Endnotes

Prologue

1. “1995 Pulitzer Prizes, Journalism,” The Pulitzer Prizes—Columbia University, accessed August 5, 2016, http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/1995. «

Chapter 1

1. Army and Navy Journal, May 13, 1865, 601. «

2. “News from Washington,” New York Times, May 6, 1865, 4. «

3. David W. Blight, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap, 2001), 64. «

4. “The Grand Review,” Frank Leslie’s Weekly, June 10, 1865. «

5. New York Tribune, May 24, 1865, 1. «

6. New York Sun, May 24, 1865, 1. «

7. “The Grand Review in Washington,” Daily Intelligencer, May 25, 1865, 3. «

8. Edmund N. Hatcher, The Last Four Weeks of the War (Columbus: Edmund N. Hatcher, 1891), 382. «

9. “General Butler on Confiscation,” The Liberator, June 23, 1865. «

10. “Emancipation League,” The Liberator, June 2, 1865, 87. «

11. National Anti-Slavery Standard, June 3, 1865, 1. «

12. Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861–5, Vol V., (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, 1871), 1011; Frederick H. Dyer, A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Compiled and Arranged From Official Records of the Federal and Confederate Armies, Reports of the Adjutant Generals of the Several States, the Army Registers, and Other Reliable Documents and Sources (Des Moines: Dyer Publishing Co., 1908), 1727. «

13. Caroline E. Janney, Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation (Chapel Hill: University of North Caroline Press, 2013), 71 (quoting The Liberator, June 2, 1865). «

14. “Colored Solders! Welcome! Welcome!” The Christian Recorder, Oct. 28, 1865, 171. «

15. Ibid. «

16. “Universal Suffrage,” The Christian Recorder, June 24, 1865. «

17. “Should the Negro Enlist in the Union Army?” Address at a Meeting for the Promotion of Colored Enlistments, July 6, 1863, published in Douglass’ Monthly, Aug. 1863. «

18. New York Times, May 23, 1865, accessed August 5, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/1865/05/23/news/southwest-reported-assassination-rebel-general-kirby-smith-capture-ex-gov-isham.html. «

19. Bobby L. Lovett, “The Negro’s Civil War in Tennessee, 1861–1865,” Journal of Negro History 61, no. 1 (1976): 43–45. «

20. H.R. Rep. No. 38–65, at 4 (1864). «

21. New York Times, May 26, 1865, accessed August 5, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/1865/05/26/news/southwest-denial-story-kirby-smith-s-assassination-his-wife-says-some-his-men.html. «

22. “The Habit of Prejudice, and Denial of Right,” National Anti-Slavery Standard, July 1, 1865; Frank Leslie’s Weekly, June 10, 1865; National Anti-Slavery Standard, June 3, 1865. «

23. C. R. Gibbs, Black, Copper and Bright: The District of Columbia’s Black Civil War Regiment (Silver Spring, Md.: Three Dimensional Pub., 2002), 57. «

24. John Savage, The Life and Public Services of Andrew Johnson, Seventeenth President of the United States, Including His State Papers, Speeches and Addresses (New York: Derby & Miller, 1866), Speech to the Negro Soldiers, Oct. 10, 1865 appears at Appendix 90–95. All quotes from President Johnson’s speech come from this source. «

25. “The Review,” Washington Evening Star, May 22, 1865, 2. «

26. Daily National Republican, second edition, Oct. 11, 1865, 2, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86053570/1865-10-11/ed-1/seq-2/. «

27. “The President’s Speech,” National Anti-Slavery Standard, Oct. 21, 1865. «

28. Ibid. «

29. George W. Williams, A History of the Negro Troops in The War of the Rebellion 1861–1865 (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1888), 328. «

30. Ibid. «

31. “Reunion of colored veterans,” New York Times, Aug. 3, 1887, 5. «

32. John Hope Franklin, George Washington Williams: A Biography (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1998), 171–74. «

33. Captain James M. Wells, With Touch of Elbow or Death Before Dishonor: A Thrilling Narrative of Adventure on Land and Sea (Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., 1909), 271. «

34. As we will see, many who would come after Williams worked to ensure a satisfactory answer to that question. Fittingly, John Hope Franklin became one of many who helped bring Williams’s quest for legacy to fruition, serving as the first Chair of the Scholarly Advisory Committee of the National Museum of African American History and Culture until his passing in 2009. Prior to the realization of the national museum dedicated to the entirety of African American history, Frank Smith, a former member of the D.C. City Council, helped lead the effort to build the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, not far from Howard University. «

Chapter 2

1. Wallace E. Davies, “The Problem of Race Segregation in the Grand Army of the Republic,” Journal of Southern History 13, no. 1 (1947): 356–57. «

2. John Hope Franklin, “Birth of a Nation—Propaganda as History,” Massachusetts Review 20, no. 3 (1979): 417–34. «

3. Robert Lang, The Birth of a Nation: D.W. Griffith, Director (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1994), 43–156. These initial pages generally provide a continuity script of the film, describing the entirety of the film in detail, shot by shot. Pages especially of note are 103–04, 107–08. «

4. Ibid. «

5. Ibid. at 114–15, 134. «

6. Ibid. at 155. «

7. Rev. A. J. Emerson, “The Birth of a Nation,” Confederate Veteran 24, no. 3 (1916): 141. «

8. “Facts about ‘The Birth of a Nation,’” Washington Herald, Apr. 11, 1915, 19. «

9. Ibid. «

10. See article by John Hope Franklin. «

11. August Meier and John H. Bracey, Jr., “The NAACP as a Reform Movement, 1909–1965: ‘To Reach the Conscience of America,’” Journal of Southern History 59, no. 1 (1993): 3–30. «

12. Melvyn Stokes, D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation: A History of the Most Controversial Motion Picture of All Time (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007): 129–70 «

13. Ibid. at 424–25. «

14. “White House Will Have Movie Show,” Washington Times, Feb. 18, 1915, 1; “President to See Movies,” Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), Feb. 18, 1915, 1. It was widely rumored and reported t hat after seeing the film, President Wilson exclaimed, “it is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is also terribly true.” See Mark E. Benbow, “Birth of a Quotation: Woodrow Wilson and ‘Like Writing History with Lightning,’” Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 9, no. 4 (2010): 509–33. Whether Wilson ever made such a statement is the subject of much debate, but the rumor no doubt gave credence to the belief that granting equal rights to Black people would harm the nation. «

15. “Chief Justice and Senators at Movie,” Washington Herald, Feb. 20, 1915, 4; “Movies at Press Club,” Washington Post, Feb. 20, 1915, 5; “The Birth of a Nation,” The Sun (New York), Feb. 22, 1915, 7. «

16. “Birth of a Nation Brings Wilson Worry,” Washington Herald, May 1, 1915, 6; “Dixon’s Play Is Not Indorsed By Wilson,” Washington Times, Apr. 30, 1915, 6; Benbow, “Birth of a Quotation,” 509–33. «

17. “Special Services to be Held in Washington Churches Tomorrow in Recognition of G.A.R. Encampment,” Evening Star, Sept. 25, 1915, 10; “Birth of a Nation to Be Told to GAR,” The Washington Times, Sept. 25, 1915, 11. «

18. Washington Bee, Sept. 25, 1915. «

19. Evening Star, Sept. 24, 1915, 2. «

20. Washington Herald, Sept. 26, 1915, 10. «

21. Letter dated Sept. 10, 1915, from President Wilson’s papers in the Library of Congress. «

22. Journal of the 49th National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, H. Doc. 64-469, 209–11 (1916). All quotes from President Wilson’s speech to the Encampment come from this source. «

23. Id. at 252; “Veterans Parade through Capitol of Nation They Save,” Evening Star, Sept. 29, 1915, 1; “President Waives Cordial Greeting to Old Soldiers,” Evening Star, Sept. 29, 1915, 1. «

24. Journal of the 49th National Encampment, 248; “Wilson weeps as withered GAR veterans repeat review of ’65,” New York Tribune, Sept. 30, 1915; “Ex-Confederates March in Parade,” Washington Times, Sept. 29, 1915, 1. «

25. “Fifty Years,” Afro-American Ledger, Oct. 2, 1915, 4. «

26. “Colored Citizens Planning Entertainment for Members of Their Race,” Evening Star, Sept. 5, 1915, 3. «

27. Letter from National Memorial Association, Inc. to President Woodrow Wilson, July 20, 1916, Woodrow Wilson Papers, Library of Congress. «

28. “Fifty Years,” Afro-American Ledger, Oct. 2, 1915, 4. «

Chapter 3

1. S. Doc. 63-621, 33–34 (1914). «

2. “DAR History,” Daughters of the American Revolution, accessed August 5, 2016, http://www.dar.org/national-society/about-dar/dar-history. «

3. “Letter to F. D. Lee,” Records of the Board of Commissioners for the District of Columbia, National Archives 97 (1916): 221406; “Memo appointing Commissioner Brownlow to confer with National Memorial Association,” Records of the Board of Commissioners for the District of Columbia, National Archives 97 (1916): 221404. The Commission of Fine Arts was a planning body created by Congress in 1910 to oversee the design and aesthetics of Washington, D.C.’s architecture. «

4. Members of the NMA’s executive board had helped lead the petition drive to ban The Birth of a Nation, and two of the speakers for the planning meeting—Isabella Worrell Ball and Reverend W.H. Jernagin—had endorsed earlier resolutions urging the commissioners to ban the film. «

5. “Would bar Negroes from Army or Navy,” Daily Arkansas Gazette, July 29, 1916, 12. «

6. 53 Cong. Rec. 12,688–89 (1916) (statement of Rep. Caraway). «

7. Ibid., 12689. «

8. “Read The Following Bills,” Crisis 13, no. 1 (November 1916): 39–40, http://library.brown.edu/pdfs/1292419668523500.pdf. «

9. 53 Cong. Rec. 2,224 (1916). «

10. “Start a Memorial,” Washington Bee, December 20, 1919. «

11. “Asks for no marble shaft,” Baltimore Afro-American, December 19, 1919; “Colonel Charles Young at Saint Mark’s Church,” New York Age, December 20, 1919. «

12. Barbara Holden-Smith, “Lynching, Federalism, and the Intersection of Race and Gender in the Progressive Era,” Yale Journal of Law and Feminism 31 (1996): 8. «

13. 57 Cong. Rec. 176 (1919) (statement of Rep. Kahn). «

14. John R. Hawkins, an NMA founder, and Reverend William H. Jernagin sent an official petition to Congress on behalf of the National Race Congress, asking for federal legislation to prohibit lynching and eliminate racial discrimination in accommodations, interstate travel, elections, labor relations, and in the court system. 58 Cong. Rec. 7046 (1919). This petition sought many of the redresses ultimately granted by the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s. «

15. 58 Cong. Rec. 6,639-40 (1919) (statement of Rep. Heflin). «

16. 57 Cong. Rec. 4,644-45 (1919) (statement of Rep. Dyer). «

17. 65 Cong. Rec. 10,540 (1924) (statement of Rep. Dyer). «

18. H. Rep. 70-853, 2 (1928). «

19. A Bill Authorizing the Erection in the City of Washington of a Monument in Memory of the Faithful Colored Mammies of the South, S. 4119, 67th Cong. (1922); ibid., H.R. 13672, 67th Cong (1923); ibid., H.R. 6253, 68th Cong. (1924). «

20. “Charlotte Hawkins Brown Speaks at Oberlin College,” New York Age, February 3, 1923; “Futile Monument Scheme,” New York Age, March 3, 1923; “The Southern Paradox,” New York Age, March 24, 1923. «

21. 65 Cong. Rec. 4,839 (1923). «

22. When the bill to create a national memorial building for African Americans was finally passed in 1929, the designer of a “mammy o’ mine” memorial statue inspired by the colored mammy memorial legislation had the gall to request the placement of her statue in the memorial building. Letter from Ethel L. Carpenter to the Commission on Fine Arts dated Oct. 25, 1929, Files of the Commission on Fine Arts, National Archives. «

23. Hearings on H.J. Res. 60, Before the Comm. on Public Buildings & Grounds, 70th Cong. 5 (1928) (hereafter 1928 Hearings). «

24. Walker was not only the first African American woman to become a self-made millionaire, she was also the first American woman of any race to do so. Walker made her fortune providing hair care products for Black women. Madam C.J. Walker, accessed August 5, 2016, http://www.madamcjwalker.com/#&panel1-1. «

25. 1928 Hearings, 6. «

31. Mary Church Terrell was also the widow of Judge Robert Terrell, one of the founders of the NMA. «

32. 1928 Hearings, 22 (statement of Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, First President of National Association of Colored Women). «

33. 69 Cong. Rec. 10,592 (1928). «

34. 70 Cong. Rec. 5,080 (1929) (statement of Rep. Taylor). «

35. Ibid. «

36. Ibid. The Jefferson Memorial was constructed and opened in 1943. «

37. President Herbert Hoover was inaugurated later that day. «

Chapter 4

1. J.H. Howard, “Memorial to Race Soldiers ‘An Empty Honor,’” Pittsburgh Courier, March 30, 1929, 2. «

2. Letter from Mordecai W. Johnson to Walter H. Newton (Secretary to President Hoover), August 10, 1929, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Letter of Nannie H. Burroughs to Walter H. Newton, August 14, 1929, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Letter of Nannie H. Burroughs to Walter H. Newton, September 4, 1929, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. «

3. “National Memorial Association Head Visiting in State,” New Journal and Guide, September 14, 1929, 10. «

4. Letter of National Memorial Association by Ferdinand Lee to Charles Moore, April 13, 1929, National Archives. «

5. Letter from Samuel C. Smith (Executive Secretary of the National Memorial Association) to Charles Moore of April 25, 1929, Commission on Fine Arts files, National Archives. «

6. Hawkins was also president of Prudential Bank in Washington, D.C.; the financial secretary of the National AME Church, and president of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History. «

7. Bethune was president and founder of both Bethune-Cookman College and the National Council of Negro Women. “Mary McLeod Bethune,” National Council of Negro Women, accessed August 5, 2016, https://ncnw.org/about/bethune.htm. «

8. Reverend Williams was the pastor of Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Chicago and president of the powerful National Baptist Convention. See “Lacey Kirk Williams,” Texas State Historical Association, accessed August 5, 2016, https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fwiag. «

9. Pearson was a banker and insurance executive who founded the North Carolina Mutual and Provident Society, the precursor to North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company. See “William Gaston Pearson (Incorporator),” North Carolina Central University Digital Collection, accessed August 5, 2016, http://contentdm.auctr.edu/cdm/ref/collection/nccu/id/67. «

10. Porter was a protégé of Booker T. Washington who became an attorney and the publisher of the East Tennessee News in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was also active in the National Negro Business League. Bobby L. Lovett, The Civil Rights Movement in Tennessee: A Narrative History (Knoxville, Univ. of Tenn. Press, 2005), 235. «

11. Ransom, from Topeka, Kansas, was a Presiding Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. “A.M.E.Boards Meet to Review Year’s Work,” New York Age, May 2, 1925, 2. «

12. From Louisville, Kentucky, Weeden was the general secretary of the AME Zion Church and the author of Weeden’s History of the Colored People of Louisville. “Henry Clay Weeden,” Notable Kentucky African Americans Database, accessed August 5, 2016, http://nkaa.uky.edu/record.php?note_id=725. «

13. Hueston was a state court judge from Gary, Indiana and a national officer of the International Brotherhood of the Elks. «

14. From Los Angeles, California, Williams was the first African American fellow of the American Institute of Architects and later designed the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). “Paul R. Williams, Architect,” Paul R. Williams Project, accessed August 5, 2016, http://www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/about/paul-revere-williams-architect/. «

15. Whittico was a city council member and the editor and publisher of the McDowell Times from Keystone, West Virginia. “Matthew T. Whittico,” West Virginia Division of History & Culture, accessed August 5, 2016, http://www.wvculture.org/history/histamne/whitticm.html. «

16. Jonathan P. Guy, et al., Funding Study for the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, December 3, 2002, 2–3 (on file with the author). After years of efforts by the Freedman’s Bureau and the Secretaries of War to locate these Black veterans and their descendants, $325,553.21 in unpaid salaries and bounties were deposited into the United States Treasury. «

17. Ibid., 3–8. «

18. “Hoover photos are as scarce as his race appointments,” Baltimore Afro-American, January 18, 1930, 1. Kenneth T. Walsh, Family of Freedom: Presidents and African Americans in the White House (Boulder: Paradigm, 2011), 81. «

19. Ibid. «

20. “Hoover poses again,” Baltimore Afro-American, February 15, 1930, 3; “President hurt by flood of criticism,” Baltimore Afro-American, November 22, 1930, 3; “Hoover talks Haiti with Commissioners,” Baltimore Afro-American, October 25, 1930, 1. «

21. “The Hoover Photographs, I told you so!” Baltimore Afro-American, October 8, 1932, 1. «

22. “Leaders Talk with Hoover on Memorial,” Chicago Defender, December 14, 1929, A1. «

23. “Memorial Approved,” New York Telegram, May 31, 1929. Although a prior study by the Commission on Fine Arts staff in 1920 had suggested the National Mall as the appropriate site for the memorial building, and some press reports during that period had stated similarly, there is no indication that the Commission on Fine Arts ever offered to help procure a Mall site for this project. «

24. Hearings on H.J. Res. 60, Before the Comm. on Public Buildings & Grounds, 70th Cong. 23–26 (1928); Minutes of Meeting of the Commission on Fine Arts, April 25, 1929. «

25. The proposed site was on Georgia Avenue directly across from the Howard University campus. «

26. Letter of Ferdinand Lee to Charles Moore, December 12, 1929, National Archives. «

27. Letter from Chairman Moore to Ferdinand Lee, January 9, 1930, Commission on Fine Arts files, National Archives. «

28. Letter of David Lynn to Ferdinand Lee, December 30, 1929, Papers of the Architect of the Capitol. «

29. Letter from A.W. Mellon to Walter H. Newton (Secretary to President Hoover) of February 25, 1930 (with attached report); Letter from Treasury Undersecretary Ogden L. Mills to Walter H. Newton of May 19, 1930 (with attached reports), Hoover Presidential Library. «

30. Joint Resolution to Amend Section 5 of the Joint Resolution Relating to the National Memorial Commission, S.J. Res. 171, 71st Cong. (1930). Letter from F.D. Lee to Senator Robert B. Howell, June 2, 1930, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library; Letter from F.D. Lee to Walter H. Newton (Secretary to President Hoover), June 16, 1930, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. «

31. Joint Resolution to Amend Section 5 of the Joint Resolution Relating to the National Memorial Commission, S.J. Res. 6, 72nd Cong. (1931). «

32. “Fisk Jubilee Singers Win Acclaim in Concert Here,” Washington Post, April 16, 1932, 12. «

33. Letter from Ferdinand D. Lee to David Lynn (Architect of the Capitol), January 9, 1931, Papers of the Architect of the Capitol; “Paul Robeson in Recital,” Baltimore Afro American, Jan. 24, 1931, 2; “6,000 Hear Robeson in Washington,” Philadelphia Tribune, January 29, 1931, 6. «

34. “Few Seats for Negros,” New York Herald Tribune, March 30, 1931, 16; “DC Notables Hear Dett and Hampton Choir,” Baltimore Afro-American, March 28, 1931, 3. Walter White, the National Secretary of the NAACP, protested the prejudice at the concert. «

35. On March 7, 1933 Congressman Will Wood of Indiana, one of the most ardent champions of the Commission on Capitol Hill, passed away. «

36. On April 1, 1933, Lee succumbed to illness at his home in Washington. He was buried in Harmony Cemetery just outside of Washington without even a marker. «

37. Exec. Order No. 6166 § 2 (June 10, 1933). «

38. “Expect National Negro Memorial Commission to be Abolished,” Baltimore Afro-American, June 17, 1933, 18. «

39. Letter from Samuel C. Smith (Executive Secretary of the National Memorial Association) to President Roosevelt of May 7, 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library; Letter from M.H. McIntyre (Assistant Secretary to the President) to Samuel C. Smith, undated, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. «

40. Letter from Samuel C. Smith to President Roosevelt on May 6, 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library; Letter from Marvin H. McIntyre to Samuel C. Smith of May 21, 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library. «

41. Joint Resolution Authorizing the Creation of a Federal Memorial Commission . . . to the Memory of Thomas Jefferson, H.J. Res. 371, 73rd Cong. (1934). «

Chapter 5

1. A Bill to Provide for the Establishment of the Negro History Commission, H.R. 10638, 89th Cong. (1965). «

2. Hearing on H.R. 12962, Before the Select Subcomm. on Labor of the H. Comm. on Education and Labor, 90th Cong. 79 (1968) (hereinafter “1968 House Hearing”) (statement of Charles H. Wright describing Rep. Powell’s opposition to Rep. Scheuer’s 1965 bill). «

3. A Bill to Provide for the Establishment of a Commission on Negro History and Culture, H.R. 12758, 90th Cong. (1967). «

4. H.R. Rep. No. 95-1828, pt. 2, at 277 (1979), http://www. archives.gov/research/jfk/select-committee-report/part-2-king-findings.html. «

5. 1968 House Hearing, 39. «

6. Ibid., 37 «

7. Ibid., 23. «

8. Ibid., 37. «

9. This museum is now called The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. «

10. Mabel O. Wilson, Negro Building (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012), 247. «

11. Ibid., 283; Andrea A. Burns, From Storefront to Monument: Tracing the Public History of the Black Museum Movement (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2013), 160–64. «

12. 1968 House Hearing, 57. «

19. South Africa practiced apartheid, nationally sanctioned racial segregation in which White South Africans held all of the power and Black South Africans had little to none. «

20. 1968 House Hearing, 64. «

21. Ibid. «

22. Baldwin’s searing essays, plays, and novels frequently delved into the complicated and painful topic of race relations in America. On May 17, 1963, Time magazine featured Baldwin on the cover of an issue dedicated to “The Negro’s Push for Equality.” He was not initially expected to appear at this congressional committee hearing, and Congressman Scheuer expressed delight and surprise when Baldwin arrived. Betty Shabazz, the widow of Malcolm X, who had championed the study and promotion of Black history and culture, accompanied him. «

23. 1968 House Hearing, 43. «

24. Ibid., 42. «

25. Ibid., 44. «

26. Cassius Clay, who changed his name to Muhammad Ali in 1964, had been convicted of draft evasion for refusing to enter the Vietnam Conflict due to his Muslim faith and refusal to be a proponent of White supremacy. Martin Waldron, “Clay Guilty in Draft Case; Gets Five Years in Prison,” New York Times, June 21, 1967, 1. «

27. 1968 House Hearing, 42. «

28. Negro Building, 289. «

29. The conference highlighted the fact that many of the repositories containing important documents related to Black history were underfunded, underappreciated, and underutilized; and there was substantial concern that documents, letters, diaries, and other ephemera related to Black life and culture were either discarded or deteriorating in attics and basements around the country. Conference panelists also decried distorted and inaccurate historical accounts being taught in schools. «

30. Hearing on S. 2979, Before the Senate Special Subomm. on Arts & Humanities of the Comm. on Labor & Public Welfare, 90th Cong. 10 (1968) (hereinafter “1968 Senate Hearing”). «

31. Ibid., 10. «

32. Ibid., 11. «

33. Ibid., 76. «

34. The Black Power Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, a much more radical push for Black pride and autonomy than the broader civil rights movement, was direct about its quest for justice and anti-White supremacy stances. «

35. 1968 Senate Hearing, 79–80. «

36. Ibid., 80–81. «

37. One of the first repositories for Black history and culture founded by Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, an Afro-Puerto Rican man, in response to his teacher’s claim that Black people contributed nothing of value to history. «

38. This is notable because various other agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Communications Commission, the National Science Foundation, and the National Endowment of the Humanities, as well as the military, provided responses. In fact, Dr. Charles Wright had complained during the March 1968 House hearing that the Smithsonian, “has been more concerned with reptiles and birds than with Black Americans.” 1968 House Hearing, 79. «

39. These Councils led local efforts to maintain racial segregation in schools and public accommodations, as well as efforts to block Black people from voting. «

40. 114 Cong. Rec. 27,017 (1968) (statement of Rep. Waggonner). «

41. 113 Cong. Rec. 22,731 (1967) (statement of Rep. Selden). «

42. In 1969, another bill was introduced, this time specifying that the commission would be known as the Commission on Afro-American History and Culture. Despite its new name, this bill also failed to pass. «

43. 1968 House Hearing, 104 (statement of Rep. Brown entered into the open record following Dr. King’s assassination on April 4, 1968). «

44. Hearing on S.3419, Before the Subcommittee on Parks and Recreation of the S. Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, 94th Cong. 40 (1976) (hereinafter “1976 Senate Hearing”). «

45. Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. «

46. Senator Robert Taft Jr. of Ohio also supported the plan, as did Congressman Lewis Stokes, the first African American congressman from Ohio, and several other members of the Congressional Black Caucus: Congressmen Ron Dellums and Gus Hawkins from California, Congressmen John Conyers and Charles Diggs from Michigan, Congressman Robert Nix from Pennsylvania, and Congressman Parren Mitchell from Maryland. «

47. 1976 Senate Hearing, 45. «

48. Among those appointed to the planning council were Senator Edward Brooke, Republican of Massachusetts, the first African American to join the U.S. Senate in eighty-five years; and Charles Wesley, the Executive Director of the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History. «

49. 1976 Senate Hearing, 59. «

50. Ibid., 12–13. «

51. Pub. L. No. 94-518, Title III, § 301, 90 Stat. 2447 (1980). «

52. Hearing on S. 1814, Before the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, 96th Cong. 9–11 (1980). «

53. Ibid., 20, 27. «

54. Pub. L. No. 96-430, Title II, 94 Stat. 1846 (1980) (codified at 20 U.S.C. § 3701). «

55. There has been no indication the Commission ever completed its report. «

56. Pub. L. No. 101-184, 103 Stat. 1336 (1989). «

Chapter 6

1. Bill to Establish an American Slavery Memorial Council, H.R. 3829, 99th Cong. (1985). «

2. Pub. L. No. 99-511, 100 Stat. 2080 (1986). «

3. Kara Swisher, “Fanfare for a Museum,” Washington Post, April 11, 1988, B1. «

4. National African-American Heritage Museum and Memorial Act, H.R. 5305, 100th Cong. (1988). «

5. Pub. L. No. 94-74, 89 Stat. 407 (1975); President Signs Legislation Reserving Mall Site for SI,” Smithsonian Torch, September 1975, http://siarchives.si.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/torch/1975/SIA_000371_1975_09.pdf. «

6. Douglas E. Evelyn, “A Most Beautiful Sight Presented itself to My View: The Long Return to a Native Place on the Mall,” in Spirit of a Native Place: Building the National Museum of the American Indian, ed. Duane Blue Spruce (Washington, D.C.: National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, in association with National Geographic, 2004), 182; Patricia Pierce Erikson, “Decolonizing the “Nation’s Attic: The National Museum of the American Indian and the Politics of Knowledge-Making in a National Space,” in The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversation, ed. Amy Lonetree and Amanda J. Cobb-Greetham (Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2008), 57–58. «

7. William Raspberry, “This Museum Belongs on the Mall,” Washington Post, June 5, 1987, A27. «

8. H.R. 1570, 101st Congress (1989); H.R. 2477, 101st Congress (1989). Senator Simon introduced S.1959 on November 6, 1989, and his bill was very similar to the Lewis and Leland Bills, with one major exception: The Simon bill made clear that the museum’s board of trustees had to operate subject to general policies established by the Smithsonian Board of Regents, and it gave the Regents, rather than the museum’s board, the responsibility for operating the proposed affiliate program and national trust for African American museums. These changes were undoubtedly in response to concerns raised by the Smithsonian. «

9. “Smithsonian Institution Minority Employment Practices,” Hearings before the Government Activities and Transportation Subcomm. of the Comm. on Government Operations, 101st Cong. 2 (1989). «

10. Michael Welzenbach, “Lion of the Anacostia Museum,” Washington Post, July 19, 1989, D10. «

11. “Establishment of an African American Heritage Memorial Museum,” Hearing before the Subcomm. on Libraries and Memorials of the Comm. on House Administration, 101st Cong. 34 (1989) (hereinafter “1989 House Hearing”). «

12. Kara Swisher, “Black History Museum Plan Sparks Debate,” Washington Post, October 16, 1989, A1. «

13. 1989 House Hearing, 42. «

14. Kara Swisher, “Black History Museum Plan Sparks Debate,” Washington Post, October 16, 1989, A1, A12. «

15. 1989 House Hearing, 54–57. Thus, the objections expressed by Dr. Charles Wright, one of the founders of the AAMA, had been met by the efforts to build consensus since 1968. Gaither also entered into the record a survey commissioned by the AAMA, the “profile of Black museums,” which was a comprehensive study of all of the local African American Museums published in 1988. John Fleming, the Director of the National Afro American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, submitted a statement requesting Federal assistance to the hearing, noting that the museum had been created with state and private funds. 1989 House Hearing, 121–124. But federal support for the Wilberforce Museum was still not forthcoming. «

16. 1989 House Hearing, 35. «

17. Ibid., 36. «

18. Pub. L. No. 101-185, 103 Stat. 1336 (1989). The legislation directed the Smithsonian to construct at least 400,000 square feet of facilities on the National Mall, in New York City, and in Suitland, Maryland. The federal government was authorized to pay for 2/3 of the National Mall building, 1/3 of the New York building, and all of the Suitland building. Congress also established a trust fund to provide museum training to Indians so that its exhibits could travel to Indian museums and other facilities outside of Washington. «

19. 1989 House Hearing, 32. «

20. Judith Weinraub, “Smithsonian Launches Mall Project,” Washington Post, December 12, 1989, D1. «

21. Barbara Gamarekian, “National Black Museum Gains Support,” Florida Today, June 24, 1990, 5F. «

22. Jacqueline Trescott, “Toward a Black Museum,” Washington Post, May 8, 1990, B2. «

23. Final Report of the African American Institutional Study at 6 (1991). «

24. Hearings on H.R. 5831, H.R. 5822 and H.R. 1246, Before the Subcomm. on Public Buildings and Grounds of the H. Comm. on Public Works and Transportation, 102nd Cong. 25–51 (1992). «

25. Hearing on Smithsonian Institution, H.R.1246, National African American Museum, Before the Subcomm. on Libraries and Memorials of Comm. on House Administration, 102nd Congress 8 (1992) (hereinafter “1992 House Hearing”). «

26. “Smithsonian Authorizes African American Museum,” The Star-Democrat (Eston, Maryland), February 4, 1992, 8A. «

27. African American Museum in Capitol Mall Okayed by Senate Panel,” San Bernardino County Sun, June 18, 1992, A17. «

28. 1992 House Hearing, 28–32. «

29. Carl T. Rowan Jr., “A Black ‘Presence’ on the Mall is Not Enough,” Washington Post, April 19, 1992, C8. «

30. Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Case History: How the Effort to Build an African American Museum on the Mall Ended Up in a Black Hole,” Washington City Paper, Feb. 6–12, 1998, 24–35, 34. «

31. 1992 House Hearing, 56. «

32. Ibid., 43. «

33. Coates, Case history, 32. «

34. 139 Cong. Rec. H4,166 (daily ed. June 28, 1993). «

35. Eric Brace, “Senate Okays Museum Bill,” Washington Post, October 5, 1992, C7. «

36. See, e.g., “Oral History Interview with Jesse Helms, March 8, 1974,” http://docsouth.unc.edu/sohp/A-0124/excerpts/excerpt_6780.html; Chuck Smith, “The Case Against Jesse Helms,” Wall Street Journal, September 4, 2001, http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122643894408618377. «

37. “The King Holiday and Its Meaning: Remarks of Senator Jesse Helms,” http://www.martinlutherking.org/helms.html, accessed July 30, 2016. «

38. Robin Toner, “In North Carolina’s Senate Race, A Divisive TV Fight Over ‘Values’,” New York Times, September 23, 1990, http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/23/us/in-north-carolina-s-senate-race-a-divisive-tv-fight-over-values.html?pagewanted=all. «

39. Fath Davis Ruffins, “Culture Wars Won and Lost,” Radical History Review, Vol. 70, 78–101, 95–96 (Winter 1998); Jacqueline Trescott, “Museum Bill Dies in Senate,” Washington Post, October 8, 1994, Page C1; Helen Dewar, “In Braun-Helms Fight, Senate Searched Soul,” Washington Post, December 12, 2003, A8. «

40. 140 Cong. Rec. S28,285, (daily ed. October 6, 1994). «

41. 140 Cong. Rec. S28,877 (daily ed. October 7, 1994). «

42. Mitchell Locin, “Plan for Black Museum Brings Out the Old Rebel in Jesse Helms,” Chicago Tribune, July 10, 1994, C2. «

43. Michael Kilian, “The Rise and Haul of the Smithsonian Empire,” Chicago Tribune August 8, 1996, Page 1. «

44. Natalie Hopkinson, “Separate But Equal Won’t Work for Museums, Either,” Palm Beach Post, February 22, 1998, 1E. «

45. Coates, Case History, 26, 28. «

46. Hopkinson, Palm Beach Post, February 22, 1998, 5E. «

Chapter 7

1. Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Case History: How the Effort to Build an African-American Museum on the Mall Ended Up in a Black Hole,” Washington City Paper, February 6–12, 1998, 26, 28. «

2. Peter Slevin, “Black History Museum Has Artifacts but No Building,” Washington Post, January 9, 2000, C9. «

Chapter 8

1. Robert Wilkins, “How Much Longer Must We Wait?” Washington Post, August 5, 2001, B8. «

2. National Museum of African American History and Culture Act of 2001, H.R. 1718, 107th Cong. (2001); ibid., S. 829, 107th Cong. (2001). «

3. Congressional Press Conference. May 3, 2001. http://www.c-span.org/video/?164059-1/africanamerican-history-museum. All quotes from the press conference were drawn from this source. «

4. Lynne Duke, “Role of a Lifetime,” Washington Post, August 19, 2007, D1, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/18/AR2007081801113.html; “Frederick Douglass IV is not a Descendant of Frederick Douglass,” Website of Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, accessed August 7, 2016, http://www.fdfi.org/fake-fred.html. «

5. National Museum of African American History and Culture Plan for Action Presidential Commission Act of 2001, Pub. L. No. 107–106, 115 Stat. 1009 (2001). «

Chapter 9

1. Joint Resolution Honoring the Contribution of Blacks to American Independence, Pub. L. No. 98-245, 98 Stat. 111 (1984). «

2. A rendering of the planned memorial can be found at Ed Dwight’s website, accessed August 7, 2016, http://www.eddwight.com/memorial-public-art/black-revolutionary-war-patriots-memorial-constitution-gardens-washington-dc. «

3. The sponsoring group revised its plans and won approval for a renewed effort, overseen by the National Mall Liberty Fund, to plan and construct a “commemorative work to slaves and free Black persons who served in the American Revolution” as soldiers, sailors, or civilians. President Obama signed this measure into law in 2013 and the group is moving forward with the project. Pub. L. No. 112-239 § 2860, 126 Stat. 2164 (2013). See also http://libertyfunddc.com/ (accessed July 23, 2016). «

4. Robert L. Wilkins, “The Forgotten Museum,” (unpublished manuscript, 2002). «

5. National Museum of African American History and Culture Plan for Action Presidential Commission, “The Time Has Come,” Report to the President and to the Congress (2003), 1, http://nmaahceis.si.edu/documents/The_Time_Has_Come.pdf. «

Chapter 10

1. An Act Establishing a Commission of Fine Arts, Pub. L. No. 61-181, 36 Stat. 371 (1910) (codified at 40 U.S.C. §§ 9101–04 (2011)). «

2. “Past Members of the Commission on Fine Arts,” Commission on Fine Arts, accessed August 7, 2016, https://www.cfa.gov/history/past-commission-members. «

3. “A History of the National Mall and Pennsylvania Avenue Historic Park,” National Park Service, accessed July 24, 2016, https://www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan/Documents/mallpaavhistory.pdf, at 2. «

4. S. Rep. No. 57-166, at 28 (1902)(“McMillan Plan”). «

5. “Arts and Industries Building,” Smithsonian Institution Archives, accessed August 7, 2016, http://siarchives.si.edu/history/arts-and-industries-building. «

6. Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, H.R. Doc. No. 55-309, pt. 2, at 10 (1898); Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, H.R. Doc. No. 57-707, pt. 2, at 16 (1901); Letter of Smithsonian Secretary S.P. Langley transmitting Plans for a New Building for the U.S. National Museum in H.R. Doc. No. 57-314, at 3 (1903). «

7. McMillan Plan, 44. «

8. An Act to Expedite the Construction of the World War II Memorial in the District of Columbia, Pub. L. No. 107-11, 115 Stat. 19 (2001). «

9. National Museum of African American History and Culture Plan for Action Presidential Commission, Final Site Report (2003), 38, http://nmaahceis.si.edu/documents/Final_Site_Report.pdf (Hereinafter “Final Site Report”). «

10. Final Site Report, 39. «

11. Final Site Report, 42. «

12. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center Authorization, Pub. L. No. 108–126, Title II, § 202, 117 Stat. 1349 (2003) (establishing the Reserve); An Act to establish within the Smithsonian Institution the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and for other purposes, Pub. L. No. 108-184, § 8(a)(3), 117 Stat. 2682 (2003) (exempting the NMAAHC from provisions of the Commemorative Works Act). «

13. Final Site Report, 71. «

14. 149 Cong. Rec. S7155 (daily ed. May 23, 2003). «

15. 149 Cong. Rec. S8378-80 (daily ed. June 23, 2003). «

16. Hearing on H.R. 2205, Legislation to Establish Within the Smithsonian Institution a National Museum of African-American History and Culture, Before the Comm. on House Administration, 108th Cong. 5 (2003). «

17. Ibid., 40–43, 46–48. «

18. Ibid., 60–72. «

19. Letter. from John V. Cogbill III, NCPC Chairman, to Congressman Bob Ney, Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, Nov. 6, 2003 (on file with the author); Letter from John V. Cogbill III, NCPC Chairman, to James Jukes of the Executive Office of the President, Nov. 24, 2003 (on file with the author). «

20. 149 Cong. Rec. H11490 (daily ed. Nov. 18, 2003) (statement of Rep. Lewis). «

21. 149 Cong. Rec. S15303-04 (daily ed. Nov. 20, 2013) (statement of Sen. Brownback). «

22. Photo located at http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_12639, accessed July 24, 2016. «

23. Letter from John V. Cogvill, III, NCPC Chairman, to Lawrence Small, Nov. 3, 2005 (on file with the author). «

24. Remarks at a Celebration of National African American History Month, Public Papers of the Presidents: George W. Bush, 1:186–89 (2005). «

Epilogue

1. “Smithsonian Digitization Office Digitizes 1 Millionth Object!”, June 21, 2016, http://insider.si.edu/2016/06/smithsonian-digitizes-1-million-object-collections/;“National Museum of African American History and Culture Joins White House To Celebrate Black History Month,” February 12, 2016, http://newsdesk.si.edu/releases/national-museum-african-american-history-and-culture-joins-white-house-celebrate-black-hist. «

2. Interview with Dr. Richard Kurin, Smithsonian Acting Provost and Under Secretary for Museums and Research, July 21, 2016. «

3. More information about some of the responsible individuals appears at the museum’s website, accessed August 7, 2016, www.nmaahc.si.edu. «

4. Jackie Mansky, “How One Woman Helped End Lunch Counter Segregation in the Nation’s Capital,” Smithsonian Magazine, June 8, 2016, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-one-woman-helped-end-lunch-counter-segregation-nations-capital-180959345/?no-ist; “Terrell Place/ Hecht Company Site, African American Heritage Trail,” Cultural Tourism DC, accessed August 7, 2016, https://www.culturaltourismdc.org/portal/terrell-place/-hecht-company-site-african-american-heritage-trail. «

5. “Permanent Mary Church Terrell Exhibit Dedicated in Ceremony at Terrell Place in Downtown Washington, DC,” Venable LLP, December 3, 2003, https://www.venable.com/NEP/pressreleases/NewsDetail.aspx?news=a6fa5b04-c8bd-4f9a-bbab-52b4493b0f25; Jean Efron, “Art Makes a Statement for Business, Too,” New York Times, March 31, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/jobs/art-as-an-extension-of-the-corporate-image.html. «

6. Remarks by the President at the Groundbreaking Ceremony of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, February 22, 2012, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=99597. Video of the groundbreaking is available from C-SPAN, https://www.c-span.org/video/?304542-1/african-american-national-museum-groundbreaking-ceremony. «

7. Ibid. «

8. Ibid. «

9. Ibid. «

10. U.S. Const. pbl. «

11. Fact Sheet, “National Museum of African American History and Culture: Design and Construction,” July 1, 2016, http://newsdesk.si.edu/factsheets/national-museum-african-american-history-and-culture-design-and-construction. «

12. Fact Sheet, “National Museum of African American History and Culture,” February 1, 2016, http://newsdesk.si.edu/factsheets/national-museum-african-american-history-and-culture. «

Notes