A ground breaking ceremony was held today at the site of the proposed $500 million dollar Smithsonian African American History and Culture Museum.
The museum, slated to be completed in 2015, will house artifacts and memorabilia from the African American experience and will be built on the National Mall near the Washington Monument.
Visitors can see a bit of everything, from the head protector of heavy weight champion Muhammad Ali (then called Cassius Clay), to a sign outside a doctor's office with a schedule to see which days the doctor would see Black patients, to the writings of Frederick Douglas.
"Whether your family has been in this country 200 years or 20 minutes, I want you to come to this museum and say 'I get it', said Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the museum. "This is not a Black story. This is an American story."
Today's ground breaking ceremony saw many dignitaries attending, including former First Lady Laura Bush; Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray; Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.; Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas; Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, pastor, Abyssian Baptist Church, New York; Richard Kurin, undersecretary for History, Art and Culture at the Smithsonian; Linda Johnson Rice and Richard Parsons, co-chairs of the museum’s advisory council; Dr. G. Wayne Clough, Secretary, The Smithsonian Institution; and Dr. France Córdova, Chair, Smithsonian Board of Regents.
President Obama spoke during the ceremony saying, "When the Museum of African American History and Culture opens on the National Mall in 2015, it will be not just a record of tragedy, but a celebration of life."
You can see the entire ceremony below, moderated by actress Phylicia Rashad, who called the museum "a milestone".
The museum, slated to be completed in 2015, will house artifacts and memorabilia from the African American experience and will be built on the National Mall near the Washington Monument.
Visitors can see a bit of everything, from the head protector of heavy weight champion Muhammad Ali (then called Cassius Clay), to a sign outside a doctor's office with a schedule to see which days the doctor would see Black patients, to the writings of Frederick Douglas.
"Whether your family has been in this country 200 years or 20 minutes, I want you to come to this museum and say 'I get it', said Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the museum. "This is not a Black story. This is an American story."
Today's ground breaking ceremony saw many dignitaries attending, including former First Lady Laura Bush; Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray; Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.; Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas; Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts, pastor, Abyssian Baptist Church, New York; Richard Kurin, undersecretary for History, Art and Culture at the Smithsonian; Linda Johnson Rice and Richard Parsons, co-chairs of the museum’s advisory council; Dr. G. Wayne Clough, Secretary, The Smithsonian Institution; and Dr. France Córdova, Chair, Smithsonian Board of Regents.
President Obama spoke during the ceremony saying, "When the Museum of African American History and Culture opens on the National Mall in 2015, it will be not just a record of tragedy, but a celebration of life."
You can see the entire ceremony below, moderated by actress Phylicia Rashad, who called the museum "a milestone".
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