Next-door neighbor makes major investment in International African American Museum
April 23, 2018
$1 Million Boost from BMW Pushes Museum Toward Goal
Global automotive manufacturer BMW has invested $1 million in the forthcoming International African American Museum (IAAM). This leadership gift to the museum’s Founders Fund brings the museum within $2 million of reaching its $25 million private philanthropy goal.
“In 1994, BMW ventured out of Germany to build its first North American manufacturing facility and found a wonderful home in Greer, South Carolina,” said Joseph P. Riley, Jr., former Charleston mayor and IAAM board member. “BMW’s relationship with our state is symbiotic: South Carolina’s continuous infrastructure improvements have created productive ports through which BMW’s automobiles flow. In turn, BMW has shown its commitment to our state and its people not only through job creation but through generous donations like this one. We are honored to have the support of this great company.”
“BMW values community partnerships.” said Knudt Flor, BMW Manufacturing Co. President and CEO. “For this reason, we are committed to supporting the historic and cultural fabric of the International African American Museum. Preserving and maintaining history and culture of a people strengthens the community through preservation, education and technology.”
“BMW is a storied company that has made its mark across the globe over the last hundred years,” said Michael Boulware Moore, IAAM president and CEO. “The relationship that exists between BMW and South Carolina illustrates that even the largest, most internationally renowned institutions can benefit greatly from local, pointed focus. The fusion of a local presence and an international influence also exists at the core of the IAAM, which will use the lens of South Carolina and the Lowcountry to tell stories about American and world history.”
BMW’s $1 million investment will be recognized in the Orientation Theater, where guests will begin their exploration of the IAAM. Here, visitors will view videos that provide essential historical context of the museum’s location at the former site of Gadsden’s Wharf. This introduction will orient visitors to the significance of Charleston and South Carolina in national and international histories; offer inspiring stories of African American resistance, sacrifice, survival and achievement; and illuminate the central role of people of African descent in shaping the nation and the Atlantic World.
About the IAAM
Nearly half of all enslaved Africans forced to America through the Transatlantic Slave Trade arrived in Charleston, and the vast majority disembarked at Gadsden’s Wharf, the future home of the International African American Museum (IAAM) and one of the most significant and sacred sites of the African American experience in the Western hemisphere. The IAAM, a museum, memorial and site of conscience, will present unvarnished history and culture, commemorate and celebrate the foundational role that Africans and their descendants played in the making of America, and highlight their diasporic connections around the world. It will include immersive, interactive exhibits engaging to all ages and feature the Center for Family History, a leading genealogy archive that will help visitors identify their individual threads in the complex tapestry of history.
BMW Group In America
BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; Design works, a strategic design consultancy based in California; technology offices in Silicon Valley and Chicago, and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 and X4 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 344 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 153 BMW motorcycle retailers, 127 MINI passenger car dealers, and 36 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
