National Museum of African American History and Culture
$405.5 Million raised
A National Initiative of Cultural Importance
Opened in September 2016 as the Smithsonian’s 19th museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture represents a national initiative of profound cultural importance.
The Smithsonian Campaign supported the construction of the new museum and its inaugural exhibitions. It also funded acquisitions for the permanent collection, rotating exhibitions, centers of learning, public programs and other initiatives designed to stimulate a dialogue about race in America and foster a spirit of reconciliation and healing.
The museum’s fundraising made history in several ways. The museum surpassed its campaign goal of $270 million by raising $386 million (143 percent) and raised the most funds of any Smithsonian museum in a single year, at $154 million.
Individuals contributed 41 percent of campaign funds; upon opening, the museum had nearly 100,000 charter members. The museum attracted 120 donors of $1 million or more, and more than one-third of this group were first-time donors to the Smithsonian. Pinnacle founding donors, at $20 million and above, include Lilly Endowment, Inc., Robert Frederick Smith and The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation.
In its inaugural year, the museum welcomed nearly 3 million visitors and hosted 46 public programs. “We are so grateful to America for making this first year unprecedentedly successful,” said Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the museum, in September 2017. “This first anniversary gives us at the Smithsonian the opportunity to thank everyone for this incredible gift and for making it possible to continue our mission to help America grapple with history by seeing their past through an African American lens—and ultimately help Americans find healing and reconciliation.”
Leadership Message
This new museum is a place where all Americans and visitors from around the world can learn about the richness and diversity of the African American experience, what it means to our lives and how it helped shape this nation.
The iconic building on the National Mall is a beacon that reminds us of who we were, the challenges we still face and what we can become.
Through the Smithsonian Campaign, you can help create an unprecedented opportunity to explore and revel in African American history and culture.
Your gift will enable the museum to tell a compelling part of the nation’s story through interactive exhibitions featuring new research and new technologies and to engage new audiences now and for generations to come.
We invite your support.
Thank you.
Lonnie G. Bunch , IIIFounding Director, National Museum of African American History and Culture
Building a New National Museum
The National Museum of African American History and Culture was established by an Act of Congress in 2003 as the Smithsonian’s 19th museum. The nearly 400,000 square-foot-building opened to the public on September 24, 2016, and is the nation's largest museum devoted exclusively to exploring African American history and culture. The museum, the first "green" building on the National Mall, is adjacent to the Washington Monument and within sight of the White House.
The new museum bridges a major gap in our national memory by focusing on a wide arc of history—slavery, Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, migrations to the North and West, segregation, the Civil Rights Movement and beyond. It also addresses contemporary issues and celebrates African American creativity and cultural expression.
Capital Campaign
The cost of the museum's architectural design, construction and the installation of the permanent exhibitions totaled $540 million. The American people, through federal appropriations, provided half of the funding, and the museum raised the balance through private philanthropy. Funding from the capital campaign also provides critical support for a plethora of initiatives—rotating exhibitions, acquisitions, centers of learning and public programs, for example—that bring the museum's mission to life.
Permanent Galleries
Exhibitions in the 11 permanent galleries trace American history from the 15th century to the present. They include Slavery and Freedom; Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation 1876–1968; A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond; Making a Way Out of No Way; Power of Place; Musical Crossroads; Double Victory: The African American Military Experience; Visual Art and the American Experience; Taking the Stage; Sports: Leveling the Playing Field and Cultural Expressions.
Public Spaces
The three-tiered building with its distinctive bronze-colored corona was designed to achieve LEED gold certification. Other design elements reflect the faith, hope and resiliency of the African American spirit. Campaign gifts will help the museum become a 21st-century center for learning, collaboration and exchange.
National Museum of African American History and Culture
raised over $270 million of the Smithsonian Campaign’s overall $1.5 billion goal.
You will be recognized in the museum for a gift of $1 million or more.
Campaign Priorities
Public Space: Heritage Hall
$25 Million
Naming recognition for this public space requires a gift of $25 million.
Public Space: Contemplative Court
$15 Million
Naming recognition for this public space requires a gift of $15 million.
Culture: Musical Crossroads Gallery
$15 Million
Naming recognition for this exhibition space requires a gift of $15 million.
Community: Sports: Leveling the Playing Field Gallery
$10 Million
Naming recognition for this exhibition space requires a gift of $10 million.
Education: Library and Archives
$10 Million
Naming recognition for this exhibition space requires a gift of $10 million.
VIEW STORY
CloseKenneth Chenault
Giving Back, Making A Difference
In his job as chairman and CEO of American Express and in his philanthropic service and giving, Ken Chenault leads by example. He serves on the National Museum of African American History and Culture Council and is chair of the museum's Campaign. He and his wife Kathryn have given a gift for the design and construction of the museum. American Express is a Founding Donor to the museum as well. “The museum speaks of hope, it speaks of struggles and it speaks of dreams,” Chenault says.
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CloseEarl Stafford
Helping Build a Different Kind of Start Up
Earl Stafford builds organizations from the ground up. He founded a company that makes training systems for the U.S. military. He started the Stafford Foundation to help those in need become self-sufficient. He is a member of the National Musuem of African American History and Culture Council and supported the museum's construction. “You build a museum because you believe it’s transformative,” he said. “But it’s more than just giving financial gifts. You have to get involved. We have to direct others to this great effort.”
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CloseDr. and Mrs. T.B. Boyd III and Family
Family's Gifts Tell Story of Four Generations
For T.B. Boyd III, his wife Yvette Boyd and their children, business and philanthropy are a family affair. T.B. Boyd runs his family’s publishing company, founded in 1896 by Richard Henry Boyd, a former slave. T.B. Boyd is the fourth generation to lead this enterprise. The family’s gift to the National Museum of African American History and Culture is steeped in history as well. As Founding Donors, their campaign gift is helping fund the completion of the new museum. Their second gift is historic artifacts. "We need a repository for African American history in this country. A lot of our great stories have not been told. Along with our founder's gift, we're donating the clock from Nation's Bank, the nation's oldest continuously operated African American-owned bank, as well as the printing presses from R. H. Boyd Company, the oldest African American religious publishing company. I grew up with these beautiful artifacts. Now, they'll be shared by millions," T.B. Boyd says.
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CloseNMAAHC Stuyvesant Heights
Every Gift Tells a Story
Grade-schoolers from Brooklyn's Stuyvesant Heights Montessori raised more than $600 in change for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. They presented their gift to museum Founding Director Lonnie Bunch and were greeted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the museum's groundbreaking ceremony on February 22, 2012.
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CloseMcNeil, James and Juliette
First Gift Helps Build Museum
James and Juliette McNeil are deeply rooted in their community in Alexandria, Virginia. They serve on many nonprofit boards and are generous philanthropists to charities, civic causes and faith institutions. A few years ago, they received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Northern Virginia Urban League. The McNeils made their first gift to the Smithsonian as Founding Donors of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. This gift helps ensure the museum will tell the vital stories of African American accomplishments from the earliest days of slavery through the Civil Rights Movement and beyond. “It is indeed a privilege and honor to support the Smithsonian Institution in its important work to tell the untold story of African American history, culture and contributions to this great country,” the McNeils say.
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CloseInspiring Philanthropy for an Inclusive History
Inspiring Philanthropy for an Inclusive History
Robyn and Tony Coles share a passion for the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which they express by giving and by inspiring others to give. A member of the museum Council, Dr. Coles says, "We saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to donate and find other donors to tell the complex story of the African American experience. That story represents the arc of America; it highlights the worst and the best of us. It's been important to me that everyone feel included in that story." Mrs. Coles traces their passion for the newest Smithsonian museum to the couple's personal history: "As African American youth growing up in Washington, D.C., some of our earliest memories of new worlds to explore came from the storytelling of the Smithsonian museums." The couple's three sons were enthusiastic participants in the family's decision to give back to the Smithsonian. "We talked about what it means to leave a legacy in life and the responsibility we all have to make a positive impact in the world," says Mrs. Coles. "Our gifts to the museum allow us to do that."
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CloseJohnson Donates Art From His Collection
"Music has to be heard. Art has to be seen," says Robert Johnson, founder of the RLJ Companies and Black Entertainment Television. With this in mind, he donated paintings from his collection to the National Museum of African American History and Culture including works by Frederick C. Flemister, Romare Bearden and Archibald John Motley, Jr. "Art tells a story," Johnson says. "These pieces show the role African Americans played and continue to play in the United States."
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CloseGiving is a Lewis Family Tradition
As the façade of the National Museum of African American History and Culture was transformed into a three-dimensional canvas, Loida Nicolas Lewis sat in the audience in awe. The New York lawyer was so inspired that she made a second Founding Donor gift to the museum. The first came through her family foundation, the Reginald F. Lewis Foundation. The second is in her name and the names of her two daughters, Leslie Lewis and Christina Lewis Halpern. “This is my contribution to my nation,” Lewis says. “The museum shows America at its finest. It recognizes the rich history of a people who have overcome so much and have reached the highest power in the land.”
Contact Us
National Museum of African American History and Culture Campaign Officers
National Museum of African American History and Culture Council
- Richard D. Parsons, Council Co-Chair
- Linda Johnson Rice, Co-Chair
- Kenneth Irvine Chenault, Campaign Chair
- Rep. Xavier Becerra
- Willie L. Brown, Jr.
- Laura W. Bush
- James Ireland Cash, Jr.
- N. Anthony Coles
- Brian C. Cornell
- Ann Marie Fudge
- Allan C. Golston
- LaTanya R. Jackson
- James A. Johnson
- Robert L. Johnson
- Quincy D. Jones
- Ann Dibble Jordan
- Michael L. Lomax
- Brian T. Moynihan
- Homer Alfred Neal
- E. Stanley (Stan) O'Neal
- Samuel J. Palmisano
- General Colin L. Powell
- Franklin D. Raines
- Ruth J. Simmons
- David J. Skorton, MD
- Earl W. Stafford
- Patricia (Patty) Q. Stonesifer
- H. Patrick (Pat) Swygert
- Anthony (Tony) Welters
- Oprah Winfrey
- Robert L. Wright
