Dec

Today in Smithsonian History: December 16, 2003

White House photo by Paul Morse. The attendees are members of the Presidential Commission on the Development of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. From left, they are: Dr. Robert Wright, commission Chairman; Renee Amoore; Vicky Bailey; Andrew McLemore, Jr.; Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.; Senator Rick Santorum, R-Penn.; Michael Lomax; Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga.; Harold Skramstad, Jr.; Barbara Franco; Robert Wilkins; Senator Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; Cicely Tyson; Lerone Bennett, Jr.; Congressman John Larson, D-Conn.; Eric Sexton; Claudine Brown; Larry Small, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution; Currie Ballard

December 16, 2003 President George H. W. Bush signs legislation creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture as part of the Smithsonian Institution. The new museum is dedicated to the documentation of African American life, art, history and culture, and will open to the public in 2016.

For three nights in November, the façade of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American history and Culture was illuminated with moving images commemorating three important milestones in African American history: the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment, the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act.

For three nights in November 2015, the façade of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American history and Culture was illuminated with moving images commemorating three important milestones in African American history: the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment, the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act. (Photo taken Nov. 18, 2015)

Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives