John Lewis

==== National African American Museum ====
In 1988, the year after he was sworn into Congress, Lewis introduced a bill to create a national African American museum in Washington. The bill failed, and for 15 years he continued to introduce it with each new Congress. Each time it was blocked in the Senate, most often by conservative Southern Senator [[Jesse Helms]]. In 2003, Helms retired. The bill won bipartisan support, and President George W. Bush signed the bill to establish the museum, with the [[Smithsonian]]'s Board of Regents to establish the location. The [[National Museum of African American History and Culture]], located adjacent to the [[Washington Monument]], held its opening ceremony on September 25, 2016.<ref name="The Washington Post">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/for-rep-john-lewis-african-american-museum-was-a-recurring-dream/2016/06/28/fc05c81c-34b6-11e6-95c0-2a6873031302_story.html |title=For Rep. John Lewis, African American Museum was a recurring dream |last=McGione |first=Peggy |date=June 28, 2016 |access-date=January 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216134746/https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/for-rep-john-lewis-african-american-museum-was-a-recurring-dream/2016/06/28/fc05c81c-34b6-11e6-95c0-2a6873031302_story.html |archive-date=February 16, 2017 |url-status=live |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>