President Obama visited the National Mall on Wednesday for the groundbreaking of a new Smithsonian museum devoted to African-American life. The $500 million National Museum of African American History and Culture is set to open in 2015.

President Obama: “This day has been a long time coming. The idea for a museum dedicated to African Americans was first put forward by black veterans of the Civil War. And years later, the call was picked up by members of the civil rights generation, by men and women who knew how to fight for what was right and strive for what is just. This is their day. This is your day. It’s an honor to be here to see the fruit of your labor. And when future generations hear these songs of pain and progress and struggle and sacrifice, I hope they will not think of them as somehow separate from the larger American story.”