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President Barack Obama to Deliver Remarks at Smithsonian Groundbreaking

    WHAT:                      President Barack Obama to deliver
                               remarks at the groundbreaking
                               ceremony for the Smithsonian's
                               National Museum of African American
                               History and Culture (NMAAHC)

    WHEN:                     Wednesday, Feb. 22
                               Media representatives must arrive by 9
                               a.m.; ceremony begins at 10 a.m.
                              No one will be admitted after 9 a.m.

    WHERE:                     The construction site of the NMAAHC,
                               14th Street and Constitution Avenue
                               N.W. (on the National Mall between
                               the Washington Monument and the
                               National Museum of American History)

    WHO:                       Wayne Clough, Secretary, Smithsonian
                               Institution
                              Lonnie G. Bunch III, director, NMAAHC
                               France Cordova, chair, Smithsonian
                               Board of Regents
                               Laura Bush, member, NMAAHC, Advisory
                               Council
                              Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.)
                              Phylicia Rashad, emcee
                               Musical performances by Denyce Graves,
                               Thomas Hampson, jazz pianist Jason
                               Moran, Stanley Thurston and The
                               Heritage Signature Chorale, Howard
                               University Jazz ensemble-Afro Blue,
                               The Madrigal Singers of St. Albans
                               and the National Cathedral Schools,
                               and the U.S. Navy Band

Background: NMAAHC will be the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, art, history and culture. Scheduled to open in 2015, the museum will be the first green building on the National Mall. Building designed by Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup. Construction by Clark/Smoot/Russell.

SOURCE Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture