It's official. September 24, 2016 is the day that the Smithsonian's newest museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, will open to the public. The Museum is planing a three-day festival to welcome visitors with films, music, dance, and other cultural attractions.
The eleven inaugural exhibitions will feature many of the Museum's 34,000 artifacts, including a railroad passenger car that dates to the Jim Crow era, a shawl worn by Harriet Tubman, a traveling trunk that belonged to the family of the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, an airplane used to train Tuskegee airmen, Nat Turner's Bible, and hundreds of other rare and rarely seen objects that curators have been steadily collecting since the museum was established.
The five-story building will have five levels above ground and four more below. The 400,000-square-foot building includes exhibition space, a theater and café, staff offices and an education center.
Read the official announcement here.