Gates Foundation Donates $10 Million to the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Thanks to The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is $10 million closer to groundbreaking.  The Foundation, the largest private charitable fund in the world, is donating the money to support the design and construction of the Museum.  The building will be designed by the international architectural team of Freelon Adjaye Bond / SmithGroup.  Ground-breaking for the 300,000 square-foot building is set for 2012 and completion is expected in 2015.

Bill and Melinda Gates

“We are so pleased that the Gates Foundation has joined donors from across the country who have built a groundswell of support for this Museum,” said Museum Director Lonnie Bunch. “We recognize this as a vote of confidence and a genuine honor.” Other founding donors who have given gifts of $1 million or more to the Museum include Aflac Inc., the Boeing Company, IBM Corporation, Johnson Publishing Company, James A. Johnson, Robert L. Johnson, the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, Richard E. Parsons, Prudential Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Allan Golston, president of the Gates Foundation’s United States Program, said, “The National Museum of African American History and Culture will be a remarkable resource that will ensure that the rich stories and valuable history of African Americans will be available for all.  The museum will be an important addition to our National Mall, and we are pleased to be joining others at this unique moment in time to support this worthy investment.”   To learn more about this project log on to www.nmaahc.si.edu/.

Posted by The Cotillion Online on Feb 3 2010. Filed under Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.