Financial History 25th Anniversary Special Edition (104, Fall 2012) | Page 9

Reporters cover the Museum’s move to 24 Broadway, 1992.

National Museum of Natural History is
an 18-karat gold Monopoly set. The opening day events, including a Museum-wide
Monopoly contest for middle school students, were covered by more than 65 press
outlets. The Museum currently welcomes
upwards of 500 school groups each year,
and I sometimes tap students on the shoulder and ask where they are from. The
answers: North Dakota; Silver Springs;
Honolulu; the South Bronx; Stratford,
England and everywhere in between. In
addition to its tour programs, the Museum
offers 10 classes as part of its Center for
Financial Education and last year launched
the Museum Finance Academy, a personal
finance certificate program for local high
school juniors and seniors.
The Museum also hosts dozens of
important events, including the first
panel discussion about the intersection
of finance and the environment, in partnership with The Sierra Club, as well
as talks and symposia featuring such
prominent speakers as Paul Volcker, Jack
Bogle, David Walker, Duncan Niederauer, Bill Donaldson, Niall Ferguson and
Abby Joseph Cohen, to name a few. At
the annual gala, the main fundraising
event, the Museum honors someone who
has made a meaningful contribution in
finance as well as public service, presenting the honoree with the John C. Whitehead Award for Distinguished Public Service and Financial Leadership.
After 25 years, which will come
along on October 19 — the anniversary
of the Crash — I will become an Emeritus Trustee. I will continue my involvement helping to advise new international
finance museums, as other nations realize
how very great the benefits of explaining these seemingly arcane finance phenomena can be. For the development of
a middle class in nations experiencing
democratic capitalism for the first time,
it is actually essential, and this realization
should work out to some interesting trips
for Diana and me.
Seeing the immense satisfaction on people’s faces as they begin to understand what
the Masters of the Universe take for granted
is extremely gratifying, and what I have
hoped to accomplish all these years. It has
been a terrific ride, and it has been a great
privilege for me to tell you this story. 

John Herzog works on the “70 Years of American Mutual Funds” exhibit, 1994.

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