Financial History Issue 133 (Spring 2020) | Page 7
MUSEUM NEWS
THE TICKER
Museum Finance “Out of the Vault” Video
Academy Goes
Series Offers Virtual Tour
Virtual
of Museum Collection
On May 4, registration opened for
the first virtual session of the Museum
Finance Academy (MFA). The MFA is the
Museum’s personal finance course and its
most popular education program. Due to
the closing of New York City schools dur-
ing the covid‑19 pandemic, the Spring
session of the MFA was moved to a live
Zoom platform, with pre-registration
required and all sessions taught remotely.
Weekly MFA classes for high school
juniors and seniors begin on May 14 and
run through June 4. Students who success-
fully participate in all sessions of the pro-
gram will receive a certificate of comple-
tion, which they can then include on their
college applications. This pilot program
for the “Virtual MFA” is offered in part-
nership with Trinity Church Wall Street,
which serves children, teens and adults
in underserved populations, primarily in
Lower Manhattan.
On May 8, the Museum posted the
first video in its new “Out of the Vault”
video series, which is now available on
its YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/
FinanceMuseum) and across its social
media platforms. These short videos
explore objects and documents from the
Museum’s collection that were featured
in the “Out of the Vault” exhibit. David
Cowen, the Museum’s president and
CEO, narrates the series from his home
during the covid‑19 lockdown.
The “Out of the Vault” exhibit show-
cased some of the most unique, interesting
and historical artifacts in the Museum’s
collection. Featured objects include some
of the nation’s founding financial doc-
uments, such as Alexander Hamilton’s
Report on the Public Credit—considered
to be the economic equivalent of the US
Constitution— as well as the 1792 George
Washington bond, which was signed by
President Washington and is believed to
bear the first use of the dollar sign on a
US federal document. Many artifacts were
signed by American political and business
leaders from the 18th century through
today, while others highlight technological
innovations that transformed the financial
services industry. Together, these objects
represent more than 225 years of Ameri-
can financial history and achievement.
www.MoAF.org | Spring 2020 | FINANCIAL HISTORY 5