A street intersection where the current Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute spent his formative years will be renamed in his honor next week, Belleville Mayor Michael A. Melham said.
Lonnie G. Bunch III blazed a trail from his family’s home at 125 Beech St. in Belleville to the Smithsonian, where he was selected as the institution’s first Black leader in 2019.
The township will honor Bunch and his lifetime of achievement by renaming the very street he grew up on.
Bunch will join Belleville officials and township residents for a street-naming ceremony Monday, March 20 at noon at the intersection of Beech and Greylock streets.
Members of the public and media are invited to cover this special event that will include comments from Bunch as well as Melham.
Before becoming the 16th secretary of the is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, Bunch was the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Smithsonian’s 19th museum.
The son of Lonnie (a science and chemistry public school teacher) and Montrose (a third-grade public school teacher), it was during his youth in Belleville Bunch developed a love of history, and fostered a sense that African Americans deserve “a voice.”
The Observer spoke with Bunch about a year ago from his office in the nation’s capital and that story may be found here.
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