When ground is broken tonight on the $110 million National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, no one will be more relieved than Ed Rigaud, who has poured his heart, soul and the last six years of his life into the effort.

        “We have to be a place where everyone, blacks and whites alike, feel safe coming together and learning,” Mr. Rigaud said Sunday.

        “We have to be able to dialogue and come much closer toward each other and having a brotherhood and sisterhood in our community.”

        Since being tapped as the center's chief executive officer in 1996, Mr. Rigaud, of Mount Lookout, has toured the country lobbying private corporations and politicians for money to build the center on the Cincinnati waterfront.

        Mr. Rigaud, now Freedom Center president, handpicked its 34 employees and learned along the way that both slaves and slave owners rank in his genealogy.

        “What I didn't have before this was an appreciation of history and how it can be motivating to people once they are captivated by the stories,” Mr. Rigaud said. “It can help to heal wounds if we educate everyone about our history.

        “This is American history,” he continued. “It is not African-American history or black history. It is American history and it's at the core of what makes our country great, the uniqueness of the United States to have people come together from all backgrounds and be one.”

        But his journey from success to significance wasn't without challenges and a bit of heartbreak, he recalled.

        The first employee he hired, Eric Bachmann — his eager, young assistant who was dedicated to the ideals of justice and fairness — died of a heart attack in 1999 on the eve of his 27th birthday.

        “There isn't a day that doesn't go by that I don't remember Eric, and what he did and what he meant to me,” Mr. Rigaud said. “I wish he could see the fruit of his labor for the short time he was helping me.”

        The National Conference for Community and Justice first proposed the 158,000-square-foot center in 1994. So far, fund-raising efforts have exceeded expectations, Mr. Rigaud said.

        Of the $110 million goal, $77 million has been raised.

        Coca-Cola Co. officials are expected to announce today a gift of $1 million to the center. Additionally, Coca-Cola Enterprises Tri-State Division and Kroger Co. partnered to donate $150,000 to the Freedom Center through an April in-store promotion.

        “The Freedom Center represents a triumph of the human spirit, both the spirit of the slaves during the 1800s and the spirit of America today,” said Ingrid Saunders Jones, a Coca-Cola senior vice president and chairwoman of the Coca-Cola Foundation.

        Expected to open in mid-2004 on the banks of the Ohio River, the museum will commemorate the 19th-century history of the Underground Railroad — the difficult, dangerous escape routes used by fleeing slaves.

        The center should be seen as a safe haven for everyone to discover their rich family heritage and to learn from it, just as the Underground Railroad served as hope for escaping slaves, Mr. Rigaud said.

        Its purpose is to recount and connect America's powerful history of freedom from slavery to contemporary issues of freedom today to inspire visitors with a renewed commitment for citizenship and civic engagement.

        And there is perhaps no better place for that than Cincinnati, where the worst race riots in decades ripped through the streets last year following the fatal police shooting by a white officer of a fleeing black man later found to be unarmed. While the unrest created a public relations nightmare for the city and sparked a federal investigation of the Cincinnati Police Department, it helped highlight the need for the Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Mr. Rigaud said.

        “There was a lot of recognition around the country that Cincinnati was having this unrest and that was always something people mentioned when we talked to them about the Freedom Center,” Mr. Rigaud said. “But they all had the same opinion I did: It underscores the need for the kind of work the Freedom Center is doing to bring people together.”

        Mr. Rigaud took a two-year leave from Procter & Gamble Co. to take the lead on the center's planning and fund raising.

        He found great success at P&G, helping to develop Pringles potato crisps and Sure antiperspirant. He became the company's first black director in 1983 and a vice president in 1992. But he never returned to the company, finally retiring last July.

        Mr. Rigaud's managerial experience, keen intellect and ability to relate to all walks of life made him the natural choice for the critical role as the center's leader, said Chip Harrod, executive director of the National Conference for Community and Justice.

        “Ed is probably the most gifted people person I have ever met,” Mr. Harrod said Sunday. “The work he does on the Freedom Center will be his legacy to the community.”

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