Please consider a donation to MAMF
The Museum of the American Military Family, relies on grants and the support of individuals and groups to do its work of preserving history and providing programming to the public. We are an all-volunteer-run organization that provides paid internships to students. As we prepare for the opening of our Workspace in May, we kindly ask you to support our work by making a donation of any amount to honor a “brat” or two in your family! If you’re unable to donate, please consider sharing this fundraiser on your social media. MAMF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so your donation is tax-deductible. Thank you very much in advance for your support!
You can mail in a check, donate directly through our Facebook page DONATE BUTTON, or via Pay Pal or Venmo at this link.
MAMF part of “Stunde Null” commemorative events in Munich, Germany
MAMF is proud to be one of 130 partner institutions that are part of the “Stunde Null (Hour Zero)” program. More than 220 events such as readings, lectures, exhibitions, art talks, walking and bike tours, film screenings, and music programs will take place from January to May 2025. The Amis in der McGraw Kaserne exhibit opened on March 11, 2025 on McGraw Kaserne, and our discussion and film programs were held at the Giesinger Bahnhof cultural center. It was an amazing weekend! Click here to stream the Brown Babies film:
Check out the Giesinger Bahnhof website here: https://giesinger-bahnhof.de. We want to thank our sponsors and contributors to our programs: Griffenharte Foundation, Kirtland Spouses Club, University of Maryland Global Campus, Giesinger Bahnhof, filmmaker Regina Griffin, historian Karin Pohl, and also the departments within the City of Munich.
Did you know?
From our Family to Yours…
MAMF Move Update!
In October 2023, the folks at “Two Men and a Truck” packed up the museum, and MAMF in Tijeras closed its doors. On November 22, 2024 “Two Men and a Truck” were back—this time, they moved us into our new MAMF Workspace in Albuquerque! This is the first of several phases—and we are so excited to be on our way! The next few months will be busy—unpacking, sorting, setting up, and doing everything needed after a move. We’ll be sure to share photos and updates about our progress! We expect to be more settled by February 2025…Meanwhile check out our activities, pop-ups, and on-going projects on our Facebook Page.
MAMF’S “HOST NATION HOSPITALITY” EXHIBIT OPENS IN GERMANY
“Host Nation Hospitality” opened on German-American Day (October 6th). The event started with Mozart’s Duo for Violin and Viola, glasses of sparkling wine, and freshly baked breadsticks. After the speeches, the guests wandered through the exhibit of 17 individual panels depicting aspects of military life and culture—and their various intersections with Host Nations. The beautifully decorated tables provided the guests a place to mingle, make introductions, and converse over a drink or snack.
10/6/2024
We are very thankful for their support
10/6/2024
Johannes Schneider and Circe Olson Woessner collaborated on the Point Alpha panel
The main reception area 10/6/2024
10/6/2024
The anthology is available on Amazon.com
10/6/2024
10/6/2024
This exhibit was a collaboration between many people and organizations, and it serves as a companion to our anthology, “Host Nation Hospitality,” available for purchase on Amazon.
We extend our thanks to all of our sponsors who made the exhibit possible and to all of the authors who contributed a story to the anthology, to MAMF’s 2020-2022 Writer-in-Residence Valerie Bonham Moon and Allen Dale Olson, who wrote the text for the panels, as well as Barbara Beck Azar who created the graphics. We also thank Mayor Lahl and the town of Weil in Schonbuch for their hospitality.
To purchase the anthology that sparked the exhibit, click here:
MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY FAMILY TO OPEN EXHIBIT IN GERMANY
The Museum of the American Military Family is mounting an exhibit, “Host Nation Hospitality,” in Weil im Schönbuch, Germany. The exhibit highlights the friendships and relationships between America’s military forces, families, and people from formerly enemy nations who have now become allies and friends.
Four military-connected people created the exhibit: museum founder and director Circe Olson Woessner, a military wife and mom; WWII/Occupation Army veteran Allen Dale Olson, artist Barbara Beck-Azar, a brat and military/veteran spouse; and writer Valerie Bonham Moon, a military brat, veteran, and spouse, and also the museum’s 2020-2022 Writer-in-Residence. They each bring a unique perspective to the content they curated.
Host Nation Hospitality’s seventeen exquisite panels delve into various topics, answering questions and highlighting international intersections. These include the DoDEA school system’s innovative “Host Nation” language programs, the University of Maryland’s campuses in garrisons and war zones, a German town’s transformation of a former American inner border outpost into a “House of Peace” museum, the German War Graves Commission’s tribute to an American soldier, and a German city’s preservation of the former US military library.
Woessner says the exhibit shows how organizations and people continue the work of past collaborations in the present while keeping an eye on the future.
“Military life is very transient, so we military families cram as many new experiences as possible into our lives because we know we will move in a few years. We are often nostalgic, remembering our overseas postings and wondering what became of the installation we once were stationed at. What happened after we left?”
Host Nation Hospitality is a collaboration between the museum and half a dozen national and international organizations. Many military-connected service organizations sponsored the exhibit. The museum is thankful for the following organization’s support:
- Loyal Order of the Moose-Belen Lodge 1680
- Fraternal Order of Eagles-Alamogordo Aerie #4104
- Stuttgart Community Spouses Club
- American Legion Post #117, Clovis
- Fraternal Order of Eagles-Las Cruces Aerie #4038
- American Legion Post #44, Elephant Butte
- Loyal Order of the Moose-Alamogordo Lodge 2016
Host Nation Hospitality will run from October 6 through December 30, 2024, and is open to visitors during town hall business hours. Monday: 8:30–15:00, Tuesday,Wednesday: 8:30–noon, and Thursday: 14:00–18:00.
The Rathaus is located at Marktplatz 3, Weil im Schönbuch, Germany.
For more information, contact the museum at info@militaryfamilymuseum.org.
MAMF’s latest anthology focuses on the US Federal Civil Service
There is still time to register for “Schooling With Uncle Sam” 8/10/24 in Albuquerque
Registration is now open through the Cherry Hills Library website for MAMF’s “Schooling with Uncle Sam” program. If you plan to attend, please register in advance. We look forward to seeing you there!
https://libevents.abqlibrary.org/event/11956607?hs=a
Tales of Coming Home by U.S. Military Family Members, Government Officials, and Civilians in a new MAMF Anthology–Home: It’s Complicated
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home– John Howard Payne (Home Sweet Home)
In her preface to HOME: It’s Complicated, Editor Circe Olson Woessner makes clear that with all its complexities and nuances, home might be complicated, but it’s always home. That message is reinforced over and over in each of these 50-some moving, personal stories–home is not a place but a feeling in a place with family and the people you love.
Anyone who has spent time in the military or government service has experienced frequent relocations to all parts of the country and around the world. They have become used to the question, “Where are you from?”
The answer? Where–When? These authors have all experienced returning to a birthplace, a school, an installation, or a former apartment or house and finding it closed, destroyed, modified beyond recognition, or occupied by strangers, and their stories tell how they felt about their return: Sentimental. Disappointed. Nostalgic. Angry. Homesick. Or all of the above.
But they all come to the same conclusion. Home is where you are with family or people who seem like family. Whether in Germany or Texas, Japan or California, home is not so much where I came from, but possibly, where I’ll be going–so long as I’m with family.
Blogger and memoirist Connie Kinsey, the museum’s Writer-in-Residence, wrote nine essays and co-edited the anthology. As a former military “brat” who has finally rooted herself in West Virginia, Home: It’s Complicated was her brainchild, as she, too, has long struggled with the concept of “where is home.” The theme also resonates with the forty-seven contributors hailing from four continents, each bringing a unique perspective on the concept of home. In all, there are 604 mentions of “home” in Home: It’s Complicated.
Home: It’s Complicated is now available through Amazon and is a fitting accompaniment to earlier MAMF anthologies–Schooling with Uncle Sam and Host Nation Hospitality, both also available through Amazon. Connie Kinsey blogs at http://wvfurandroot.com.