Letter from the Director
What a pleasure to present our FY2018 annual report, encapsulating our first year on NW Davis. The year surpassed expectations: on a practical level we reached an audience of 30,000, which includes 16,000 students and educators; we expanded our collecting capabilities in the archives and artifact collection; we hosted a multitude of public programs – lectures, films, discussions, music, including the partnership with PSU on the talk by Yale historian Timothy Snyder; and we offered exhibitions of local, national and international significance.
In short, we have much to be proud of and thankful for our accomplishments. Nonetheless we cannot avoid the glare of the inescapable light of history. We bear the growing immediacy of our mission and each day brings another sobering reminder of the relevance of OJMCHE’s work; a feeling that grows more urgent each day. Museum visitors bring it up all the time, sometimes asking of us, “what can I do?” And what is our answer? That we do and must keep doing just what you have created this museum for:to nurture a safe space in which visitors can find the relief provided by scholarly distance and the consolations offered by the intimacy of authentic human experience.
For those of us who heard Timothy Snyder speak last spring, he reminded us that authoritarianism always begins with the advance obedience of the thoughtless and the disorientation of the thoughtful. At OJMCHE we empower visitors to avoid such thoughtlessness. With our historical memory intact, we shall never forget the experience of the past. And we do this, as always, by telling stories: stories help us understand where we have come from, and stories help us wrestle with the major dilemmas of our time so that we all can create a future in which human dignity will play a greater role than ever. Despite these tumultuous times, so much of our work at the museum is life affirming and immensely gratifying. Thank you for your support. Here’s to another momentous year.
With gratitude,
Judy Margles
Museum Director
