Category: Events
MAMF Has Moved to its New Location on Route 66!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 21, 2016
For additional information: Dr. Circe Olson Woessner (505) 504-6830
THE MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY FAMILY (MAMF) IS ON THE MOVE
Old Route 66 is getting a new tenant. The nation’s only museum dedicated to the mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, spouses, and other family members of those who serve and have served in America’s military is settling in at the I-40 interchange with Tijeras. Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Circe Olson Woessner, says the move is going well, “and we plan a grand opening at 3:30 p.m. on July 9.”
Till last summer, MAMF was an on-line presence, but last July set up temporarily in the Bataan Military Academy yet continued providing programs in various venues, to include Explora, the Balloon Museum, the National Nuclear Museum, the South Broadway Cultural Center, the Special Collections Library, the Veterans Memorial Park, schools, and patriotic ceremonies around the state. Its Operation Footlocker mobile exhibit program travels throughout the country and its Flat Stanley and Flat Stella programs follow military families around the world.
“Like everything we do,” Woessner said, “our move to Tijeras is done by volunteers. We are an all-volunteer entity with no paid staff, and our programs and classes are supported by grants, donors, and volunteers, and they’ve all been packing, carrying, unpacking, cleaning, and painting to get us ready to open next month. All of our Directors and Advisors are volunteers.”
Woessner said the new facility will have an artifacts/exhibit area, a library, a crafts room, and a gift shop. “We’re in a house,” she said; “the former home of Molly who established the historic destination bar bearing her name, so as visitors walk in they’ll see what could be the home of a military family that makes a new home every two or three years.”
Exhibition panels describe the various elements affecting family life in the military and the kinds of schools military children attend around the world.
“We’ll be open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays,” she said, “and we’ll be free to the public.” She said there’s plenty of free parking and praised the attractiveness of the Tijeras Pass leading some seven miles east of Albuquerque along Old Route 66 (Central Avenue), including the “Musical Road.”
The Museum of the American Military Family (MAMF) is at 546 State Highway 333 (Old Route 66), Tijeras, NM 87059. Tel: (505) 504-6830; info@militaryfamilymuseum.org; P.O. Box 5085, Albuquerque, NM 87185. www.museumoftheamericanmilitaryfamily.org.
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Caroline Le Blanc, MAMF Special Projects to Host Saturday Mindful-Writing Retreats
Come support a good cause on April 15 in Albuquerque
We are looking for Stories For our Anthologies
MAMF to co-host Vietnam Commemoration Ceremony at VAMC
Vietnam Veterans who are enrolled for VA health care are invited to a special Vietnam War Commemoration Ceremony on March 29 at the medical center. The ceremony, co-hosted by the Museum of the American Military Family and in partnership with the Albuquerque Veterans Benefits Administration and the Santa Fe National Cemetery, will begin at 10 a.m. in the Education Auditorium (Bldg. 39).
The ceremony’s purpose is to thank and honor Veterans of the Vietnam War, including personnel who were held as prisoners of war or listed as missing in action, for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States, and also to thank and honor the families of these Veterans.
Special guest speaker will be Thomas Baca, a retired U.S. Army Veteran who flew helicopter missions in Vietnam. As an added attraction, a restored Huey helicopter of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department will be parked on the medical center’s parade field (near the San Mateo gate) so those attending can get a close look at the aircraft that became famous as the “workhorse of Vietnam.”
Following the ceremony, Veterans can enjoy refreshments while they view the documentary, “In the Shadow of the Blade.” The 105-minute documentary follows the 10,000-mile journey of a battle-scarred UH-1 “Huey” helicopter into America’s backyards to hear the untold stories of Vietnam War Veterans and the families who waited for them to come home.
BREAKFAST WITH SANTA–December 13, 2015
Heels For Combat Boots – New Mexico and The Museum of the American Military Family along with the Applebee’s on Coors in Albuquerque, NM present BREAKFAST WITH SANTA, an event to help raise funds for our veterans/service men and women!
For $6 per adult, $4 per child, come eat breakfast with Santa and his Elves! Santa will be escorted by The Bombardiers Car Club in a classic car parade at 7:50 am before the venue opens, and breakfast will be served at 8am at the Applebee’s on Coors Boulevard in Albuquerque, NM!
Breakfast includes pancakes, sausage, and your choice of tea, water, or coffee. Santa will be visiting with the kiddos and passing out treats while you eat, too! Come join in on the fun, and help raise money for our organizations to help our military personnel and their families! ♡
Exhibit on Department of Defense Schools Worldwide Brings Back Memories for Military Families Who Were Stationed Abroad
 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Dr. Allen Dale Olson
Phone 505-400-3849 olsonallen@msn.com
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Exhibit on Department of Defense Schools Worldwide Brings Back Memories
for Military Families Who Were Stationed Abroad
ALBUQUERQUE, NM, July 27, 2015—A special exhibit at the Special Collections Library’s Botts Hall chronicles the experiences of families who were based in locations around the world: Military families whose children might attend five or more schools by the time they graduated from high school.
| “Schooling with Uncle Sam,” is focused on the history of the 181 schools for military dependents located in the U.S. Spread from the Far and Middle East to Western Europe. Self-titled “Military BRATS,” the children of military families, from lowest to highest ranks, attend Department of Defense Education Agency Schools and build strong ties and cherished memories through their varied experiences. |
The exhibit features comments from dozens of students, teachers and parents remarking on their experiences during various tours of duty—which involved the whole family. “Together We Serve” is the tagline of the Museum of the American Military Family and Learning Center, an organization whose mission is to bring together people with shared experiences showcasing and honoring those who also served–America’s Military Families. Artifacts from school experiences provided by those who attended or taught at DODEA schools bring the story home to the many retired military and BRATS who live in our area, as well as those who did not serve in the military, but want to learn more about the experience of those who do.
The new exhibit includes detailed information about the history and growth of the schools, anecdotes from students who attended them, and a host of artifacts that include: a 1948 report card; teachers’ guides; books on learning to speak, write and sing in the language of their new home; school flags and pennants; posters; school photos; yearbooks; athletic jackets and trophies; a high school diploma; a bison head that was worn by the varsity mascot at the Mannheim, Germany high school; a statement from General Colin Powell, US Army, Ret.; and much more. Many of the artifacts in the exhibit are provided by the American Overseas Schools Historical Society (AOSHS), based in Wichita, Kansas.
“Schooling with Uncle Sam” is free to the public and available at the Special Collections Library, 423 Central Avenue NE (corner of Central and Edith). The library is open from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, except for Thursdays, when it opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m. Please stop by and learn more about how children of military families received excellent education in places around the world thanks to “Uncle Sam.” To access the exhibit, please check in at the library’s Information Desk. The exhibition closes on August 22.
The Museum of the American Military Family and Learning Center (MAMF) collects and preserves the stories, experiences, documents, photos, and artifacts of the mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, spouses, siblings, and others who have loved and supported a member of America’s military services from Revolutionary War times to modern times. MAMF is an all-volunteer not-for-profit online entity in quest of a permanent home in Albuquerque and is launching a capital campaign to support that quest.
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THE RIBBON WAS CUT AND “AND SCHOOLING WITH UNCLE SAM” IS OPEN
The Cadets of the Bataan Military Academy posted the colors proudly, and just as proudly, Dr. Circe Olson Woessner, founder and Executive Director of the Museum of the American Military Family, gave them the order to cut the ribbon and open “Schooling with Uncle Sam.”
Some 40 friends and supporters of the Museum rose to applaud the gesture, led by an enthusiastic Brigadier General Andrew Salas, Adjutant General of the New Mexico National Guard. They then spread out to look at artifact cases and displays and a series of exhibit panels telling the story of the elementary and secondary schools operated by the U.S. Defense Department around the world since the end of World War II.
“Schooling with Uncle Sam,” housed in the Botts Auditorium of the Albuquerque Special Collections Library, itself on the National Register of Historic Places, is the first public exhibit about this remarkable and unique school system.
“Schooling” co-curator (with Dr. Woessner) Dr. Allen Dale Olson told the audience that some 15 million adults have attended these schools over the years and that nearly all of them went to three, four, maybe five different schools on the way to graduation, that 50 % of them lived at or near the poverty line and in spite of all the moves, 97% of them actually graduated. » Read more
Governor Martinez Says the “New Mexico True” Campaign Is Working
By Museum of the American Military Family
At an Albuquerque press conference on June 29, New Mexico Governor Susanna Martinez said that “half-a-million more visitors came to New Mexico in 2014 than in 2013” and that all-in-all, the state counted “32.7 million travelers last year.”
Following her presentation, MAMF Secretary for Public Affairs – Ole – had five minutes of one-on-one conversation with the Governor who was pleased and impressed that a MAMF exhibit had attracted 20,000 visitors in 2014. “You’re doing your share,” she told Ole. » Read more