Terrific African-American Museum is a must see when in DC

The National Museum of African American History and Culture was opened by President Obama in September 2016; this was my first chance to visit the enormous facility (several levels are below ground) in which you could spend all day

LBJ used this pen to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, is considered to be the most effective piece of federal civil rights legislation ever enacted in the country;

Born into slavery, Harriet Tubman (her lace handkerchief) escaped and made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, using the Underground Railroad; during the Civil War, she served as an armed scout and spy for the Union Army

The museum had several floors dedicated to the history of slavery which would be educational for students or international visitors; I found the higher floors with 20th and 21st century exhibits much more interesting

After escaping slavery, Douglass became an abolitionist leader famous for his oratory and incisive writings; he was a living counter-example to slaveholders' arguments that slaves lacked the intellectual capacity to function as independent citizens

The National Museum of African-American History and Culture is one huge history lesson and includes iconic images like this photo from the sit-in at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro

John Lewis was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders and was beaten in SC, attacked in AL and then arrested in MS; Lewis spoke at the 1963 March on Washington and was first elected to Congress in 1986

This 1901 autobiography of educator Booker T. Washington describes his experience as a slave during the Civil War through to him founding the Tuskegee Institute; Modern Library listed it at No. 3 on a list of the 100 best 20th century nonfiction books

Now called CItizens Bank, this Nashville-based institution is the oldest continuously operating African-American owned bank in the country; it was founded in 1904

In 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat, the modern Civil Rights Movement began; her arrest sparked a bus boycott that lasted 381 days and brought national attention to Montgomery AL and Martin Luther King Jr

At age 14 Carlotta Walls LaNier was the youngest student chosen to integrate Little Rock Central High School in 1957; she became the first female African-American student to graduate there at what is now a US National Historic Site

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is 350,000 sq ft with 5 floors above ground and 5 below ground; it ranked as the fourth most-visited Smithsonian museum in its first full year of operation

Venus and Serena are the two highest earning female tennis players in history ($42 and $94 million respectively); they have 3 Olympic gold medals in doubles and each has won Olympic gold in singles too

This 1946 trumpet belonged to Louis Armstrong whose career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s; he was among the most influential figures in jazz history and the former main stadium at the US Open is named for him

Nike introduced the AIr Jordan in 1985 redefining the shoe market; Michael Jordan has made roughly $1.3 billion from his deal with Nike since signing with the brand in 1984, according to Forbes

View of Lake Okanagan, Grafton Tyler Brown, 1882; he was the first African-American artist to create works depicting the Pacific Northwest and California; the museum highlighted groundbreakers in many fields

Barack Obama was only a state senator from Illinois when he gave this memorable keynote address at the 2004 National Democratic Convention; I feel he's been the greatest president of my lifetime

The National Museum of African American History and Culture has a couple of floors dedicated to the impact on sports, theater, movies and music made by African-Americans; among the fascinating artifacts is this jacket worn by Michael Jackson

The Oprah Winfrey Show remains one of the highest-rated daytime talk shows in American television history and ran from 1986 to 2011; in syndication the show has aired in 149 countries

Nicknamed the Father of Rock and Roll, Berry (his 1973 Cadillac) refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven and Johnny B. Goode

In 2021 the U.S. Mint will issue an America the Beautiful quarter commemorating the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site; the coin depicts a Tuskegee Airman suiting up with two P-51 Mustangs flying overhead and the motto - They fought two wars

You want to talk about crowds at a Presidential inauguration!; as our first African-American president, Barack Obama made history and brought intelligence, dignity and worldwide admiration to the White House