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MILWAUKEE, Oct 10, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- America's Black Holocaust Museum is struggling to survive.
The museum has gone from having a working capital budget of $1.1 million a few years ago to not having enough money to make full mortgage payments on its building on Milwaukee's north side, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Museum board members say the financial problems are due to lagging attendance and the institution's inability to hire a permanent executive director.
The museum, one of the first of its kind in the country, explores the history and struggles of African-Americans in America. It is the life's dream of founder James Cameron, who in 1930 survived a lynch mob in his hometown of Marion, Ind,, the newspaper said.
Cameron is now 91 and in failing health.
"We dig down in our pockets to pay the utility bills. We don't have the money coming in to take care of the bare essentials," said board member and former Wisconsin Secretary of State Vel Phillips. "We love and respect Dr. Cameron. We do this because there is no other museum like it in the country. We want his memory preserved."
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2005 by United Press International
