Boeing gives Smithsonian $5 million for black history museum

WASHINGTON -- The Smithsonian Institution has begun public fundraising to build a museum dedicated to black history with a $5 million gift from Boeing Co.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is scheduled to open in 2015 on the National Mall near the Washington Monument. It will be the Smithsonian's 19th museum.

Museum Director Lonnie Bunch is working to raise half the museum's $500 million cost, with the rest of the money coming from Congress.

The gift from Chicago-based Boeing is the museum's largest to date.

The museum also is unveiling recent acquisitions for its collection, including works by black fashion designers and artists and a sign from the segregation era.