Financial History Issue 128 (Winter 2019) | Page 6

THE TICKER  MUSEUM NEWS
2019 State of the Museum
We’ve survived two floods in Downtown
New York City: one from the outside from
Super Storm Sandy, and one from the
inside from the building. They say things
happen in threes, and we’re not going to
stick around to find out. Therefore, this
year we will be raising the funds to move
our collection to a state-of-the-art archival
facility that will not only safeguard and
catalog, but will fully digitize all of our
documents. Once our collection is digi-
tized, that will help us to cre-
ate online exhibits that will
allow us to expand our reach
exponentially.
David J. Cowen  |  President and CEO
Second is to continue and
expand our financial liter-
acy programs. We have the
with the Economic Studies Program at The
props of history. What differentiates us
Brookings Institution. We also honored
is that when we teach financial literacy
Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and Chief
and teach stocks and bonds, we actually
Executive Officer of BlackRock, Inc., with
have the certificates to show the students.
the Charles Schwab Financial Innovation
In many cases, we give them one (of
Award, which recognizes financial innova-
course matured) as a takeaway when they
tors and entrepreneurs [See excerpts from
the 2019 Gala Remarks, page 12].
That evening, I also delivered my annual
State of the Museum address. Below I have
excerpted the portion of my remarks that
focused on our Board and staff’s vision for
the Museum’s future for those who were
unable to join us that evening:
What does the future hold for our
Museum? Recall our core purpose is to
preserve, exhibit and teach about our
nation’s finances and financial history.
So we need to preserve our amazing and
unique collection of tens of thousands of
artifacts that span the history of Ameri-
can finance and include many of our
nation’s founding financial documents.
Message to Members
David Cowen (left) and MoAF Chairman
Dick Sylla (right) with honorees Laurence
Fink and Janet Yellen at the 2019 Gala.
4    FINANCIAL HISTORY  |  Winter 2019  | www.MoAF.org
finish the class. In 2019 we look to greatly
expand our outreach into the New York
City school system.
As far as exhibit space, we’re at a critical
juncture in the Museum’s history, as we
create a state-of-the-art finance museum.
We don’t want to have museum 2.0; we
want museum 10.0. We are investigating
several properties here in Downtown and
other parts of New York for our permanent
home. Tonight is a great step forward; with
all of your generosity, we have raised over
$1 million. I want to thank you from the
bottom of my heart. That is the first step.
Therefore, in 2019 we’re on the cusp of
creating a museum for the next genera-
tion. If we are to move this museum into
the future, to best represent our industry
and help millions of Americans develop
much-needed financial self-sufficiency,
then we need you, our strongest support-
ers, to help propel us forward. I look for-
ward to working with you to change these
dreams into reality. 
On February 5, the Museum had the great
honor of celebrating the achievements of
two financial leaders in both the public and
private sectors. We recognized Dr. Janet
Yellen—recipient of the Whitehead Award
for Distinguished Public Service and
Financial Leadership—for her exemplary
leadership as Chair of the Federal Reserve
Board as the nation recovered from the
Great Recession, and for her current ser-
vice as Distinguished Fellow in Residence