"We
have come together to celebrate the meaning of community, here in New
York City's oldest neighborhood," said Executive Director Brian Thompson
to open a town meeting recently conducted by the Museum. On November 15,
the Museum hosted the first public forum to address the future of New
York City's Financial District in the context of its long history and
powerful work ethic. "Always Another Trading Day: Endurance and Optimism
in the Culture of Wall Street" featured a distinguished panel of participants
from across lower Manhattan including representatives from leading firms
and institutions, journalists, and business owners. CNN financial editor
Myron Kandel moderated the program, which took place in the auditorium
of the Alexander Hamilton US Custom House.
Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small welcomed the audience. "The city of New York has a proud history of triumph over adversity," said Small. "Now, as then, this city will recover." The Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage worked with the Museum to organize this event, building on the successful collaboration which brought many of the panel participants to Washington, DC for the Wall Street presentation at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival last summer.
Program participants included Carl Weisbrod, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York. The forum concluded with the singing of "God Bless America" by Officer Kerrence Darden of the New York City Police Department.
The event was made possible with support from the Bond Club of New York.
Click here to see event pictures...
The transcript of the event is now available for download, either as a Microsoft Word document (.doc) or a regular HTML webpage. Click one of the following to download:
HTML page
MS Word document
| Lawrence M. Small, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution |
| Carl Weisbrod, President, Alliance for Downtown New York |
| Brian C. Thompson, Executive Director, Museum of American Financial History |
| Myron Kandel, Financial Editor, CNN, Moderator |
| Kay Turner, Curator, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Moderator |
| Meg Ventrudo, Assistant Director, Museum of American Financial History, Moderator |
| Kerrence Darden, Officer, New York Police Department |
| Peter Bakstansky, Senior Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York |
| Madeline Boyd, Board of Directors, New York Mercantile Exchange |
| Joseph Cicchetti, Trader, New York Mercantile Exchange |
| Donald F. Donahue, Managing Director & Head of Info. Services, Depository Trust Co. |
| Robert N. Downey, Senior Director, Goldman Sachs |
| Rodney A. Faragalla, Vice President of Operations, The Island ECN, Inc. |
| William Freda, Managing Partner, Financial Services, Deloitte & Touche |
| Peter Gordenstein, Administrator, The Nandra Group |
| Diana Henriques, Financial Reporter, The New York Times |
| John Layng, President, Bond Club of New York |
| Heath McLendon, CEO, Salomon Smith Barney Mutual Funds |
| Harry Poulakakos, Harry's of Hanover Square |
| Robert Power, Senior Vice President, Corporate Client Group, Nasdaq |
| Peter Quick, President, American Stock Exchange |
| David Ratcliff, Director of Sales & Business Development, Merrill Lynch Center for Philanthropy & Non-Profit Management |
| Gordon Rutledge, Trader, New York Mercantile Exchange |
| Mitchell Steinhause, Vice Chair, New York Mercantile Exchange |
| Robert Stovall, Senior Vice President, Prudential Financial |
| Jason Zweig, Senior Columnist, Money Magazine |
Copyright © 2005 - Museum of American Finance.
All rights reserved.