President & Mrs. Obama at the Commander-in-Chief’s Ball. January 20, 2009. Photographer: Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, USN

Dear Friend of the Museum,

Being President of the United States is the most demanding, stressful job one could ever imagine. Knowing all we know about the position, it is something close to a miracle that good people still seek the office. We also know that every President operates under the powerful microscope of history.

In 2009, Barack Obama became the first African American to serve in the White House. That alone ensures him a significant chapter in our nation’s history. His chapter, however, is far from finished. He is just days away from taking the oath of office for a second time — still another historic occasion.

To fully appreciate what this inauguration means, it is important to consider it in the context of 237 years of American history. The American Presidency: Glorious Burden is the title of the permanent exhibition, which I co-curated, on the presidency at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. While the exhibition examines the men and the office from a range of perspectives including political and cultural, a great deal of its substance emphasizes the human and personal dimensions.

It is quite revealing. Visitors gain an insight into the lives, characters, emotions, deepest thoughts about the office, the trust the American people bestowed on them, and the weight of that responsibility.

Smithsonian museums are renowned for powerful exhibitions like The American Presidency. It is this type of power that your support of the National Museum of African American History and Culture is helping create — a museum dedicated to making history come alive, making it relevant, and ensuring it provides a deeper, more enriching experience.

I often point out that the African American experience is not separate from our nation’s history; rather, it is intricately woven into it. The National Museum of African American History will reveal that to visitors from around the globe.

Reproduction of the Emancipation Proclamation at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The second inauguration of Barack Obama is an auspicious moment. However, African Americans have played vital roles in presidential tenures from the very beginnings of our republic. One of the Museum’s recent exhibitions provided an in-depth study of Thomas Jefferson and the inner conflicts he faced as a slave owner who penned “all men are created equal.”

Titled Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty, this exhibition featured new material on Jefferson, as well as the enslaved who worked on his plantation.

Currently, our exhibition Changing America, now open at the American History Museum, showcases the role African Americans played in ensuring our nation lives up to one of its founding principles — equality for all.

Slavery and its aftermath was an issue that took its toll on every president. This year marks the 150^th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Many of us connect this not only with the Civil War and the ultimate freeing of African Americans from bondage, but to President Abraham Lincoln, as well. One wonders if Lincoln could have imagined a day when America swears into office for the second time an African American president!

By supporting the National Museum of African American History and Culture, you become deeply rooted in this present moment in history. You are helping to bring to life a museum that will not only tell the long overdue story of the African American experience, it will create an atmosphere enabling visitors to feel that experience, as well.

Before I close, let me share this: the Museum’s staff knows there are many worthwhile organizations and causes you could — and may well — assist. However, we are honored to count you among our friends, and sincerely thank you for your support of the Museum.

All the best,

Lonnie Bunch
Director