[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E31-E32]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING LONNIE G. BUNCH III, SECRETARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
       AND A MEMBER OF THE 5000 ROLE MODELS OF EXCELLENCE PROJECT

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FREDERICA S. WILSON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 12, 2021

  Ms. WILSON of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Lonnie G. 
Bunch III, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, where he oversees 
19 museums, 21 libraries, the National Zoo, numerous research centers, 
and several education units and centers. He is the first-ever African 
American to serve in this role.
  Mr. Bunch, who grew up in Belleville, New Jersey, discovered early on 
his passion for the study of history and was greatly influenced by his 
grandfather. He regularly cites a conversation with him as a pivotal 
moment that shaped his career trajectory. While surveying a photograph 
labeled Unidentified Children, Bunch's grandfather mused to young 
Lonnie, ``Isn't it a shame [for them] to live their lives, die, just to 
be listed as anonymous?'' Consequently, he challenges himself to ``make 
visible the invisible'' and ``give voice to the anonymous.''
  From 1983 to 1989, Bunch served as the curator of history and program 
manager for the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, 
where he organized award-winning exhibitions highlighting black 
Olympians and African Americans in Los Angeles. Between 1989 and 2000, 
he held several positions at the Smithsonian, including associate 
director for curatorial affairs at the National Museum of American 
History, during which he oversaw the development of a major permanent 
exhibition on the American presidency.
  As president of the Chicago Historical Society from 2001 to 2005, 
Bunch developed an acclaimed exhibition on teenage life titled Teen 
Chicago and launched an outreach initiative to increase museum 
attendance by diverse communities.

[[Page E32]]

  Before serving in his current role, Bunch was director of the 
Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. 
Under his watch, the museum grew from a project with no staff, 
collections, funding, or site, to become a cornerstone of American 
history and culture that has welcomed more than six million visitors 
since its opening and houses a collection of 40,000 objects. It is the 
largest museum devoted exclusively to examining and teaching African 
American history and its impact on the nation and the world.
  He has served on the advisory boards of the American Association of 
Museums and the American Association for State and Local History. In 
2002, President George W. Bush appointed him to the Committee for the 
Preservation of the White House, to which he was reappointed by 
President Barack Obama in 2010. In 2005, the American Association of 
Museums named him one of the 100 most influential museum professionals 
of the 20th century. Bunch also received the Freedom Medal from the 
Roosevelt Institute, the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal from the Hutchins Center 
at Harvard University, and the National Equal Justice Award from the 
NAACP's Legal Defense Fund. In addition, he will be inducted into the 
5000 Role Models at its 28th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
Scholarship Breakfast on Monday, January 18, 2021.
  Bunch has published numerous books, including tomes on the black 
military experience, the American presidency, and all-black towns in 
the American West. As Mr. Bunch has said: ``You can't be a historian of 
black America without being hopeful. Because this is a group of people 
who, in many ways, believed in a country that didn't believe in them. 
So, for me, there is always hope.''
  Madam Speaker, please join me in honoring Lonnie G. Bunch III, who 
helps us all draw hope from our history, even its darkest moments, and 
has ensured that our great Smithsonian institutions give voice to 
stories that might otherwise would be lost to history.

                          ____________________