S. 3953

119 S3953 IS: African American History Act of 2026
 U.S. Senate
 2026-02-26
 text/xml
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 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 3953  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   February 26, 2026   Mr. Booker  (for himself,  Ms. Klobuchar ,  Ms. Rosen ,  Mr. Van Hollen , and  Mr. Sanders ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Rules and Administration    A BILL
To authorize the Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture to support African American history education programs, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   African American History Act of 2026  .
2.
Definitions
In this Act:
(1)
African american history
The term  African American history  means the history of African Americans, including the history of African peoples beginning in the African diaspora through the present day, that illuminates the passage to the Americas, slavery, abolition, reconstruction, and the civil rights movements. This history also includes a focus on the innovations and contributions of African Americans to society both past and present, and the impact of African Americans on the history and development of the United States.
(2)
African american history education program
The term  African American history education program  means an educational program relating to African American life, art, history, and culture, including programs—
(A)
using digital, electronic, and interactive technologies; and
(B)
carried out in collaboration with elementary schools, secondary schools, and postsecondary schools.
(3)
Director
The term  Director  means the Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
(4)
ESEA terms
The terms  early childhood education program ,  elementary school ,  local educational agency , and  secondary school  have the meaning given such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 7801 ).
3.
Program authorized
(a)
In general
The Director, in accordance with any program of the National Museum of African American History and Culture established before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act, may use the funds appropriated under section 6 to carry out any of the following activities at the discretion of the Director:
(1)
Developing and making available accurate, relevant, and accessible resources to promote the understanding of African American history, which may include digital resources and other types of resources, such as print resources and traveling exhibitions.
(2)
Through a social justice and anti-bias lens, convening experts, providing opportunities for discourse, and engaging with the public through programming, educational resources, and social media.
(3)
Through a social justice and anti-bias lens, increasing resource capacity, technical support, and content creation to engage various audiences in person and via online platforms.
(4)
Creating, expanding, and disseminating scholarly work through research, curricula, in-house and traveling exhibitions, publications, and programming.
(5)
Providing language translation of the work of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, including scholarly work, research, traveling exhibitions, publications, programming, pamphlets, and other information distributed about activities funded under this Act.
(6)
Expanding the collection acquisition and collection access processes, including staffing, conservation, processing, and digitization.
(7)
Augmenting one or more of the following African American history education program activities:
(A)
Development, dissemination, and implementation of principles of sound pedagogy for teaching about African American history.
(B)
Provision of professional development, such as through—
(i)
local, regional, and national workshops;
(ii)
teacher trainings or engagement in conjunction with African American history education centers and other appropriate partners;
(iii)
engagement with—
(I)
local educational agencies; and
(II)
early childhood education programs, elementary schools, and secondary schools that are independent of any local educational agency; and
(iv)
operation and expansion of a teacher fellowship program to cultivate and support leaders in African American history education.
(C)
Engagement with State and local education leaders to encourage the adoption of resources supported under this Act into curricula across diverse disciplines.
(8)
Creating, developing, implementing, replicating, or taking to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-initiated innovations for museum improvement, and rigorously evaluating such innovations.
(b)
Online african american history education resources
(1)
Website
The Director may use the funds appropriated under section 6 to develop and maintain on the website of the National Museum of African American History and Culture content designated for educators, students, and families to improve their awareness and understanding of African American history.
(2)
Information distribution
The Director may use such funds to distribute information about the activities funded under this Act through the website of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and may respond to inquiries for supplementary information concerning such activities.
(c)
Continuation of activities
To the extent that the National Museum of African American History and Culture is engaged in an activity described in subsection (a) or (b) on the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director may use the funds appropriated under section 6 to continue that activity.
4.
Annual report and briefings
(a)
Report
Not later than February 1 of each year, the Director shall submit to the Congress, and make available to the public, a report describing how the funds made available under this Act have been used—
(1)
to create and promote educational activities; and
(2)
otherwise to carry out this Act.
(b)
Briefings
Not later than 6 months after the date on which funding is first distributed under this Act, and annually thereafter, the Director or the Director’s designee shall brief the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate on the programs and activities carried out under this Act.
(c)
Sunset
Subsections (a) and (b) shall cease to be effective on September 30, 2030.
5.
Sense of congress
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)
the significance of accurate education of the history of minority groups in the United States through a social justice and anti-bias lens should be recognized, and the United States Federal Government should strive for a leadership role in initiatives aimed at improving the teaching of African American, Hispanic and Latino, Asian American and Pacific Islander, and Native American history;
(2)
the Director of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian should be empowered to develop and disseminate historically accurate materials aimed at improving the teaching of Native American history; and
(3)
the Directors of the forthcoming Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and the forthcoming Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino, as well as the directors of any future Smithsonian Museums covering the history of minority groups in the United States, should be empowered to create and disseminate quality education materials in their areas of expertise.
6.
Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $4,000,000 for fiscal year 2027 and each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.