"I, too, am America" - Langston Hughes

A new eight-story museum on the National Mall opens on September 24th and it was 100 years in the making. Called the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the museum was first discussed back in 1915, when African American Civil War veterans called for a museum to highlight the accomplishments of African Americans.

Congress established such a museum, to be part of the Smithsonian Institution, in 2003. Groundbreaking for the National Museum of African American History and Culture began in 2012.

The museum, the only national museum dedicated to African American history, shares the history of African Americas from the days of the slave trade through slavery in the United States. The timeline of history includes the struggles of African Americans seeking civil rights and equality and shares the contributions which African Americans have made which have helped shape our nation.

Some of the 36,000 artifacts on display include a slave cabin from the early 1800s and an 1835 bill of sale for a 16-year old African American girl. On display are the eating utensils used by Harriet Tubman as well as one of her silk shawls and her hymnal. Visitors can see the train car used during segregation (Jim Crow era) by African American passengers, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Woolworth’s lunch counter stools where four African American students held a sit-in, in 1960, when denied service, is on display. Jazz musician Louis Armstrong’s Selmer Trumpet, Muhammad Ali's boxing equipment, and the tennis racket used by the first African American to win at Wimbledon, Althea Gibson, can also be seen. There is also a training biplane used by the Tuskegee airmen during World War II and a dress that dressmaker Rosa Parks was sewing on the day she refused to give up her seat after a day at work.

President Barack Obama will be on hand for the grand opening ceremonies.

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