The Museum of the American Military Family Looking for a New Home
by Sue Wolinsky, Family Member, IL National Guard
Above: Circe and Allen “Ole” Olsen
with an exhibit they created for the Museum
THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY FAMILY: Caring about and wanting to share the stories of American military families overseas has been an Olson family experience since the museum’s inception in 2011.
Dr. Allen,”Ole” and his wife Joan experienced decades of life at these schools while in Europe. Their daughter Circe was born in France and grew up on military installations. She earned her PhD in theology and lives in Stuttgart, Germany with her retired Army officer husband now the Department of Energy Liaison with the USEUROPEAN Command. “She wanted to do something that covered the whole spectrum of military family life. She started the research, then got me involved,” Ole explained.
Today, the Museum of the American Military Family is looking for a new home. “Sadly, the museum had to close its doors in the East Mountains recently when the building they rented was sold. We are looking for a new location,” Ole said.
“It is the only museum dedicated to telling the stories and collecting artifacts of military families,” Circe said. “This makes us unique. We also include military family members who have worked as federal employees, contractors, or volunteers. Their stories are important, too. This also makes us unique. We cover all wars, all services. It’s not political.”
The museum began as a brick-and-mortar operation. It has expanded since then. “Like military families everywhere, our team is spread all over the world, and since our inception, we’ve collaborated across time zones and borders. Because our visitors are also from all over, we create programs wherever our team members happen to be and conduct programs that people can access wherever they are,” Dr. Circe Olson Woessner said. “We have seven blogs, podcasts, and YouTube channels. Here are the links:
The last book we published had stories sent in from people living in Asia, Europe, Africa, the USA, and Oceana.”
“We live on donations and grants. We’ve had several grants from the NM Arts Commission to hire an intern from UNM to continue archiving our materials. Recent programming focused on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, our exhibit Host Nation Hospitality on display near Stuttgart will be traveling throughout Germany this year. We also write and edit anthologies. We’ve published 16 books in the past 10 years,” Circe said.
But the Museum is now looking for a new home in New Mexico. “We want to continue our physical presence in New Mexico,” Ole said. “We must preserve the artifacts we have as we reach out to military families and students across the globe via the internet. We owe it to the military members and the families who have given so much for the rest of us,” the veteran / the educator / the chronicler said.
“We are financially solvent,” Ole said. “We’d love to become associated with a local government. This could keep the museum building stable. We can pay the rent. We need a place to share our artifacts with the public, especially families of military veterans and those on active duty here.”
“We have been described as a ‘national treasure’ and our collections have been designated to be of national importance by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Our work is important. We need a home to maintain it,” Ole said, continuing, “We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We live on donations and grants. We’ve had thousands of visitors, and numerous programs and interactions with military and non-military organizations in the Albuquerque area, across the state, with veterans organizations, and with other states. We have over 2,000 books that are available to graduate and doctoral students and historians.”
“If you can help us find a new home, let us know. Contact us on our website”, Ole offered.