Achieving a Long-Standing Vision For the Future

A Design Proposal for a 3-D Museum

The Museum of Family History was conceived with the hope that its presence would stir countless numbers of people in their own way to keep alive the memory of their Jewish ancestors, as well as the learning of Jewish history. It is said that to honor and preserve the memory of those who can no longer thank us for our efforts tells a lot about a people, and I know that many of us feel the same way.

The concept of a virtual (Internet-only) museum, and the idea of honoring and preserving Jewish history, is an intriguing mixture of ideas. A museum is supposed to display the best of what a culture or people have to offer.  If we decide that we wanted to honor our own family in some magnificent and unique way, if we had the opportunity to hang photographs of our own family members in a museum, perhaps accompanied by its own audio tributes, some might see it as some fanciful notion, but perhaps an interesting one that had an intriguing possibility. The presence of material about our own families in  a museum would elevate their stature and keep our memory of them alive for all to see.

The Museum exists solely as a website, hence it is what we call a "virtual" museum. It contains many elements that one would find on the website of a “brick-and-mortar” museum, e.g. it would have interactive floor plans, as well as museum walls where photographs, which have been matted and framed, are on display.

Yet the ultimate goal at the Museum of Family History has been to create a three-dimensional, multimedia, interactive museum, where the museum “visitor” can not only learn about Jewish history, but where they can have the opportunity to display family photographs, created audio and video clips, for example,  of their only family members within their own museum room. Can you imagine how wonderful this would be? This has never been done before and the possibilities are endless.

Of course, as in many cases, what is delaying implementation of such a plan is money. Since this museum has not yet achieved 501 (c)3 status, and as the museum has no means of fundraising, there are no funds to have someone create a prototype of such a museum, which would be used as the first step to raise the necessary funds to begin such a project and eventually bring it to fruition.

This is an idea that no one has done to this date. It would be revolutionary. With the advent of technology to create 3-D images, the time for such a virtual museum has come. I imagine an interactive map that would represent the Museum, the building of which would be surrounded by images of virtual towns such as those found in pre-World War II Europe, with text, audio, etc. that will be taken from the translations of various Yizkor (Remembrance) books, e.g. interactive town maps that would take you back many decades to a different time when Jews heavily populated the countries of Europe.

Certainly if you wish to donate any amount of funds that would go to creating a prototype of the aforementioned three-dimensional museum, please contact me at steve@museumoffamilyhistory.com. Thank you!

Regards,

Dr. Steven Lasky
Founder and Director
Museum of Family History