海角大神

Even as a youth, Lonnie Bunch was captivated by history.

鈥淭he desire to learn, the desire to understand, was really sort of embedded in everything we did,鈥� says Mr. Bunch, who is the son of educators.

When his family moved from Newark, N.J., to the nearby community of Belleville, they were one of only a few black families in town, and the only one in their neighborhood. Still today, Bunch remembers being treated 鈥渨onderfully鈥� by some, yet 鈥渉orribly鈥� by others.

The inquisitive teen naturally turned to history for an answer. 鈥淗istory, for me, became a tool to help me understand my own life,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut I also realized that if a nation understands its history, it is a wonderful tool to help a nation figure out how they live their lives, how to understand the conditions they face.鈥�

That embrace of history 鈥� as a tool not only to understand the past, but to deal with the present and look toward the future 鈥� continues to drive Bunch in his current role as founding director of the (NMAAHC), which opens in Washington Sept. 24.

Established by an act of Congress in 2003, the museum is on the National Mall, in the shadow of the Washington Monument. It is the newest installment of the Smithsonian Institution, and the only one to be devoted to showcasing the life, history, and culture of the African-American community.

Bunch is in his 11th year in this stint at the Smithsonian 鈥� a period that has challenged him to do everything from helping to select a site for the museum to raising some $540 million in funds and gathering a collection of artifacts befitting the world-renowned network of museums and galleries.

It is an 鈥渁mazing鈥� task to establish a new Smithsonian museum, something that occurs 鈥渙nce in a generation,鈥� says Richard Kurin, the institution鈥檚 acting provost and undersecretary for museums and research.

鈥淵ou need someone who can envision a museum and bring it to fruition both from a scholarly and curatorial level,鈥� says Mr. Kurin, who describes Bunch as a visionary. 鈥淗e is so much the right person for this particular job.... You would be hard-pressed to find someone else who could do this, and to do this on a national stage that is fraught with so many issues.鈥�

Bunch鈥檚 quest to learn more history when he was a teen was not without problems. 鈥淎s I began to go to a public library I would pick up great books, but there was never anything on African-Americans other than George Washington Carver,鈥� he says. 鈥淗ere is another part of history that is somehow being left out.鈥�

鈥楾he Smithsonian is where you take dates鈥�

Bunch never aspired to work in a museum. The prospect arose when he was a graduate student at American University in Washington, and a colleague connected him with a Smithsonian leader.

鈥淭he Smithsonian is where you take dates, because it鈥檚 free,鈥� Bunch, chuckling, recalls thinking to himself. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize what a big deal it was.鈥�

He was offered a job at the National Air and Space Museum, which he credits with launching his career in museums. He went on to work for what was then the California Afro-American Museum in Los Angeles before returning to the Smithsonian and holding various positions at the National Museum of American History.

In 2001, Bunch became president of the Chicago Historical Society, where he led a successful capital campaign, launched outreach initiatives for various communities, and managed a reorganization in which one result was a new name for the institution: the Chicago History Museum.

鈥淐hicago helped me realize that this vision I had of history being important wasn鈥檛 just a naive thought,鈥� he says. 鈥淐hicago is a city that cares about its history.鈥�

Joy Bivins, director of curatorial affairs at the Chicago History Museum, points out the many contributions that Bunch made there, including Teen Chicago 鈥� a program that was designed to enhance interest in history among youths 鈥� not to mention that he was the institution鈥檚 first African-American director.

Ms. Bivins also praises what he has undertaken in Washington. 鈥淗e has already brought tenacity, charisma, and a passion for the history of African-Americans to the project,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here is so much excitement around the opening of the NMAAHC in September, and he is a big part of creating that excitement and cultivating it.鈥�

Bunch admits that it was difficult to leave Chicago for his current post.

鈥淏eing the president of the [Chicago Historical Society] really nurtured my soul,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut coming back to do this would nurture the soul of all my ancestors. So in a way, there was no choice.鈥�

On a cruise ... while the ship is being built

Under Bunch鈥檚 leadership, the NMAAHC quickly became a museum well before the planned opening on the Mall 鈥� with traveling exhibitions and artifacts on display in the National Museum of American History.

All the while, Bunch has been confronted with an array of tasks amid developments like the Great Recession. 鈥淚 would almost describe it as going on a cruise at the same time you are building the ship,鈥� he says.

Bunch鈥檚 role has also required him to articulate its purpose to constituencies ranging from Congress to various religious communities, says Smithsonian acting provost Kurin. And it has involved building a collection, often one item at a time. 鈥淭hat means going to a place like Charleston, S.C., [and] meeting with folks who have stuff in their basement, attic, trunk,鈥� he says.

Museum officials are now setting display cases throughout the distinctive building and installing artifacts 鈥� including the hymnal Harriet Tubman carried and the shawl given to her by Queen Victoria. Inaugural exhibitions broach a variety of topics such as slavery, Reconstruction, military history, sports, and music.

S. Howard Woodson III, former president of the Alexandria, Va., branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, America鈥檚 oldest civil rights organization, describes Bunch as playing a 鈥減henomenal鈥� role. He also expresses keen anticipation for the museum opening.

鈥淚t just gives us a place where we can go and find out about the history of African-Americans,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is going to be monumental, especially in the last year of the first African-American president.鈥�

Understanding 鈥榳hat it means to be an American鈥�

In a recent conversation with the Monitor in his northwest Washington home, Bunch discussed his lifelong desire to 鈥渕ake visible the anonymous鈥� and to harness the capacity of history to help others.

鈥淚t is this tension between the joy of history,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd then using that as a weapon, as a tool, as a way to better understand who we are 鈥� to provide contextualization, and maybe on good days, a little healing and reconciliation.鈥�

The NMAAHC, he says, uses 鈥渉istory and culture as a lens to understand what it means to be an American.鈥�

He adds, 鈥淭his is not a story by black people for black people. This is the story that has profoundly shaped all of us.鈥�

He relishes the opportunity for the museum to be a 鈥渃onvener鈥� and to facilitate conversation about everything from the historic civil rights movement to Black Lives Matter. 鈥淭he museum is as much about today and tomorrow as it is about yesterday,鈥� he says.

Bunch also acknowledges the opportunity that the museum has in light of recent events.

鈥淩ace is the last great unmentionable in many ways: We talk about it, but we don鈥檛 talk about it,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he Smithsonian is this amazing place where people will grapple with issues and ideas that they won鈥檛 in other places.... Because it is the Smithsonian, we have the chance to be one of the greatest educational opportunities in America to help Americans grapple with what has divided them.鈥�

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