Phil Freelon, who designed the Smithsonian African-American history museum, has died

Phil Freelon, who is best known as the architect of the Smithsonian’s African-American history museum in Washington, D.C., has died. He was 66.

Freelon died Tuesday, his daughter-in-law Kate Sheppard told CNN. He had been diagnosed with ALS in 2016.

In addition to designing the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Freelon was also the mastermind behind Atlanta’s National Center for Civil Rights and San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora.

Former President Barack Obama appointed him to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in 2011.

Freelon and his wife Nnenna founded the Northstar Church of the Arts in 2018. The family posted on its website that it is planning a memorial service for the fall.

“In lieu of flowers, Phil has asked that those who want to honor his legacy become sustaining donors of Northstar Church of the Arts, so that the same creative and spiritual energies that nurtured him throughout his life, may positively impact others, especially in his adopted home of Durham, North Carolina,” the post reads.

Freelon is survived by his wife and three children.

This is a developing story