbreaking ceremony for a national museum that will focus on African American history and culture. The museum, scheduled for completion in 2015, will be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The museum’s staff has been planning exhibits for nine years, scouring the nation for historical artifacts. Their goal is to provide the visitor with a sweeping history that confronts racial oppression while highlighting the achievements of the black community in America. “This day has been a long time coming,” stated the president. “The time will come when few people will remember drinking from a colored water fountain or boarding a segregated bus . . . it will be a monument for all time, it will do more than simply keep those memories alive.” Laura Bush, a member of the advisory council, noted that the museum “will pay tribute to the many lives known and unknown that so immeasurably enriched our nation.”

The historical trove assembled by the staff includes a slave cabin, shackles worn by slaves brought from Africa, and personal items that belonged to abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Another treasure is an airplane used during World War II (1939-1945) to train the famed African American fighter pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Other holdings include shards of stained glass from a Birmingham, Alabama, church that was bombed in 1963, killing four girls. A turning point in the civil rights movement, the bombing helped convince members of Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

About 250,000 people, including both blacks and whites, took part in the March on Washington in 1963 on the National Mall. The new National Museum of African American History and Culture will join other museums on the Mall. Wide World

The groundbreaking ceremony, attended by some 600 guests, was planned to coincide with Black History Month. The National Museum of African American History and Culture will be part of the famed Smithsonian Institution, which includes a number of museums on the National Mall.

Additional World Book articles

• Association for the Study of African American Life and History
• Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site
• Uncovering African Americans’ Buried Past (a special report)
• Civil rights 1963 (Back in Time article)
• Civil rights 1964 (Back in Time article)