McCollum Celebrates Opening of Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn.) joined President Barack Obama and other dignitaries this morning on the National Mall for the official opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum, the 19th museum and gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, is a state-of-the-art facility that interprets the African-American experience in the United States through the theme “a people’s journey, a nation’s story.”

“More than 240 years after the founding of our country, the new National Museum of African American History and Culture will finally tell the diverse stories of African Americans throughout the United States in a beautiful location on our National Mall,” Congresswoman McCollum said. “As the lead Democrat on the committee that funds the Smithsonian Institution, it has been my honor to support this museum and work with many others to secure the federal funding that pushed this long-awaited project across the finish line.”

In November 2003, Congresswoman McCollum voted for the bill that created the museum. In the years that followed, Congresswoman McCollum worked as the Ranking Member of the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee to secure funding to complete the museum. In April 2015, Congresswoman McCollum was instrumental in bringing the museum’s founding director, Dr. Lonnie Bunch, to Minnesota to engage the Fourth District’s African-American community about the museum.