Museum of American Financial History

“Survival of the Fittest: The Evolution of the Dow Jones Industrial Average,” examines the role the original 12 Dow companies played in the development of the U.S. economy.

The exhibit traces the history of The Dow from its founding in 1896 through the present and features artifacts, financial documents, and historical anecdotes from the original companies and their extant successors. A portion of the exhibit focuses on what The Dow is and how it can be interpreted to make educated investment decisions.

“Making Money: Bank Note Engraving and the Fight Against Counterfeiting,” explores the security features in currency from Colonial notes to today’s modern money. This exhibit features counterfeit notes alongside their genuine counterparts and includes examples of fake, altered, and “raised” notes, as well as beautifully engraved bank notes, stock certificates, travelers checks, and uncut sheets of currency from the collection of Mark D. Tomasko, the Museum’s honorary curator of engraving and a nationally renowned expert on the art of engraving.

"Coming Up on the Season: Migrant Farmworkers in the Northeast," a bi-lingual traveling exhibition developed by Cornell University that traces the path of the fruits and vegetables we eat, and the lives of the people who grow and harvest them in the Northeastern U.S.

“Do It Yourself: Small Business Successes,” the official exhibition of the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Small Business Administration. The exhibit features the empowering stories of 16 companies that started small and have since become national brands, including Ben & Jerry’s, Federal Express and Intel. “Do It Yourself” will be on display through May 2004.

The Museum celebrates the centennial anniversary of flight with “Pan Am and the Golden Age of Air Travel,” an exhibit featuring artifacts, photographs and original documents from Pan American Airways – a pioneer in air travel. On display through May 2004, the exhibit focuses on Pan Am’s clipper period, from 1935 through 1946.

"The Nobel Prize: Celebrating 100 Years of Creativity and Innovation," an exhibition curated by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and its Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. The exhibit provides a glimpse into the minds, lives, and work of selected Nobel laureates, particularly those in the economics category, through personal video interviews, candid photographic portraits, and original artifacts.

America's Bank Logo "High Notes", an exhibition of high denomination currency, showcases rare bills from the Smithsonian Institution's National Numismatic Collection including the 1934 U.S. $100,000 gold certificate issued at the height of the Depression to transfer funds between the Federal Reserve Banks. Guest curated by former U.S. Treasurer Mary Ellen Withrow, the exhibit also includes some of the highest inflationary currencies from around the world.

"Born in New York" commemorated the extraordinary history of Wells Fargo, founded in New York City in 1852 -- one of only a dozen American companies to be in business in the same line of work, and operating under the same name, for so long. This exhibition explores the company's epic role in nation-building and westward expansion during the 19th century and later growth, with a strong focus on its early years in lower Manhattan.

"America's Coin Banks," a traveling exhibit of more than 40 unique, antique and contemporary banks sponsored by Coinstar, chronicles the history of one of the hallmarks of American culture and everyday life.

At the beginning of the 20th century, J. Pierpont Morgan emerged as the preeminent figure in American finance. Morgan used his solid reputation and his powers of negotiation to reorganize America's troubled railroads -- a process which came to be known as "Morganization." "MORGAN" examined the business career of J. Pierpont Morgan and the legacy it has left for modern America.

"The Artistry of African Currency," an exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, featured a variety of objects that have been used across Africa to facilitate trade and measure wealth, including jewelry, weapons, tools, shells and coins. Made possible through the generous support of Investec Ernst & Company and Granite Broadcasting Corporation.

The Museum's exhibition on the history of financial journalism traced the development of the profession that grew up alongside the brokers of Wall Street. Highlights of the exhibit included vintage headlines, a timeline tracing the development of the financial press, and a roster of the top business reporters of all time. Curated by James Grant, editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, the exhibit featured bylines by a roster of top Wall Street journalists.

"Erie Canal & New York: Locks, Stocks & Barrels," an exhibition on the canal's role in establishing New York City as the country's financial center, commemorated the 175th anniversary of the New York State Canal system.

This exhibit illuminated the life and career of John D. Rockefeller and examined the origins and rise of the Standard Oil Company; the man, as a practical innovator in business management, and the company as a forerunner of the modern American corporation.

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