"The Challenge of Building a National Museum"

This talk will explore the history and struggle to create the National Museum of African American History and Culture focusing on a variety of challenges including building on the Mall, conceptual frameworks, public expectations, and contextual terrain of race. Lonnie Bunch, Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, discusses the strategies used to successfully navigate these challenges and in doing so reveals the current status and future projections for the Museum. Ultimately, Mr. Bunch explores how the National Museum will help the Smithsonian transition from a 19th century institution to a 21st century enterprise.

Co-sponsored by the Franke Program in Science and the Humanities, the Yale-Smithsonian Partnership for Research and Public Engagement, the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, the Yale University Art Gallery, and the Public Humanities Program at Yale.