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[[underline]] BACKGROUND STATEMENT [[/underline]]

[[underline]] for proposal to donate the MUSEUM of AFRICAN ART  to the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION [[/underline]]

During the twelve years of its existence, the Museum of African Art has won international acclaim as the outstanding educational/cultural institution in the United States devoted exclusively to fostering public understanding of Africa's tradition[['al' cut off at edge of page]] art and its creative contributions to mankind.

Occupying a block of eight Capitol Hill townhouses including the first Washington residence of the great 19th century black abolitionist orator, publisher and government official, Frederick Douglass, the Museum was founded in 1964 by former USTA Public Affairs Officer and Cultural Attaché, Warren Robbins, its present Director.

Its collection of traditional African sculpture, numbering 6,500 objects is already among the three most important museum collections in the United States; even more important, several private collections of African sculpture conservatively valued at several million dollars would be bequeathed to the Museum if its institutional stability were assured. These collections, if received, would make Washington unquestionably the principal center in the world for the display and study of African art, an important fact in view of the city's large diplomatic community, the high proportion of African students in its colleges, and its 76% black population. 

The Museum has already received a bequest from the world renowned LIFE photographer and Africanist, Eliot Elisofon, of a photo archives numbering 150,000 slides, film and photos on Africa, in addition to 600 objects of art. Together with a specialized library of 5,000 titles, the photo archives and the collection comprise a unique educational resource which will be made accessible to universities throughout the nation. 

All told, the Museum's assets in art, educational material and real estate exceed $6,000,000. More than $3,000,000 has been raised thus far to launch and operate the Museum, including a $1,000,000 five-year development grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1970.

Best known for its far reaching and imaginative educational program, the Museum serves as a national prototype designed to foster mutual respect and social harmony among black and white citizens. Some 9,000 groups from schools, colleges, church and civic organizations, etc. have participated in the Museum's orientation programs. More than a million persons have already visited the Museum or participated in its extension programs with a far greater number having viewed educational television programs emanating from the Museum.

The Board of Trustees of the Museum is prepared to donate to the United States, via the Smithsonian Institution, the entire Museum complex, its collections and its physical plant. The appropriations needed would be only about $500,000 per year, since the Museum, like the National Gallery and other branches of the Smithsonian would continue to raise funds from private sources.