It’s been a dream of civil war vets and civil rights marchers, and bells pealed across the country on Saturday to herald the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
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After a decades-long push, ground was broken for the new museum in 2012 on a five-acre tract near the Washington Monument.
Officials said the chronicling of slavery and freedom are the centerpiece of the museum.
The most important thing is simply that it’s here, at last, in the heart of the nation’s capital. “It is central to the American story”, Obama said.
“I’m so happy to see that so many people of color are coming out together just to celebrate themselves and one another”, said 50-year-old Derek Jones, who ventured from NY to attend Saturday’s celebration that included music, poetry and dancing. While other structures on the Mall are made of marble, granite or concrete, the museum’s unique design means it changes appearance depending on the time of day.disabledSW7Gw4cb7nA193742193748http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/carl-reiner-comedian-mel-brooks-best-friend/Carl Reiner on being a comedian and Mel Brooks’ best friendCarl Reiner never thought about going into comedy growing up. Created by an act of Congress in 2003, it’s the only national museum devoted exclusively to documenting the life, history and culture of blacks in the U.S.
The museum, constructed from February 2014 under a bill signed by then US president George Bush in 2003, is a three-tiered building whose exterior is made up of 3,600 bronze-colored panels.
Guests are encouraged to start with an exhibit on slavery in the US which displays shackles, a slave cabin, and Harriet Tubman’s shawl.
“African-American history is not somehow separate from our larger American story”, he added.
Some critics who have seen the museum’s collections and exhibits have suggested that the picture presented is still too bright, given how much remains to be done to match American society to its stated ideals. There are also tens of thousands of other artifacts which have been contributed which could be rotated later into exhibition space.
The Washington Monument is framed by a window at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016.
One exhibit honors the legacy of Obama’s election. During an interview airing Friday, he voiced his appreciation for all of those whose work helped make the museum happen.
Obama has joined in the excitement for the new attraction. “We were the outcome of these Freedom Riders”.
Also interesting is the design of the building.
The museum, the Smithsonian’s 19th, is the first national institution tasked with documenting history of black people in the US, while also honoring the integral role of African-American culture.
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The dramatic building – set in a prime location near the White House and the Washington Monument – features three inverted-pyramid tiers sheathed in bronze-painted filigree panels that house more than 34,000 objects, almost half of them donated. Each layer of its exterior corona is wider at the top than at the bottom, opening toward the sky, its filigreed panels allowing light to pass through its external walls.
