Museum of American Finance Adds Audio Tours

Last week the Museum of American Finance launched a 12-stop audio tour of its permanent exhibits. The tour was developed in partnership with Antenna – a multi-media story-telling company – and is narrated by a variety of experts including the Museum’s president and curators, as well as CNN founding financial editor Myron Kandel and architectural historian Damien Cregeau.

The tour features the backstories of several of the Museum’s most popular collections and exhibitions, including objects from the Crash of ’29; a stock certificate issued to Ponzi scheme artist Bernie Madoff; rare high-denomination currency; and the solid gold and jewel encrusted Monopoly Set by artist Sidney Mobell, on loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

The most in-depth stop on the audio tour is the 1880 plaster study of the Alexander Hamilton statue by Carl Conrads, which was commissioned by Hamilton’s son as a gift to the city of New York. The study stands just outside the Alexander Hamilton Room – the Museum’s permanent tribute to the nation’s first Secretary of the Treasury. The Museum also unveiled several new additions to this exhibit, such as an original copy of Hamilton’s obituary and a rare 1804 collection of documents pertaining to his death in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. This includes correspondence leading up to the duel, Hamilton’s last will and testament, the eulogies of his friends and colleagues and detailed information on his funeral ceremony.

The audio guides are available to visitors on a first come, first served basis for $2 per person. MoAF members and visitors with visual or other impairments will be granted free usage of the guides. This program is sponsored by Con Edison and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

The Museum of American Finance, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is the nation’s only independent museum dedicated to finance, entrepreneurship and the open market system. For more information, visit their website.

Photo of Hamilton Statue by Robert Dinkelmann.