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National African American Museum Finds the Architect of the Dream

April 14, 2009
Press Release
Today the Smithsonian Institution named the architectural firm that will design the National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington, DC.   Rep. John Lewis was delighted by the news.  Shortly after he came to Congress in the late 80’s, Congressman Lewis became aware of an effort first launched by black Civil War veterans to appropriately honor the service of black soldiers in the war.  They had petitioned Congress decades earlier to build a museum to pay tribute to veterans whose service was all but forgotten.  

For years the legislative progress of this idea had stopped and started, until Rep. John Lewis took up the charge.   In every session of Congress for 15 years, Rep. Lewis introduced a bill authorizing the building of a national museum which would recount the contributions of African Americans to the American story.  Finally in 2003, the bill was passed by both sessions of Congress and signed into law in 2004.

“Today we moved one step closer,” said Rep. John Lewis, “to making the dream of a national museum a reality.  For too long the legacy of black men and women who poured out their gifts in a world that denied their humanity has been left silent.  Finally, the work of these awesome and talented Americans will find a home.  And I believe that when citizens of the world see what this people has accomplished, they will be inspired and amazed.  I only wish those Civil War veterans could see what their dreams, their actions, and their enduring tenacity has created.”

The Smithsonian chose a team of four architectural firms to manage the building of the structure.  They are the Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates, Davis Brody Bond, and SmithGroup.  The Freelon Group will be the architect of record, and Phil Freelon will serve as the design guarantor— making sure that the design reflects the values and priorities of the museum and the Smithsonian. The Freelon Group designed the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture in Baltimore.

David Adjaye will be the lead designer. He designed the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, Norway, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver. Davis Brody Bond is involved in the planning, design and execution of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center in New York. The firm also led the restoration and expansion of the New York Public Library. The SmithGroup is an international architectural and engineering firm with offices in Washington, D.C., that designed the Normandy American Cemetery Interpretive Center in France.  The building design will take up to three years, with construction to begin in 2012. Set to open in 2015, the museum’s total cost, including design, is estimated to be $500 million.

Although it does not have a building yet, the museum is collecting artifacts; conducting seminars and symposia, including a recent two-day program on Black Power; gathering African American oral histories for StoryCorps, a joint program with National Public Radio and the Library of Congress; and creating traveling exhibitions such as “Let Your Motto Be Resistance.” In addition, the museum has its own gallery in the National Museum of American History, which currently is exhibiting “The Scurlock Studio and Black Washington: Picturing the Promise.”

         

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CONTACT:

Brenda Jones
(202) 226 - 4673