National Museum of African American History and Culture Act
National Museum of African American History and Culture Act
Following decades of work to promote and feature the contributions of African Americans, the Act to establish the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) was authorized by Congress in 2003. The museum, which will house 36,000 artifacts, officially opens on the National Mall on September 24, 2016. NMAAHC is the 19th and newest Smithsonian Institution museum, and is the only national museum dedicated entirely to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture.
The idea for a memorial first came in 1915 when African American veterans of the Union Army gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Civil War. After facing discrimination and segregation, the veterans formed a committee to build a memorial to honor African Americans’ service to the country. Their efforts eventually led to 1929 legislation approving the construction of a memorial building, but the stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression prevented the necessary funds from being raised.
In celebration of the opening of the NMAAHC, a 1927 pamphlet showing an early design for an African American memorial museum (seen here, right), and the act that was passed in 2003 were on display in the “Featured Documents” exhibit in the East Rotunda Gallery of the National Archives in Washington, DC, from September 1 through November 9, 2016.
The first and signature pages of the Act are shown here. Click here to view the full “Act to establish within the Smithsonian Institution the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and for other purposes” (PDF).
Past Featured Records
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Frances Perkins: Champion of Workers’ Rights
Thursday, February 29, 2024 – Monday, April 15, 2024
East Rotunda Gallery“I came to Washington to work for God, FDR, and the millions of forgotten plain common workingmen.” —Frances Perkins
Chances are you benefit from the legacy of Frances Perkins,... Read more
70th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Thursday, February 1, 2024 – Wednesday, February 28, 2024
East Rotunda GalleryEquity in Education: 70 Years Later
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court delivered a unanimous ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that “separate but equal” was unconstitutional in... Read more
250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party
Thursday, December 14, 2023 – Wednesday, January 31, 2024East Rotunda GalleryThe Destruction of the Tea
It wouldn’t be known as the “Boston Tea Party” for another 50 years, but the destruction... Read more
Diseños: An Impact of Mexican Cession
Tuesday, June 20, 2023 – Wednesday, October 18, 2023
East Rotunda GalleryAt the end of the Mexican-American War, the United States annexed more than half of Mexico’s territory under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Under its terms, the U.S. promised to... Read more
Celebrating Anna May Wong
Anna May Wong
National Archives, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service“I want to be an actress, not a freak.”
Film legend Anna May Wong’s talent could not be contained by the racist casting of early Hollywood movies. Born Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles in 1905,... Read more