A Fool's Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump

Summary

A Fool's Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump is Founding Director Lonnie Bunch's deeply personal tale of the triumphs and challenges of bringing the Smithsonian's 19th museum to life. His story is by turns inspiring, funny, frustrating, quixotic, bittersweet, and above all, a compelling read. In its first four months of operation, the National Museum of African American History and Culture surpassed one million visits and quickly became a cherished, vital monument to the African American experience. And yet this accomplishment was never assured. In A Fool's Errand, Bunch tells his story of bringing his clear vision and leadership to bear to realize this shared dream of many generations of Americans. Outlining the challenges of site choice, architect selection, building design, and the compilation of an unparalleled collection of African American artifacts, Bunch also delves into his personal struggles---especially the stress of a high-profile undertaking---and the triumph of establishing such an institution without mentors or guidebooks to light the way. His memoir underscores his determination to create a museum that treats the African American experience as an essential component of every American's identity. This inside account of how Bunch planned, managed, and executed the Museum's mission informs and inspires not only readers working in museums, cultural institutions, and activist groups, but also those in the nonprofit and business worlds who wish to understand how to succeed---and do it spectacularly---in the face of major political, structural, and financial challenges.

Subject

• Obama, Barack
• Bush, George W (George Walker) 1946-
• Trump, Donald 1946-
• National Museum of African American History and Culture

Category

Smithsonian History Bibliography

Notes

Secretary Lonnie Bunch's account of building the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Topic

• Autobiography
• Historians
• New Museums
• Museums
• Museum architecture
• History
• National Collections
• Museum directors
• Museums--History
• African Americans--History

Place

Washington (D.C.)

Edition

First

Physical description

Number of pages: 288 Page numbers : 1-288

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