Supporters of an African-American museum in the nation’s capital have long struggled for attention and money, even as other museums have arisen at prominent Washington sites commemorating everything from the Holocaust to the Native American experience.

Now the African-American museum may be running out of time. Although tentative moves have been made recently to build such an institution, Washington is filling up. It has 94 museums, with at least six more vying for a spot, and there are few high-profile sites left.

Meanwhile, it appears unlikely that Congress will allocate significant federal money for a museum soon, as priorities such as the war on terrorism siphon away funds.

“To not see those stories represented, among all of the other stories told in the museums on the Mall, is a major oversight,” said Michelle Bibbs, director of development and external affairs at the DuSable Museum of African-American History in Chicago.

“It’s disheartening that it’s still a struggle, that it’s still not automatic,” Bibbs added. “It’s disheartening that there still has to be a study to determine whether and where a national African-American museum should be built.”

Chicago Tribune; November 9, 2002

Posted in News & Events on November, 2002