THE TICKER
MUSEUM NEWS
MoAF Launches Video Series with Founder John Herzog
This summer , the Museum launched a six-part oral history video series with its founder and chairman emeritus , John Herzog . In the videos , which were filmed in November 2022 by the Museum and its collection digitization partner , Heritage Werks , Herzog recounts the founding and early history of the Museum , as well as its more modern history and potential for future growth .
Herzog first conceived of the Museum of American Finance after the Crash of ’ 87 , when the market plunged a staggering 508 points — 22.6 % in one day . As a partner in a major NASDAQ market making firm , Herzog Heine Geduld , he saw the reaction first-hand : “ The trading room was chaos , everyone shouting , the turret lights all lit , tempers short and frustration high ; an image of confusion and stress hard to improve upon . Everyone was in shock . NPR reported the dollar ’ s plunge against the yen and more data and questions came from all directions .”
Herzog recalled vividly his parents ’ lessons from having lived through the stock market Crash of 1929 and Great Depression years and realized that the lessons from the past were completely forgotten . “ What was missing in the confusion and panic during 1987 was historical perspective . I wanted to contribute to people ’ s enhanced understanding of the capital markets through the history of our amazing American financial experience .”
Herzog had nearly 30 years in the trading business , and his wife , Diana , headed R . M . Smythe & Co ., a numismatic auction firm also owned by him . With that background and a collection of financial memorabilia he began “ the museum project ” in 1988 with a retrospective exhibit in the US Custom House at Bowling Green . That exhibit traced the history of American finance from the South Sea Company in England to the Liberty Loan bond drives of World War I . Herzog wanted to make it possible for people to see , experience and understand the US markets in richer context . In the fall of 1989 , the original exhibit celebrating US Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton attracted 6,000 visitors , and the Museum was organized with tax-exempt status , a Board of Trustees and a provisional charter . The Museum was on its way .
The oral history video series is now available on the Museum ’ s website at www . moaf . org / origins , as well as its YouTube channel @ FinanceMuseum .
6 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Summer 2023 | www . MoAF . org