Obama opens new black museum on National Mall
Posted Sep 24, 2016 12:31:50 PM.
Last Updated Sep 24, 2016 01:00:18 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WASHINGTON – The first national museum devoted exclusively to the history and culture of African-Americans is now open.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama opened the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall by ringing a bell from a historic African-American church.
The museum is the 19th and the newest of the Smithsonians.
The push for the museum began in 1915 with African-American Civil War veterans looking for a way to commemorate America’s black experience. Former President George W. Bush signed the law authorizing the construction in 2003.
Georgia Congressman John Lewis co-sponsored legislation authorizing the museum. The civil rights icon said the bronze-colored museum “is more than a building, it is a dream come true.”