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Slavery museum's appeal
September 23, 2006 12:52 am
From WIRE and STAFF REPORTS
RICHMOND--If every American contributes $8, the U.S. National Slavery Museum could open exhibits as early as next year, Bill Cosby, a key contributor to the project, said yesterday.
Cosby joined Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder in launching a new campaign to raise $100 million toward the Fredericksburg museum's $200 million cost by asking people to give up what Cosby termed "the price of two shots of Scotch."
Cosby also encouraged parents to donate on their kids' behalf.
"The incentive is that they would join in with the rest of the United States of America in saying yes, as an American, I gave $8 to help build something that tells the story," he said in a teleconference with Wilder. "This is needed. Period."
Cosby has already committed to donating at least $1 million to the museum.
Cosby said he came up with the $8 idea while brainstorming on what the average American could afford to give. Wilder said the number also has symbolic significance to what is touted as the first national museum dedicated solely to telling the story of American slavery.
"The figure 8, in shape, is both of the shackles, which is the symbol of slavery," said Wilder, a former Virginia governor and the grandson of slaves. "If you turn it on its side, it's the symbol of infinite freedom."
Incidentally, if each of the country's 288.4 million men, women and children donated $8 toward the museum, its coffers would boast $2.3 billion. (If the appeal is strictly limited to adults, the cash drops to $1.7 billion.)
The campaign marks the latest attempt at fundraising for a project in the works for more than a decade.
Wilder struggled to find a location before settling on a site in the Silver Cos.' Celebrate Virginia South near the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg.
Some exhibits were supposed to open in 2003. Later, the date was pushed to 2007.
"In terms of whether the museum will be open next year, no, it won't," Wilder said. "Will some parts of it be open next year? It might be."
The primary problem has been raising funds, organizers acknowledge.
Fundraising seemed to get a jolt in February, when organizers had to reschedule a gala after high ticket sales forced them to look for a larger venue.
The event, rescheduled for June, attracted 1,100 people to Washington's Warner Theatre, where they watched performances by Cosby and entertainer Ben Vereen.
Before the gala, museum officials said they'd raised about $50 million toward the facility's construction. They apparently have not revised those figures--Wilder repeated the number during yesterday's teleconference.
Cosby said organizers continue to wrestle with limited corporate participation. He blamed the stigma of slavery.
"Corporate America is having a terrible problem coming up and divvying up with the money," he said, speaking from his home in Massachusetts. "They're more worried about whose feelings they would hurt if this museum is built."
In an Aug. 14 Business Week article, Wilder said some of the corporations he'd approached for support described his efforts as "trying to pull scabs off of old wounds."
"It's so inflammatory," Fredericksburg Mayor Tom Tomzak said yesterday. "But that's why the museum is needed."
Tomzak and several other City Council members said they were not invited to participate in yesterday's conference.
"It would have been nice had they done that," Tomzak said.
An article in a Richmond magazine earlier this month hinted that Wilder might want to move the museum--slated for 38 acres in Celebrate Virginia--to Richmond, a city that refused to offer incentives for the project years ago.
Fredericksburg City Councilwoman Debby Girvan said she read the Sept. 13 article in Style Weekly and immediately called Vonita Foster, the museum's executive director.
"She assured me that those rumors had been going around for a while," Girvan said. "I was assured it was staying here."
Yesterday's announcement shifts the fundraising focus to the grass-roots level. Now Cosby said it's time to target "foot soldiers."
"This kind of campaign generally fails badly," he said. "But I'm going to try again because I'm going to present this national slavery museum as a jewel that's missing in a crown."
ON THE NET: www.usnationalslaverymuseum.org
----------
Copyright 2006 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.
Article found online at: http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/F...9232006/224101
September 23, 2006 12:52 am
From WIRE and STAFF REPORTS
RICHMOND--If every American contributes $8, the U.S. National Slavery Museum could open exhibits as early as next year, Bill Cosby, a key contributor to the project, said yesterday.
Cosby joined Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder in launching a new campaign to raise $100 million toward the Fredericksburg museum's $200 million cost by asking people to give up what Cosby termed "the price of two shots of Scotch."
Cosby also encouraged parents to donate on their kids' behalf.
"The incentive is that they would join in with the rest of the United States of America in saying yes, as an American, I gave $8 to help build something that tells the story," he said in a teleconference with Wilder. "This is needed. Period."
Cosby has already committed to donating at least $1 million to the museum.
Cosby said he came up with the $8 idea while brainstorming on what the average American could afford to give. Wilder said the number also has symbolic significance to what is touted as the first national museum dedicated solely to telling the story of American slavery.
"The figure 8, in shape, is both of the shackles, which is the symbol of slavery," said Wilder, a former Virginia governor and the grandson of slaves. "If you turn it on its side, it's the symbol of infinite freedom."
Incidentally, if each of the country's 288.4 million men, women and children donated $8 toward the museum, its coffers would boast $2.3 billion. (If the appeal is strictly limited to adults, the cash drops to $1.7 billion.)
The campaign marks the latest attempt at fundraising for a project in the works for more than a decade.
Wilder struggled to find a location before settling on a site in the Silver Cos.' Celebrate Virginia South near the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg.
Some exhibits were supposed to open in 2003. Later, the date was pushed to 2007.
"In terms of whether the museum will be open next year, no, it won't," Wilder said. "Will some parts of it be open next year? It might be."
The primary problem has been raising funds, organizers acknowledge.
Fundraising seemed to get a jolt in February, when organizers had to reschedule a gala after high ticket sales forced them to look for a larger venue.
The event, rescheduled for June, attracted 1,100 people to Washington's Warner Theatre, where they watched performances by Cosby and entertainer Ben Vereen.
Before the gala, museum officials said they'd raised about $50 million toward the facility's construction. They apparently have not revised those figures--Wilder repeated the number during yesterday's teleconference.
Cosby said organizers continue to wrestle with limited corporate participation. He blamed the stigma of slavery.
"Corporate America is having a terrible problem coming up and divvying up with the money," he said, speaking from his home in Massachusetts. "They're more worried about whose feelings they would hurt if this museum is built."
In an Aug. 14 Business Week article, Wilder said some of the corporations he'd approached for support described his efforts as "trying to pull scabs off of old wounds."
"It's so inflammatory," Fredericksburg Mayor Tom Tomzak said yesterday. "But that's why the museum is needed."
Tomzak and several other City Council members said they were not invited to participate in yesterday's conference.
"It would have been nice had they done that," Tomzak said.
An article in a Richmond magazine earlier this month hinted that Wilder might want to move the museum--slated for 38 acres in Celebrate Virginia--to Richmond, a city that refused to offer incentives for the project years ago.
Fredericksburg City Councilwoman Debby Girvan said she read the Sept. 13 article in Style Weekly and immediately called Vonita Foster, the museum's executive director.
"She assured me that those rumors had been going around for a while," Girvan said. "I was assured it was staying here."
Yesterday's announcement shifts the fundraising focus to the grass-roots level. Now Cosby said it's time to target "foot soldiers."
"This kind of campaign generally fails badly," he said. "But I'm going to try again because I'm going to present this national slavery museum as a jewel that's missing in a crown."
ON THE NET: www.usnationalslaverymuseum.org
----------
Copyright 2006 The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company.
Article found online at: http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/F...9232006/224101
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