Museum sought on National Mall

A presidential commission has recommended building a National Museum of African American History and Culture on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and its congressional backers plan to introduce legislation next week to turn the long-envisioned project into a reality.

Congress first approved such a museum in 1929, but it fell victim to the Great Depression. The commission’s plan envisions a 350,000-square-foot facility affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, costing up to $350 million, with an opening date of 2011.

Candice Tolliver, a spokeswoman for Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), said Thursday that he and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) will introduce House and Senate bills next week proposing that the federal government pick up 75% of the cost, with the rest to be raised from private donors. Tolliver said that this public-private split would be the same as the funding breakdown for the Native American History Museum currently under construction in the capital.

Lewis, who wants the project speeded up so it can open well before 2011, sees a museum dedicated to telling the story of the African American experience as essential to a broader understanding of the nation as a whole.

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Mike Boehm