African American history museum closer to reality

Seated in a conference room at the law offices of Venable, Attorneys at Law in Washington, D.C., attorney Robert Wilkins looks like an expectant father as he talks about his "baby" - the National Museum of African American History and Culture that has been a sevenyear journey.

But his long journey may soon be coming to an end. In June, the Senate authorized $17 million to establish the museum. Now Wilkins awaits the House's decision, which is expected this fall.

"The story of African Americans is a story of triumph. There is a lot of pain, hatred, depression - all kinds of negativity, but ultimately a story of triumph," says Wilkins, 39. "We found a way to survive and change the country. There is a lot of the American story that isn't appreciated or told."

He's hoping it won't take another 74 years. In 1929, Congress authorized the construction of a National Memorial Building to honor "Negro achievement." The idea came about in 1915 after veteran "colored troops" gathered in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. They wanted to create a permanent memorial to house Black contributions to America. This idea made it all the way to Congress, but it was never funded.

Wilkins is working to make sure there is a different outcome this time. In 1999, he created a nonprofit foundation, the National African American Museum & Cultural Complex, Inc., to raise seed money for public awareness events. A year later, he quit his job as a public defender in the District of Columbia to work on the museum project full time. He wrote letters, testified before Congress and lobbied for support of H.R. 2205.

Two years ago, Wilkins was tapped by President George W. Bush to be on the National Museum of African American History and Culture Plan for Action Presidential Commission, which completed its report, "The Time Has Come," last spring. The 18-member commission recommended that the site of the new museum be just north of the Capitol Reflecting Pool, where the Black soldiers had gathered in 1915. The building will be comparable in size - 350,000 square feet - to the National Museum of American Indians, which is slated to open in fall 2004, and the Holocaust Museum, both on the National Mall.

During testimony for the bill before the House Administration Committee, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who has sponsored a bill for an African American museum every session since 1988, said, "A National African American Museum should be in the front yard of the United States Capitol. The National Mall and the space around it is the front door to America. It is a symbol of our democracy."

Today, as an attorney who works on intellectual property cases and governmental matters, Wilkins continues to work on the project pro bono.

"No one building can tell everything," Wilkins says, referring to the proposed historical exhibits, theater, classrooms and educational space at the museum.

"We need to take our rightful place in the history of America."

- Betsy Adeboyejo

Copyright Crisis Publishing Company, Incorporated Sep/Oct 2003
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved