Ice bucket that sparked charity blitz comes to Smithsonian

The bucket of ice that sparked a viral social-media campaign has a new home at the Smithsonian.

The National Museum of American History is opening a new exhibit on the history of philanthropy on Tuesday. A showcase item will be the blue bucket that was used to dump ice water onto Jeanette Senerchia in 2014.

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The “Ice Bucket Challenge” was already making the rounds online, but Senerchia is believed to be the first person to tie it to ALS, a degenerative condition also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Her husband Anthony has the disease.

The challenge ended up raising more than $50 million for ALS research.

The museum will also introduce a new curator for its philanthropy initiative. The position is funded in part by Washington’s best-known philanthropist, David Rubenstein.