A clear vision of a murky past Lonnie Bunch working to tell story of his people, his nation

By PAMELA GOULD

WASHINGTON--Lonnie Bunch was sitting at Reagan National Airport waiting to catch a flight to Chicago last month when a woman with a magazine walked up and stared.

She wanted to know if he was indeed the man she'd been reading about. When he acknowledged he was, she began loudly telling everyone nearby that he was famous.

The bearded and bespectacled Bunch said it was embarrassing, and quite an odd experience for someone whose chief interest has been writing about 19th-century history. But in his new role as founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, the 52-year-old New Jersey native knows a bit of celebrity could be an asset.

Bunch's job is to chart the vision for the new museum, find objects to tell its story and get enough government and private support to pay the $300 million to $400 million it is projected to cost.

His goal, he said during an interview this week in his temporary offices about two blocks from the National Mall, is to do it all within a decade.

As Bunch travels the country to raise awareness of the new museum, the vision he lays out is of a facility that speaks to all Americans.

"In some ways, this museum in Washington gets to do something very important," Bunch said in July when addressing the Association of African American Museums. "It can be a lens to help us all better understand what it means to be an American--to use African-American culture as that lens to understand the history of this country as well."

He said the museum has an opportunity to help visitors take a critical look at the nation and ask probing questions such as how the country is doing in living out the principles crafted by the Founding Fathers.

While reveling in the rich history of black American musicians, artists and dancers, the museum will also look at evils such as slavery and lynchings, and cases of quiet courage such as Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus.

"There will be stories in here of great pain, great tragedy, great brutality," Bunch said, "because you can't run away from that because those are instructive."

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About the museum

The advisory panel Current members of the Scholarly Advisory Committee for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. Director Lonnie Bunch hopes to assemble a 15-member panel.

John Hope Franklin, professor of history emeritus, Duke University.

Drew S. Days III, former U.S. solicitor general and Yale law professor.

Deborah L. Mack, anthropologist, museum and academic consultant and curator based in Georgia.

Alfred Moss, professor of African-American, U.S. social and U.S. religious history, University of Maryland.

Richard J. Powell, art history professor, Duke University.

Sites under consideration

The board of regents is expected to choose one of these four sites in January.

The Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building.

The area bounded by Constitution Avenue, Madison Drive and 14th and 15th streets in Northwest Washington.

The Liberty Loan site, on 14th street, S.W., at the foot of the 14th Street Bridge.

The Banneker Overlook site on 10th Street, S.W., near the L'Enfant Plaza promenade.

Date published: 9/10/2005

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