Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100 Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Description

Biographical Note:
The author Robert L. Wilkins is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He served as chairman of the site and building committee of the Presidential Commission that Congress established to plan the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Prior to becoming a judge he was an attorney with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and a partner in a large private law firm. He is a graduate of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Harvard Law School.

Review Quotes:
A brief history of the creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War a “Grand Review ” or a massive military parade was organized to celebrate the accomplishments and sacrifices of the Union soldiers. Although 200 000 veterans marched over two days African-American soldiers felt disenfranchised from the celebratory affair in which they were relegated to second-class status. George Washington Williams a well-known African-American historian responded to this under representation by proposing the construction of a monument commemorating the African-American soldier.
In 1915 a re enactment of the Grand Review was staged and an organization called the National Memorial Association formed in response to it which officially advocated for Williams’ proposal. By the 1920s the original idea of a monument had grown to encompass a full memorial building of some kind which would not only honor the martial valor of African-Americans but also acknowledge their contributions to the United States in other domains.
In 1929 President Calvin Coolidge signed legislation into law that sanctioned the creation of a National Memorial Building to Negro Achievement and Contributions to America but it was a stillborn measure radically underfunded. Yet another bill was introduced in 1965 to study the feasibility of a museum devoted to African-American history but that project too died from neglect as did another in 1995.
Eventually however the National African American Museum and Cultural Complex was formed and Wilkins the debut author of this book was its president. He’s spent 20 years researching this work which is nearly as much of a purposeful labor of love as the museum itself. In it he skillfully relates not only the myriad practical problems political financial and otherwise that slowed the museum project down but also addresses its moral dimension as well as the sometimes-tepid support the project had in the African American community.
Ultimately the author furnishes a rigorous history that captures the struggle of African-American people and the proud contributions they made to a country that did not always accept them: “The beauty of the African American story is that the toil of our people has not been in vain ” he writes. Given all the historical minutiae that Wilkins provides it’s a surprisingly gripping historical drama.
A delightful edifying tale written with intelligence and emotional sensitivity.
–Kirkus Reviews (09/13/2016)”
160 pages