WHITE HOUSE: PRESIDENT & FIRST LADY CELEBRATE GROUNDBREAKING OF NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE + VIDEO

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama listen as opera singer Denyce Graves sings the national anthem at the groundbreaking ceremony of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday (Feb. 22).

Speaking at the event, the president noted historical milestones he wants his daughters to experience:

I want my daughters to see the shackles that bound slaves on their voyage across the ocean and the shards of glass that flew from the 16th Street Baptist Church, and understand that injustice and evil exist in the world. But I also want them to hear Louis Armstrong’s horn and learn about the Negro League and read the poems of Phyllis Wheatley. And I want them to appreciate this museum not just as a record of tragedy, but as a celebration of life.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture, located near the Washington Monument, is expected to open to the public in 2015. Take a look inside the museum with Founding Director Lonny Bunch in the video below.