The Ford Motor Company has announced a $1 million grant to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

Awarded through the Ford Motor Company Fund, the grant in support of the museum’s ongoing capital campaign will support a number of key programs. The 400,000-square-foot museum was established in 2003 as the Smithsonian's nineteenth museum and is under construction on a five-acre site near the Washington Monument. Included in the plans are eleven exhibitions at a cost of approximately $500 million, half of which must be raised by the museum, which is scheduled to open in 2016.

While its building is under construction, the museum is presenting exhibitions in a gallery at the National Museum of American History, including the current exhibit, "Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863 and the March on Washington, 1963."

"Since Henry Ford's groundbreaking $5 a day wage in 1913, which paid people equally regardless of race, Ford has invested in programs that empower and celebrate the African American community," said Ford Motor Company Fund and Community Services president Jim Vella. "Ford is proud to work with the Smithsonian on this museum that will recognize the tremendous contributions of African Americans to our country and our world."