The Museum of American Finance has from its beginning, thrived in the midst of crisis.

The museum was founded after the Stock Market Crash of 1987, inspired by the lack of institutional memory and the need for historical and educational resources to put financial upheavals in context. In the wake of 9/11, the museum took on a new and expanded role as the public face of the New York Stock Exchange, which closed its visitors' center due to security concerns. And, in the recent months of financial turmoil and uncertainty, the museum has experienced a renewed surge of public interest.

The museum is now able to educate and accommodate a much greater audience in its new location at 48 Wall Street. Prior to the museum's reopening at this location in January 2008, it was housed just blocks away on lower Broadway. The building which currently houses the revamped Museum of American Finance is the ideal location for a museum dedicated to American financial history; it is the former home of the Bank of New York, the nation's oldest bank. Alexander Hamilton, the first US Secretary of the Treasury, established the Bank of New York at this location in 1784. Whereas the museum's previous incarnations were in spaces so small that any changing of the exhibitions or artifacts required the whole museum to be shut down, the former Bank of New York offers a space large and impressive enough to allow for an array of both artifact-based and interactive exhibits, a library, an archive, an education center, a small movie theater, and a gift shop. In addition to its permanent and rotating exhibitions, the museum hosts a series of popular educational evening programs.

New York's financial district is the oldest part of the city, and one of the most historically significant areas in the entire country, but the museum is as dedicated to educating the public about modern markets as it is to preserving and sharing history. The museum's exhibits are tailored to the general public; they are meant to be engaging and accessible to schoolchildren and business titans alike. Prior knowledge of financial markets is not required.

After arriving at the museum and ascending an impressive circular marble staircase, the visitor's eye is immediately caught by three huge video displays dedicated to stocks, futures and bonds, respectively. Around the entire hall stretches a series of murals painted in 1928 by J. Monroe Hewlett and recently cleaned as part of the extensive restoration process that preceded the museum's relocation in early 2008. A set of three murals on the right wall depicts scenes of commerce and trade in New York; a second trio depicts the history of the Bank of New York with Alexander Hamilton standing proudly in the center panel.

The eye-catching video panels are part of the museum's largest exhibit: a permanent installation entitled "Financial Markets." The first panel, "Trading Stocks," depicts interviews with a variety of people on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. "Trading Futures," the next, depicts "a trader's life at the New York Mercantile Exchange," and the last, "Trading Bonds," features "An Inside Look at Citi's Bond Trading."

Although "Financial Markets" is a permanent exhibit, the artifacts on display are largely paper-based and, due to preservation issues, cannot be displayed on a permanent basis. The museum has a vast wealth of such artifacts which it rotates in its displays - you could visit the museum five times and see a new set of documents each time.