Fool's Errand

Founding Director Lonnie Bunch''s inside story of how the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture was created. By turns inspiring, funny, frustrating, quixotic, and bittersweet, this is his deeply personal tale of the challenges and rewards of bringing a nationally acclaimed new institution to life.

In its first four months of operation, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture surpassed one million visits and quickly became a cherished, vital monument to the African American experience. And yet this accomplishment was never assured. In A Fool''s Errand, founding director Lonnie Bunch tells his story of eleven years of struggling, believing, convincing others to believe, and walking a delicate political line during three very different presidential administrations.

Bunch outlines the challenges of site selection, building design, collection acquisition, and more. He delves into his personal challenges--especially the stress of such a public undertaking--and personal triumphs of accomplishing something so incredible with no mentor or guidebook to lead him. The book underscores Bunch''s determination to create a museum that would treat the African American experience as a key part of who we all are as Americans. This is the inside account of what it took for Bunch to realize the shared dream of many generations of Americans.