The miracle of a museum
It took a full century for the early dream of a National Museum of African American History & Culture on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to become a 400,000-square-foot entrenched edifice of glass, aluminum, and concrete. The vision began in 1916 when African-American civic leaders called for a memorial to the black soldiers and sailors who battled in the Union Army during the Civil War to end slavery and preserve the United States. Their original proposal, which later was broadened to recognize the achievements and contributions of all African-Americans, met with strong early opposition, which lasted through the Jim Crow era, the Great Depression, two World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, and even into the 1990s. Yet the long struggle will culminate on Sept. 24 when the Smithsonian Institution opens the new museum near the Washington Monument. President Obama, the nation’s first African-American leader, and first lady Michelle Obama will attend. It’s...