When the Museum of African American History and Culture opens on the National Mall in 2015, it will be "not just a record of tragedy, but a celebration of life," as President Obama said during the ground breaking ceremony on the site today. — whitehouse.gov

As the collection grew over the years, gallery space was lost to storage. Moreover, the building, designed by Eliel Saarinen, hadn’t been updated since it opened, in 1942, leaving it “no longer adequate to create a proper conservation or display environment,” said Reed Kroloff, the academy’s director. — nytimes.com