"It took a long time to get here": Behind the National Museum of African American Music Image 1. A trumpet owned by Louis Armstrong is one of the 1,600 artifacts in the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee. The museum covers 400 years of music in relation to the Black American experience. Photo: Mark Humphrey/AP On Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2021, the National Museum of African American Music opened its doors in Nashville, Tennessee. The museum tells the story of more than 400 years of Black music in the United States. Henry Beecher Hicks III is the president of the museum. He said that it is the first national museum to celebrate African Americans' influence on American music. "We say that black music now has a home," Hicks said. It took 23 years for the museum to become a reality. The idea for the museum came about in 1993, but various issues delayed the opening until 2021. However, the vision for the museum never changed. "It's giving credit where credit is due, recognizing this idea that American music is African American music," Hicks said. By Nadja Sayej, The Guardian, adapted by Newsela staff on 02.22.21 Word Count 993 Level 950L loading... loading... This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela. com. The museum also includes state-of-the-art technology to tell the story of African American music and history. For example, visitors can use touch screens to see how a song went from a first recording to a nationwide hit. "We combine the artifacts with the technology so you get what music is and can be," Hicks said. "It takes you back to see the history of music, but the technology lets you go forward and see the future." This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela. com. Quiz 1 How does the author build understanding of the National Museum of African American Music? (A) by describing the sections and artifacts that are displayed in the museum (B) by detailing the steps Henry Beecher Hicks III took to create the museum (C) by emphasizing tha