The Future of America's Credit Union Museum in Peril?

When I first got into credit union history, one of the few resources I could easily locate was America's Credit Union Museum in Manchester, NH. I reached out to the director, Peggy Powell, who had helpful reading suggestions, and I ended up spending two days in the Museum's reading room working my way through some rare literature. Given the dearth of institutional support for credit union history in general, the Museum is an incredibly valuable resource.

As such, I was taken aback to receive the following message from Peggy on Tuesday:

Thank you for sending a copy of the article you wrote for Financial History magazine. I have added it to the reading room.  

I want you to know that I am retiring from my position as Executive director of the Museum effective this Friday [8/29/2014]. Thank you for the support you have provided over the years and for your interest in the Museum. 

Never lose your passion for credit unions. 

Best wishes to you in the future. 

Peggy

As I'd been thinking about visiting New Hampshire in the near future to meet with a food co-op organizing group, and was considering taking them on a field trip to the Museum, I wrote Peggy back inquiring as to what the Museum's next steps would be in her absence. She replied:

At this point a new Executive Director has not been hired which means the Museum will be temporarily closed until a replacement has been found. I do not know how long that will be. I suggest you call the Museum at 603-629-1553 prior to your trip to see if someone is in place. If nothing else there should be a message with a phone number of a person to contact.

The fact that there is no-one lined up to replace her is definitely a worrisome turn of events that might suggest that the future of the museum itself could be in peril. I poked around the website to see if any statement has been posted, but there's no mention of the change, and the last newsletter was sent out in August of 2012. I've sent a message to the Board President, Michael L'Ecuyer, through his credit union's contact page to inquire as to the museum's next steps, and I'll update this post if he responds.

###UPDATE - 9/2/2014###

Received this response this morning, which suggests things will be back to a semblance of normalcy by November:

I received your inquiry to Michael L’Ecuyer about the accessibility of the America’s Credit Union Museum in Manchester, NH.  The Museum is temporarily closed during the change of Executive Directors.   

We hope that the Museum will be open within the next six to eight weeks.  As soon as we have the re-open date finalized, I will be in contact so that you can continue your plans to visit.   I’m sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

Thank you for your interest in America’s Credit Union Museum.

Lori

America’s Credit Union Museum, Board Secretary

Two Days in Manchester: The Tale of My Trip to America's Credit Union Museum

After dreaming of taking such a trip for the better part of a year and planning it for the past few weeks, last Wednesday I finally left my home in Burlington, Vermont for a two day visit to America's Credit Union Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire. It being northern New England, nasty weather was naturally on its way, so I hit the road in the early afternoon to avoid the impending deluge of ice and snow, and arrived in time grab dinner and drinks with my New Hampshirite friend and fellow mutualist nerd Julia Riber-Pitt.

After some good beer and interesting conversation at Jillians (a local restaurant and pool hall), my mile-long stroll back to the hotel was livened by a parade of gorgeous old historical buildings. Manchester is a classic 19th-century New England industrial town, with enormous, long red-brick mills (now repurposed for a variety of functions) lining both sides of the river that flows through the center of the city. Indeed, America's first credit union, the original site of which is now occupied by the museum, was established to serve the French Canadian immigrants who worked in those mills, and many of the houses that lined my path were built in that era as well.

My Coming Trip to the Credit Union Museum: Call for Suggestions

Ever since I first discovered the existence of America's Credit Union Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, I've been dying to check it out. Unfortunately, life kept getting in the way of my dreams of archival adventuring, but I've decided to put my foot down and make January the month I finally get to take in the American credit union movement's premiere historical institution for two glorious days. My hope is that this trip will provide inspiration for a number of Credit Union History posts, including (but, thanks to the inspirational magic of primary sources, not limited to):

• A video interview with museum director Peggy Powell.
• A review of the museum's exhibits (hopefully with photos!).
• A brief guide to the resources available in the museum's reading room.
• A book review of Roy Bergengren's single known work of fiction, Cumet: A Fantasy Having to do With Credit Union Mass European Tours (as it turns out, Paul Thompson's The Credit Union Lady is not the only credit-union themed novel ever written). Self-deprecatingly mentioned in several of his subsequent non-fiction books, Bergengren's novel supposedly proposes the idea of credit unions organizing trips to other parts of the world in order to help create international understanding. I've been fruitlessly searching out a copy of Cumet for a while, but it has been impossible to find; however, it turns out that the Museum has one, and Ms. Powell has graciously offered to open the glass case and allow me to read it!

Additionally, I'd happily welcome any suggestions from readers of Credit Union History as to other thing to look for and/or what you'd like me to write about. Leave your suggestions in the comment section, on the Facebook page, or drop me an email.

***UPDATE***

I finally got the Credit Union History "Tip Jar" working. If you'd like to help fill my gas tank for this trip, click on the "Google Checkout" button on the right hand of the screen...