Push for the memorial
In 1980, Lena Santos Ferguson, an African American woman, applied for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), an organization for descendants of those who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Despite having excellent documentation of her ancestry and her ancestor's participation in the war, she could not find two members anywhere in the national organization to sponsor her for membership.[1] Margaret Johnston, a member of the Mary Washington chapter of the DAR and wife of a General Motors executive, said, "It was made clear to me that [Ferguson] was not welcome because she is black."[2] DAR national president Sarah King admitted that blacks were not being admitted as members, but also claimed that some individuals were also disliked by existing members, were divorced, or rejected out of spite.[3] In 1983, Ferguson was granted "limited" membership in the DAR, which meant she did not have voting rights and could not belong to a local chapter (where the work of the organization was conducted).[1]
After the Council of the District of Columbia threatened to revoke the DAR's city tax exemption and Ferguson threatened to sue to revoke its federal tax exemption, the DAR admitted Ferguson as a full member.[4]
The DAR and Ferguson negotiated an agreement in which the DAR would help minorities become part of the society, state in its membership materials that all people of whatever race were eligible for membership, offer scholarships to students in the District of Columbia (where the overwhelming majority of students were black), educate the DAR membership about the role African Americans played in the Revolutionary War, and identify all African Americans (slave or free) who fought in the war.[4][a][5] The DAR also agreed to support a congressional resolution to establish a national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring African Americans who fought in the Revolutionary War.[4]
Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial
Meanwhile, momentum was building in Congress for a memorial. The memorial had its genesis in a resolution introduced in Congress by Representative Nancy Johnson, a Republican from Connecticut. Her bill was a proclamation honoring black Revolutionary War patriots. The resolution was conceived by Maurice Barboza, Ferguson's nephew and a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. Barboza saw the bill as a means of pushing the DAR to admit his aunt, but it was quickly approved by Congress and President Ronald Reagan signed it into law (P.L. 98-245) on March 27, 1984.[6] Realizing there was support in Congress, Barboza asked Johnson to sponsor legislation for a physical memorial. She agreed. DAR President King prevailed on a friend, Senator Al Gore (a Democrat from Tennessee), to sponsor identical legislation in the Senate. He agreed.[7] After just 17 months, the bill was adopted by Congress and President Reagan signed the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Act (P.L. 99-558) into law on October 27, 1986. The act forbade the use of federal funds to build the memorial (a typical requirement by Congress). Instead, it established a nonprofit, the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial Foundation, to solicit funds to build the memorial.[8]
The foundation selected Constitution Gardens on the National Mall for the site of its memorial.[9] Constitution Gardens is a lightly forested area and pond bounded on the west by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, on the east by 17th Street NW, on the north by Constitution Avenue NW, and on the south by the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. The area, formerly occupied by temporary federal buildings, was created in 1976 as a United States Bicentennial tribute. In July 1982, the Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence was dedicated on the island in the lake. This memorial is a low, curved stone wall facing the water and encompassing a tiny patio. Because the Commemorative Works Act (CWA) of 1986 (P.L. 99-625) barred memorials on the National Mall unless they were of "preeminent" and "lasting" historical significance, Barboza was forced to seek congressional authorization to locate the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial in Constitution Gardens. On March 25, 1988, President Reagan signed into law P.L. 100-265, allowing the memorial to be built in "Area I" (the National Mall and its immediate environs).[10][11] Under the rules imposed by the CWA, the memorial foundation had seven years to complete fundraising, win approval of its design, and begin construction.[11]
Barboza incorporated the foundation in 1985 with himself, Ferguson and Johnson as members of the founding board. After five years of self-funding the project and using volunteers, Barboza received a commitment from the General Motors Corporation to help raise funds. In May 1989, GM sponsored the "One Nation Dinner" in Washington, D.C. that raised $250,000 and introduced the project to dignitaries, corporations and government leaders. The group was off to a good start after a long and tedious struggle between 1985 and 1989. Later, after Johnson became chairman of the board, the group foundered over her efforts to wrest control from Barboza and Ferguson and recast the message of the memorial. All the while the forward movement of the project began to lose purpose. Barboza tried to oust Johnson from the board she had packed with acquaintances but was later voted off in 1992. Ferguson resigned.[12] Problems with the appropriateness of the design and the meddling of sculptor Edward Dwight also hindered fundraising and contributed to the debacle and waste that would come later.[13] From 1992 to 2005, extensions of the memorial construction deadline were granted by Congress four times.[11] On October 20, 1996, Congress enacted the United States Commemorative Coin Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-329), which authorized the United States Mint to manufacture no more than 500,000 $1 commemorative coins. These coins, sold for $10 each, would be used to finance the memorial. But only 100,000 of the coins were sold during the year (1998) they were offered.[12] Between 1996 and 1999, the foundation raised another $1.5 million for a total of $3.6 million in received contributions. But it spent $800,000 designing the memorial and another $1.8 million on salaries for staff, leaving it with just $1 million in its trust fund.[13]
The memorial's design was also problematic. In 1990, architect Marshall Purnell proposed an elliptical plaza with seven 13-foot (4.0 m) high statues of African American Revolutionary War soldiers and citizens. The United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), which had design approval over all memorials in the National Capital Area, rejected the design as too monumental and too visible compared with the nearby Signers' Memorial. It counseled the foundation to eliminate the statues and seek a "landscape solution" as a memorial.[14] In 1991, the memorial foundation held a charrette to seek a new design. Edward Dwight's design for a granite block with figures of African American soldiers and citizens emerging from swirling rock was chosen. The CFA liked the design, but repeatedly asked for changes over the next five years.[15] Dwight became convinced that members of the CFA and the National Park Service had "an issue with putting black faces on the National Mall".[16] Dwight's design was subsequently approved by the CFA. But the changes left the memorial without any monumental elements, too small and pinched to attract financial support.[17]
Congressional authority to build the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial expired on October 27, 2005.[11][18] The memorial foundation dissolved, out of money.[19]