Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 16, 1993 TAG: 9308160119
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short
Unless the leaders of the Black Patriots Foundation can get an extension of an Oct. 27 deadline, eight years of hard work and heartbreak will be wasted, they say.
"This has been a very troubled project from the beginning," said Jerry Curry, a retired Army general who is chairman and chief executive officer of the foundation.
Curry said he's confident Congress will grant the extension and the money - a minimum of about $6 million - will be raised.
The monument would commemorate the contributions of the 5,000 black slaves and freedmen who fought in the Revolutionary War and would help fill a gap left by most history books, Curry said.
"There are no monuments that speak to the contributions of African Americans to the founding of America. I cannot believe there is a congressman or a senator who would be opposed to correcting the record," he said.
The foundation has suffered two board changes, the firing of the project's founder and several unsuccessful fund-raising attempts.
A site on the National Mall near the Vietnam War Memorial has been set aside, a design has been approved and a new fund-raising firm has been hired.
by CNB