Charitable Gift Boosts New African American Museum

MoneyThe Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) received a generous gift recently from one of the country’s chief charitable organizations. The NMAAHC announced that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, established by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, is giving the museum a $10 million grant. The museum is expected to cost some $500 million, half of which will be funded by the federal government and half of which is to come from funds raised by the museum. The Gates Foundation donation is designed to help the museum with its fund raising campaign.

Supporters have sought a national memorial for African Americans for decades. In 1929 the first federal bill calling for a memorial on the National Mall was proposed, but never passed. More than 70 years later, plans for a national museum finally succeeded. In 2003 the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act, authorizing the creation of the NMAAHC, was passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush.

Construction on the NMAAHC is scheduled to begin in 2012. The museum, which is expected to be completed some time in 2015, will be located on the historic National Mall in the heart of Washington, D.C., near the Washington Monument.

Related Links

  • Gates Foundation Announces $10 Million Donation to Smithsonian
    This article details the $10 million gift made by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. (Source: The Washington Post, October 26, 2009)
  • Foundation Gives Major Gift
    The Smithsonian announces a major gift to one of its newest museums: the National Museum of African American History and Culture. (Source: newsdesk.si.edu, October 26, 2009)
  • NMAAHC Building Design Update
    The Web site of the National Museum of African American History and Culture offers periodic updates on the building’s progress, including a map of the museum’s location and design updates. (Source: nmaahc.si.edu, October 26, 2009)
  • Preliminary Design Plans for Smithsonian’s New Museum
    Smithsonian.com previews the design for the upcoming National Museum of African American History and Culture set to begin construction in 2012. (Source: blogs.smithsonianmag.com, October 26, 2009)

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