Mandela Celebrates His 1990 Prison Release

Nelson Mandela celebrated the 10th anniversary Friday of his release from 27 years in prison under the apartheid regime by opening a museum honoring his life.

Hundreds of villagers traveled by foot or on horseback to Eastern Cape province to catch a glimpse of the man who came from their ranks to become an international icon. Drum majorettes, singers and dancers wearing colorful traditional Xhosa outfits and elaborate headgear turned out to honor him.

The museum is the latest in a string of tributes to the man regarded as the principal architect of South Africa’s transition to democracy.

For black South Africans, Mandela’s release from prison a decade ago symbolized a huge victory in the struggle against the brutal apartheid system. He was elected president in the nation’s first all-race elections in 1994 and served until last year.

The centerpiece of the museum is in Umtata, previously the capital of the apartheid-era Transkei homeland. Its main chamber houses excerpts from Mandela’s autobiography, pictures from the anti-apartheid struggle and about 1,000 gifts given to him.

The government hopes that the museum will attract tourists and create jobs in the province, one of the country’s poorest and least developed.

Mandela also visited the two other components of the museum, one a stone-and-wood monument near the foundations of the hut where he was born in the tiny rural village of Mvezo, the other a cultural center in nearby Qunu, where he lived until age 9.