Lonnie Bunch

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Lonnie G. Bunch III
Born (1952-11-18)November 18, 1952
Newark, New Jersey, United States
Nationality American

Lonnie G. Bunch III (born November 18, 1952) is an American educator and historian. Bunch has spent the last 30 years in the museum field, and is regarded as one of the nation's leading history and museum professionals. Bunch left his position as director of the Chicago Historical Society to become the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.[1]

Personal life and education

Lonnie Bunch III was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1952.[2] He grew up in Belleville, New Jersey, where they were the only African-American family in their neighborhood. His grandfather, a former sharecropper, moved into the area, as one of the first black dentists in the region,[3] and Bunch's father and mother were school teachers.[4] As a child, he experienced racism from white teenagers in his neighborhood.[3] Bunch credits his childhood experiences with local Italian immigrants and his reading of biographies as a youth as inspiring him to study history. Bunch wanted to give a voice to those who were "anonymous" or not written about. In 2011 Bunch reflected on the early exposures: “I was in junior high and we were reading biographies of historic figures. I remember one on Gen. ‘Mad’ Anthony Wayne, and one on Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix. I thought, ‘Were there no histories of black people?’ One day, I was going through my grandfather’s trunk and I found a book about black soldiers in the First World War. I devoured it.”[4]

Bunch met Maria Marable-Bunch in graduate school. They would eventually marry.[5][6] The couple has two daughters.[7]

Education

He graduated from Belleville High School in 1970.[2] Bunch attended Howard University[2] but transferred to American University, where he earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in American history and African history.[8]

Professional career

Bunch started working at the Smithsonian Institution when he was still working on his Ph.D. After graduating, he started working as a history professor at the University of Maryland. In 1983, he became the first curator at the California African American Museum.[2] He worked at the National Museum of American History from 1989 until 1994, serving as a curator. He proceeded to become Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs at the museum, before leaving in 2000 to become the president of one of the nation's oldest museums in history, the Chicago Historical Society, from 2001-2005.[9] In 2005, Bunch was named the director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture.[8] He served on the Commission for the Preservation of the White House during the George W. Bush administration.[2] And later reappointed by President Obama in 2005.

Exhibits and research

He curated the National Museum of American History exhibition "The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden."[4] The exhibition was curated, built and opened within eight months.[10]

Notable awards

  • Jackie Robinson Society Community Recognition Award, 2011[11]

Bibliography

  • with Laurence P. and Martha Kendall Crouchette Winnaker, Visions Toward Tomorrow, the History of the East Bay Afro-American Community 1852-1977. Oakland: Northern California Center for Afro-American History and Life. 1989. ISBN 0-9622334-0-4
  • with Spencer R. Crew, Mark G.Hirsch and Harry R. Rubenstein, The American Presidency, A Glorious Burden. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. 2000. ISBN 978-1560988359
  • with Donna M. Wells, David E. Haberstitch and Deborah Willis, The Scurlock Studio and Black Washington: Picturing the Promise (First ed.). Washington: National Museum of African American History and Culture. 2009. ISBN 978-1588342720
  • Call the Lost Dream Back: Essays on History, Race & Museums. Georgia: Big River Books. 2010. ISBN 978-1933253176
  • with Spencer R. Crew and Clement A. Price, Slave Culture: A Documentary Collection of the Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers Project. Connecticut: Greenwood. 2014. ISBN 978-1440800863

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ http://www.american.edu/americanmagazine/features/20110222-Lonnie-Bunch-founding-director-smithsonian-museuem-of-african-american-history-and-culture.cfm
  6. ↑ http://www.loyola.edu/academic/aaas/news-events/bunch.aspx
  7. ↑ Ebony Magazine, July 2001, Volume 56# 9.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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