President Obama will formally open the new Smithsonian African American Museum this Friday.

The museum features tens of thousands of heirlooms that were donated across the country, including a rifle from the grandfather of Elk Grove’s Gina McVey.

Lawrence Leslie McVey Sr. was a member of the Harlem Hellfighters and was awarded the Croix de Guerre  medal and later a Purple Heart for his valiant fighting in World War I.