National Great Black Americans Commemoration Act of 2004
PL 108-238 (S.1233), enacted 06/22/2004

118 STAT. 670
PUBLIC LAW 108–238—JUNE 22, 2004
Public Law 108–238
108th Congress
An Act
To authorize assistance for the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum and Justice
Learning Center.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Great Black Americans
Commemoration Act of 2004’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Black Americans have served honorably in Congress,
in senior executive branch positions, in the law, the judiciary,
and other fields, yet their record of service is not well known
by the public, is not included in school history lessons, and
is not adequately presented in the Nation’s museums.
(2) The Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. in Baltimore,
Maryland, a nonprofit organization, is the Nation’s first wax
museum presenting the history of great Black Americans,
including those who have served in Congress, in senior execu-
tive branch positions, in the law, the judiciary, and other fields,
as well as others who have made significant contributions to
benefit the Nation.
(3) The Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. plans to expand
its existing facilities to establish the National Great Blacks
in Wax Museum and Justice Learning Center, which is intended
to serve as a national museum and center for presentation
of wax figures and related interactive educational exhibits por-
traying the history of great Black Americans.
(4) The wax medium has long been recognized as a unique
and artistic means to record human history through preserva-
tion of the faces and personages of people of prominence, and
historically, wax exhibits were used to commemorate noted
figures in ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome, in
medieval Europe, and in the art of the Italian renaissance.
(5) The Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. was founded
in 1983 by Drs. Elmer and Joanne Martin, 2 Baltimore edu-
cators who used their personal savings to purchase wax figures,
which they displayed in schools, churches, shopping malls, and
festivals in the mid-Atlantic region.
(6) The goal of the Martins was to test public reaction
to the idea of a Black history wax museum and so positive
was the response over time that the museum has been heralded
by the public and the media as a national treasure.
National Great
Black Americans
Commemoration
Act of 2004.
Maryland.
June 22, 2004
[S. 1233]
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118 STAT. 671
PUBLIC LAW 108–238—JUNE 22, 2004
(7) The museum has been the subject of feature stories
by CNN, the Wall Street Journal, the Baltimore Sun, the
Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Sun Times,
the Dallas Morning News, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today,
the Afro American Newspaper, Crisis, Essence Magazine, and
others.
(8) More than 300,000 people from across the Nation visit
the museum annually.
(9) The new museum will carry on the time honored artistic
tradition of the wax medium; in particular, it will recognize
the significant value of this medium to commemorate and
appreciate great Black Americans whose faces and personages
are not widely recognized.
(10) The museum will employ the most skilled artisans
in the wax medium, use state-of-the-art interactive exhibition
technologies, and consult with museum professionals through-
out the Nation, and its exhibits will feature the following:
(A) Blacks who have served in the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States, including those
who represented constituencies in Alabama, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Virginia during the 19th century.
(B) Blacks who have served in the judiciary, in the
Department of Justice, as prominent attorneys, in law
enforcement, and in the struggle for equal rights under
the law.
(C) Black veterans of various military engagements,
including the Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen, and
the role of Blacks in the settlement of the western United
States.
(D) Blacks who have served in senior executive branch
positions, including members of Presidents’ Cabinets,
Assistant Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries of Federal
agencies, and Presidential advisers.
(E) Other Blacks whose accomplishments and contribu-
tions to human history during the last millennium and
to the Nation through more than 400 years are exemplary,
including Black educators, authors, scientists, inventors,
athletes, clergy, and civil rights leaders.
(11) The museum plans to develop collaborative programs
with other museums, serve as a clearinghouse for training,
technical assistance, and other resources involving use of the
wax medium, and sponsor traveling exhibits to provide
enriching museum experiences for communities throughout the
Nation.
(12) The museum has been recognized by the State of
Maryland and the City of Baltimore as a preeminent facility
for presenting and interpreting Black history, using the wax
medium in its highest artistic form.
(13) The museum is located in the heart of an area des-
ignated as an empowerment zone, and is considered to be
a catalyst for economic and cultural improvements in this
economically disadvantaged area.
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118 STAT. 672
PUBLIC LAW 108–238—JUNE 22, 2004
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 1233:
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 108–372, Pt. 1 (Comm. on Resources).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:
Vol. 149 (2003): July 14, considered and passed Senate.
Vol. 150 (2004): June 1, considered and passed House, amended.
June 3, Senate concurred in House amendment.
SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR NATIONAL GREAT BLACKS IN WAX MUSEUM
AND JUSTICE LEARNING CENTER.
(a) ASSISTANCE FOR MUSEUM.—Subject to subsection (b), the
Attorney General, acting through the Office of Justice Programs
of the Department of Justice, shall, from amounts made available
under subsection (c), make a grant to the Great Blacks in Wax
Museum, Inc. in Baltimore, Maryland, to be used only for carrying
out programs relating to civil rights and juvenile justice through
the National Great Blacks in Wax Museum and Justice Learning
Center.
(b) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—To receive a grant under subsection
(a), the Great Blacks in Wax Museum, Inc. shall submit to the
Attorney General a proposal for the use of the grant, which shall
include detailed plans for the programs referred to in subsection
(a).
(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000, to remain
available through the end of fiscal year 2009.
Approved June 22, 2004.
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