Steelmaking giant Nucor pledges $2.5 million to IAAM
Nucor Corporation, a Fortune 500 steelmaking company located in Huger, has pledged $2.5 million to the International African American Museum (IAAM). The combination gift includes a $1.25 million cash donation as well as a $1.25 million in-kind contribution.
John Ferriola, Nucor chairman, CEO and president, noted that, “Teamwork and the power of partnerships has always been central to the way Nucor does business. We are proud to play a role in creating the International African American Museum, which will bring people together and forge compassion, empathy and understanding across people of all races and ethnicities. With this gift, we hope to help the museum build a bridge between the past and the future by presenting critical chapters of American history.”
“Nucor’s generous gift of financial support and in-kind contributions is invaluable—it bolsters the Founders Fund and provides the steel that will quite literally create the foundation of this institution,” said Michael Boulware Moore, IAAM president and CEO.
“We are so grateful to have Nucor’s support as we approach our groundbreaking,” added Joseph P. Riley, Jr., IAAM board member and former Charleston mayor. “We look forward to recognizing this leadership investment in the Atlantic Connections gallery, one of the museum’s most prominent spaces.”
Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Nucor is North America’s most diversified steel and steel products company, with more than 300 locations and 26,000 employees. In South Carolina, Nucor employs more than 2,000 people at eight locations, which includes two steel mills. Nucor is also North America’s largest recycler.
Atlantic Connections, which overlooks the Charleston Harbor, will root the IAAM in the history of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the economic and cultural formation of the Atlantic World. 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 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.