Museum director shares story behind procuring African-American artifacts

WASHINGTON--Lonnie Bunch remembers the call from a collector in Philadelphia claiming to have items that belonged to abolitionist Harriet Tubman. The museum director thought even if the visit didn’t yield much, at least he could get a good cheesesteak.

Those doubts disappeared as Charles Blockson pulled out pictures from Tubman’s funeral, a lace shawl she once wore and her personal hymnal.

“He blew me away,’’ recalled Bunch, director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. “By the time he pulled that stuff out, everybody is crying … He gave it to the museum right then and there. It’s been that kind of thing, that people have given us so many wonderful artifacts.’’

Tubman’s artifacts are among the more than 40,000 collected by the museum set to open on Sept. 24. President Obama will lead the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The 400,000-square-foot museum will feature exhibits tracing the history of African Americans from slavery to present. Its 11 inaugural exhibits include a slave cabin, a cell from Louisiana's Angola prison, the original casket of Emmett Till, a 40-ton Jim Crow railroad car and Chuck Berry's red Cadillac.

"Our goal is to find the right tension between stories that will make you cry and stories that will make you cheer,’’ said Bunch. “My biggest fear is making sure I do this so the ancestors smile, so that they are remembered. But most importantly, if I can do it in a way that people realize this is all of our story, that regardless of race, you are shaped by this community, by this story."

The museum, located on the National Mall, is steps from the Washington Monument and other landmarks built in part by slaves. Museum officials expect 3.5 to 5 million visitors a year.

Congress approved the project in 2003, but museum officials said they faced major challenges, including raising money and starting a museum from scratch. Bunch compared the process to "going on a cruise at the same time you’re building the ship."

“This place had no staff, no location, no benefactor, no collections,’’ he said. “I’m proudest of the fact that we were able to go from no collections to 40,000 amazing artifacts that can tell the story of America through an African-American lens.”

Last fall, museum officials were still trying to raise $20 million of the $540 million goal. Bunch hoped the $1 million from Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., given last November would set an example for other black churches.

Howard-John Wesley, the church's pastor, said it was important for the 212-year old church to support the museum.

“We recognize the history of African Americans as part of the fabric of American history,'' said Wesley. "This museum is really a necessary piece of telling the story of the African American journey in this land; and we wanted to be part of that.’’

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Early on, the museum launched a membership campaign that grew to 90,000 by last fall. Bunch banks on those numbers to raise $2 million to $4 million annually. “I really wanted to give people a sense of ownership,’’ he said.

Kisha Clinton, a teacher in Brooklyn, N.Y., jumped at the chance to be a charter member.

“I said, ‘Oh my God, yes, finally… a museum that is a collection of everything,’’ said Clinton, noting that many museums about African Americans have a special focus, such as the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati.

“Here there are exhibits about everything …  a sampling of our experiences as African Americans in the United States and in the Americas,’’ she said. “I’m just so excited …  to explore the different artifacts and to learn more history. But I’m excited for others to learn about our history as well.''

The 10-story museum will feature galleries on history, culture and community.

The civil rights exhibit will include shards of glass from the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four girls in 1963. The musical crossroads exhibit will showcase the history of music from spirituals to hip-hop and feature George Clinton’s Mothership and Michael Jackson's fedora. Boxer Muhammad Ali's head gear will be on display in the sports exhibit.

“We’ve gotten more than enough to tell a comprehensive story, but there’s always something I’d like,’’ said Bunch.

His wish list includes Willie Mays’ glove and Sidney Poitier’s Oscar. Poitier was the first black man to win an Oscar, in 1964 for his performance in the movie Lilies of the Field.

There will also be memorabilia from more current events, including protests in Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore, and last year's 25th anniversary of the Million Man March.

"I realized that part of the job of this museum is to be as much about today and tomorrow as it is about yesterday,"  Bunch said.

The museum has generated interest among the young and old. Hundreds showed up for an event in November celebrating the completion of the museum’s exterior and launching the year-long kickoff to its grand opening this fall.

"This is everything that we are – our history, our culture," said Wanda Dickerson, who traveled from Camden, N.J. "We need something that marks our history."

Dickerson, who runs a youth African dance and drum program, plans to return in the fall with two busloads of children.

Noelle Bonham of Washington, D.C., called the museum “our tree of knowledge.’’

Bonham said small exhibits about African Americans at other Smithsonian museums aren’t enough to tell the group’s long and rich history in the country. “It’s not like our story is ingrained in American history,’’ she said. “We’re the fabric of this country. This has been a long time coming.’’

Contact Deborah Barfield Berry at dberry@gannett.com. Twitter: @dberrygannett