The Kappa Foundation and Kappa Alpha Psi supports and celebrates the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

MUSEUM FAST FACTS

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture is a promise and purpose fulfilled — the only national museum devoted to telling the story of America through the lens of African American life, art, history, and culture.

THE MUSEUM

• is the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum and research complex
• will open on September 24, 2016, on a five-acre site on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., adjacent to the Washington Monument
• is the result of bipartisan support from Congress, which created the Museum in 2003 and committed to funding it through a 50-50 public-private partnership
• is creating a 400,000-square-foot building with eleven galleries on five levels — an iconic, green museum designed to achieve LEED-Gold certification
• will welcome 3–5 million visitors annually free of charge, and will support virtual visits by providing digital access to countless millions around the nation and the world.
• will tell the full American story through clusters of history, community, and culture galleries that feature such exhibitions as Slavery and Freedom; Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation; Beyond 1968; Military History; Sports; Power of Place; Cultural Expressions; Visual Arts; Musical Crossroads; and more
• will feature public spaces for educational and public programs, performances, presentations, and forums
• will empower learners of all ages through formal and informal educational platforms that include online resources and interactive technology
• will offer youth and K–12 students dedicated education spaces and digital access programming that support science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM)
• has acquired about 35,000 treasures, including such objects as a Tuskegee airplane, Harriet Tubman’s hymnal, Louis Armstrong’s trumpet, Nat Turner’s Bible, a Jim Crow–era railroad car, Civil War–era photographs, fine art, and an African American fashion collection.

The Museum will be more than an iconic landmark on the National Mall. It will be a beacon that reminds us of what we were and the challenges we still face, and will point us towards what we can become.

KAPPA ALPHA PSI FRATERNITY, INCORPORATED

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated has earned its place in history. As an organization that has been at the forefront of shaping and influencing African American history and culture over the past century, you have nurtured and enabled many African Americans to become outstanding leaders and change-makers across the United States.

This tradition of excellence, exemplified by the Fraternity and its members, has played an important role in the completion of the first and only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history and culture. In addition to the generous financial support from the Fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi and some of its prominent members will be represented within the Museum’s inaugural exhibitions through photographs, media, or artifacts.

The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture would like to thank Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated for their generous gift of $722,000. As a Major Contributor, the Fraternity will be recognized on the Major Contributor Wall once the museum opens to the public on September 24, 2016.