Thank you for your letter of October 27, 1979, enclos- Since our goal is the establishment of a "National" museum or center at Wilberforce, we have in the legislation introduced in the Congress provided for a broad representative body. Your bill would conform to that principle, which I think is a must if the center we envision is to attain national stature. Incidentally, I hope to have hearings at an early date on S. 1814, though the date has not yet been set. I will be in further touch with you when it is. Senator GLENN. Congressman Brown? Representative BROWN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Representative McLin, I want to compliment you for the interest you have taken in this project. Had it not been for the support that you generated in the State of Ohio during the days of shallow interest here on the Hill and then in Washington, because of a climate that existed at that time, it would have been difficult I think to keep this project alive over the years. So I am pleased that you have taken that interest. I think it was your legislation, initially, at the State level which made the advancement of this project possible. What sort of planning is Ohio doing at present? Will the Ohio contribution save the Federal Government money; and, if so, how much? Mr. McLIN. Representative Brown, Ohio is doing plenty by hiring professionals, because I found out recently-I didn't know this-to build a museum you do it backwards. You find out what needs to go in the museum and then you build it around that. To build a house, you get some plans and just build it because you want it there. Ohio has taken a step in hiring professionals, nationally known historians and museum people, to go in to start getting those kinds of things that we need to put in, that need to go into a museum. We have over $300,000 that we took out of the controlling board that is placed in utilization of that kind of staff. After we get that, we will probably then have sketches, architect plans, drawn up. So I am saying that Ohio as of now will save the Federal Government over $8 million. Representative BROWN. You have had $3.5 million appropriated in previous years, and that money is still available, is that not correct, and will continue to be available for this project? Mr. McLIN. Yes. Representative BROWN. And $5 million is in the current biannum budget; is that correct? Mr. McLIN. That is correct. Representative BROWN. That is in a controversy over which items will be retained. But you feel fairly confident that this project will be retained. So that is really $8.5 million that is available from the State of Ohio, committed already to this project. If we could just get a matching grant from the Federal Government, and reverse the usual process of the Federal Government providing matching grants or grants that the State must match. We just say to the Federal Government, "If you will match what we have done, we could be really on our way," couldn't we? Mr. McLIN. Yes, we could. Senator GLENN. If I could interrupt, that is a very good point. We might be remiss in not exploring some other areas. I don't know whether completely different areas, now we are up to 50-50 matching funds, that it would make this possible. This might be possible under all other sorts of things-HEW, EDA. I don't know what could be interpreted into this thing. But that might be a whole different attack to this. That is a good point, Congressman Brown. Representative BROWN. I am not sure where all of the players in the room come off on the effort currently going on to strip away the State revenue sharing money, but I am one who supports the continuation of State revenue sharing money. But if we could at least continue that money coming into Ohio, maybe we can even do better for Ohio. That would be a nice way for the State to get some funds from the Federal Government that they might be willing to use in this regard. The estimate of the work done by the State Planning Council, of which you and I and some of the other people in the room are a part of, the status of that now is there is a plan underway, a specific bricks and mortar proposal being planned by an architect; is that right? Mr. McLIN. Mr. Chairman, Congressman Brown, the architects are not on board now, but the historians and the museum people are going about preparing for the architect to let the architect know how much space he will need to house that. That must be done before we can hire an architect. Representative BROWN. Finally, do you have any estimate of the time by which there might be something down on paper that might be submitted to the Federal Government should we pursue this idea of the 50-50 approach where we can say, "Here it is; here is what we are planning, and your share of this can help bring it into accomplishment"? Mr. McLIN. I would say within a year. But if we knew that the Federal Government would move, I think we could move much faster. Representative BROWN. Thank you, Representative McLin. I really appreciate your testimony. I think it has contributed to the advance of the idea. Mr. McLIN. Thank you, Congressman. Senator GLENN. Thank you very much. Our next two gentlemen will appear as a panel. They are leading educators in the area. Dr. Charles Taylor, president of Wilberforce University, and Dr. Lionel Newsome, president of Central State University. Gentlemen, if you would take a chair. Dr. Newsome is not here now. Dr. Taylor, we are glad to have you here today. We welcome any statement you wish to make. TESTIMONY OF CHARLES TAYLOR, PRESIDENT, WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY, WILBERFORCE, OHIO Mr. TAYLOR. Thank you, Senator Glenn. I also have copies I brought for the members of the committee, which I will leave for the committee. Senator GLENN. They will be distributed to members of the committee. Your entire statement will be included in the record. Mr. TAYLOR. Before I present the prepared statement, I am sorry that the representatives of the administration did not stay to hear that last proposal. I think it is a very good one, one which I would certainly support. I think that somebody in the administration needs to know that there are lots of other people in the United States who do not live in the State of Georgia, many of whom voted for the President in the last election. I think we are all concerned about the degree to which he understands whether or not we are alive anymore. I am sorry that they did not stay for the remainder of this hearing. Senator GLENN. We will see that a copy of the hearing is delivered into their hands, I can assure you. Mr. TAYLOR. I would hope you would do that, Senator. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am Dr. Charles E. Taylor, president of Wilberforce University. On behalf of the board of trustees, faculty, staff, students, and alumni of Wilberforce University, I wish to express our appreciation for the opportunity to appear before you today to voice our complete and enthusiastic support of S. 1814. For more than a decade, citizens of Ohio have believed that the time was long overdue for the establishment of a major national institution which would give recognition and continuing witness to the contributions of Afro-Americans in the building and conduct of our great nation. While we believe that such an institution must be national in every respect, we are convinced that Wilberforce, Ohio, is the most appropriate location for such a national center. The full history of this Nation, much of which unfortunately has not found its way into the textbooks of American schools and thus is not fully appreciated by the American public, shows clearly that Wilberforce, Ohio, represented the end of a long journey for thousands of black Americans seeking to escape the tyranny of slavery and to find the promise of America. For those black Americans, as well as the many dedicated white people who assisted them, the Underground Railroad which for many ended at Wilberforce, is as historically significant as the famous ride of Paul Revere. Wilberforce, Ohio, is also the location of Wilberforce University, the Nation's oldest private institution of higher education continuously owned and operated for the primary benefit of Black Americans. Now the site of not only Wilberforce University but Central State University and Payne Theological Seminary as well, Wilberforce, Ohio, appropriately symbolizes the important role that education has played in the efforts of Black Americans to overcome the obstacles to freedom. While the citizens of Ohio have discussed this notion of a National Center of Afro-American History and Culture for more than a decade now, we have certainly done more than "just talk." In June 1972, the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation that created the National Museum of Afro-American History and Culture Planning Council. I am proud to serve as that council's current chair man. The task of the council is to advise the Ohio Historical Society on the establishment of a National Museum of Afro-American History and Culture. Over the past 8 years the council has met with hundreds of people and organizations, not just from Ohio but from all over the United States, who are interested in this project. Funds for the initial planning work have been provided by the State of Ohio as a further indication of the State's commitment and resolve to see this project finally established. Congressman Brown of the Seventh Congressional District of Ohio has introduced legislation on this matter for more than 10 years. It was not until the 94th Congress, however, that Senator John Glenn was finally able to achieve a hearing on the National Afro-American Museum proposal. On October 18, 1976, President Ford signed into law Public Law 94-518, title III, section 301, in which the Secretary of the Interior was directed to "study the feasibility/suitability of a National Museum of Afro-American History and Culture at or near Wilberforce, Ohio." In September of 1978 the National Park Service, under the direction of the Department of the Interior, completed the feasibility/ suitability study. The study provides considerable detail on the assets of the Wilberforce area, the possible scope of services and costs of the museum, the economic implications, environmental concerns, and administrative alternatives for its operation. This assessment was done in relation to a specific set of criteria which were established for determining feasibility/suitability. The study concludes: .. that the Wilberforce area substantially meets the 11 considerations previously discussed. Therefore, given the specific direction for locating the museum, which was mandated by Congress, the National Park Service concludes that it is both feasible and suitable to establish a National Museum of Afro-American History and Culture at Wilberforce, Ohio. S. 1814 then represents the next logical step in establishing the National Center for Afro-American History and Culture under the appropriate auspices of the Government of the United States. The bill presently before you, as well as the companion legislation in the House, was developed based on the information contained in the 1978 feasibility/suitability study and extensive consultation with the various parties at interest in Ohio and throughout the United States. The change in concept from "National museum" to "National center" reflects our effort to incorporate additional ideas generated by the feasibility/suitability study. Therefore, in light of the facts that the U.S. Department of the Interior, through an extensive study by the National Park Service, has determined the proposed project to be both feasible and suitable, that private citizens and public officials from Ohio and throughout the United States have already contributed a great deal to the development of this project, and that there exists a demonstrated national need and desire for the proposed project, both groups which I represent today, Wilberforce University_and the National Museum of Afro-American History and Culture Planning Council urge the committee's approval of Š. 1814. Mr. Chairman, I thank you for this opportunity to be here today, and I would be happy to answer any questions that the committee might want to ask. Senator GLENN. Thank you very much, Dr. Taylor. You are a leading educator in the area, of course, at Wilberforce. How do you assess this as far as being the center, from the standpoint of what it would do for the area, for academics of the area, for the universities of the area? Would it be a substantial help, do you think? Representative BROWN. Mr. Chairman, the feasibility/suitability study that was conducted by the National Park Service indicates clearly that there are significant positive impacts to be derived from this project-in terms of the number of visitors that would be brought to the area, in terms of the number of jobs that would be generated by the construction of the facilities as well as the operation of the facilities. |