With Only $12 Million to Goal, National Center for Civil and Human Rights to Break Ground in Fall

/PRNewswire/ -- The National Center for Civil and Human Rights (Center) today announced that its capital campaign has raised more than $73 million to date, including a new $1 million grant from The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Officials confirmed the Center is on track to raise the remaining $12 million to construct and open the debt-free Center and will break ground this fall.

"The Center held firmly to its guiding principles and will deliver a majority self-sustaining facility and world-class experience for all to enjoy," said Doug Shipman, CEO of the Center. "We are thankful for the support of local and national funders who see the importance of a human rights institution. Thanks to their contributions, the Center is on track to complete its fund raising within six years compared to the 13-year average to build a cultural institution. Partners like the Blank Foundation help fuel momentum to bring us closer to groundbreaking, inspiring individuals and corporate citizens to make similar commitments."

The goal to break ground is $85 million. The Center will now prepare to launch the public capital campaign this spring and establish an annual fund after groundbreaking.

Established in 1995 and based in Atlanta, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation joins prominent philanthropic and corporate partners of the Center, including The Coca-Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot Foundation, Newell Rubbermaid, Turner Broadcasting System Inc. and The UPS Foundation.

"The National Center for Civil and Human Rights' efforts to foster interactive discussions on global human rights issues have never been more needed," said Penelope McPhee, president of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. "Atlanta's history positions it perfectly to serve as the future home of the Center and play this role worldwide. We are proud to help bring the project closer to reality."

THE BUILDING

The Center unveiled today the construction-ready design, which makes the design competition-winning plans workable on the site at Pemberton Place. The Freelon Group of Research Triangle, N.C. and partner HOK of Atlanta worked closely with Center leadership, exhibit designer Gallagher & Associates and project manager Cousins Properties/Gude Management Group to finalize the facility's design. The state-of-the-art, LEED certified building will take 24 months to construct and is slated to open in 2013 in Downtown Atlanta adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park, The New World of Coca-Cola and the Georgia Aquarium.

EXHIBITIONS

The Center has named Jill Savitt human rights exhibition coordinator. A renowned human rights advocate with extensive expertise in genocide prevention, Savitt currently serves as a special advisor for the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Savitt will help establish interactivity and relevance between the historical and contemporary human rights issues presented through the Center's educational exhibitions. She joins chief creative officer George C. Wolfe on the exhibition team working to bring civil and human rights to life in the displays and interactive installations.

The Center will feature permanent and rotating collections, timely exhibitions and interactive education opportunities to engage visitors in the historical and current struggles people across the world experience in securing and expressing their rights.

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Yes, Baby, We Have Come a Long Way!

HH Note: Celebrate, women! We have come a long way. The opportunities available to our young girls of today appear to know no bounds. What a tremendous contrast from American life just forty years ago.

Proclamation by the President of the United States of America on Women's Equality Day

With vision and determination, American women have helped build our great Nation. On Women's Equality Day, we remember the dedication of women who overcame many obstacles in order to secure the right to vote.

The struggle for women's rights is a story of strong women willing to take the lead and pave the way toward equal voting rights for all American citizens. In 1848, a group of determined women came together in Seneca Falls, New York, to proclaim that "all men and women are created equal," and demand suffrage. On August 26, 1920, their voices were finally heard, and the 19th Amendment to the Constitution guaranteed women the right to vote.

As we look back on the journey to women gaining suffrage, we remember the sacrifices of people like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. More than 160 years after the Seneca Falls Convention, we celebrate the spirit, leadership, and hard work of those pioneering women. We also recognize the women who continue in this tradition by acting as role models in their communities, helping raise the next generation of Americans, leading in their professions, and serving in the Armed Forces protecting our country. These women are continuing on the path set by those who came before them, so that all Americans can realize the great promise of our Nation.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim August 26, 2008, as Women's Equality Day. I call upon the people of the United States to celebrate the achievements of women and observe this day with appropriate programs and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand thistwenty-second day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

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