A Museum Opens Following a Century of Effort

After numerous challenges and outright opposition, the quest for a national museum documenting the history and cultural contributions of African-Americans has been realized.

Follow the decades of history, full of starts and stops, below:

1915 - A Civil War veterans group establishes the National Memorial Association for African-American military contributions.

1919 - Congress considers a National Memorial Building.

1920 - The Commission on Fine Arts recommends museum consideration be postponed until after a World War I memorial is approved.

1929 - On his last day in office, President Calvin Coolidge signs a law authorizing the commission to construct a memorial building. The commission requests $1.6M from unclaimed soldiers’ pay and money lost in the 1872 collapse of Freedman’s Bureau.

1930 - President Herbert Hoover rejects a funding request amid a worsening Great Depression.

1933-35 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt abandons the commission and rejects further development efforts.

1968-69 - Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., bills are introduced in both chambers to pursue a national museum.

1986 - At the urging of Texas Democratic Rep. Mickey Leland, Congress passes a resolution supporting a museum on the Mall.

1988 - Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis introduces a bill to create a museum within the Smithsonian.

1991 - A Smithsonian commission recommends a national museum

1992 - The Senate passes a bill by Illinois Democratic Sen. Paul Simon. It lingers in the House.

1993 - Lewis gets a measure to approve the museum through the House. It stalls in the Senate the next year. He and Simon repeatedly push legislation.

2001 - With the support of Republicans Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma and Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Lewis gets approval for a study commission.

2003 - President George W. Bush signs a law authorizing construction of the museum.

2006 - The Smithsonian selects a 5-acre site for museum on the Mall.

2012 - President Barack Obama presides at the groundbreaking ceremony.

2016 - Obama plans to attend the museum opening Sept. 24.

Sources: Smithsonian, CQ BudgetTracker, CQ BillTrack, Library of Congress

Photos by: Scott J. Ferrell/CQ Roll Call, House, Carol M. Highsmith/World Telegram & Sun

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