Page 48 - Liberia Exhibit Magazine Issue1
P. 48
HistoricalSites
National Museum
– A DEPOSITORY OF HISTORICAL RELIC
Snuggled at the corner of Broad
and Buchanan Streets in Liberia’s
capital, Monrovia, the museum
was established in 1958 by former
President William Tubman. The
current items on display in the
museum are the remnants of the
thousands of artifacts which were
originally housed at the museum.
During the heydays of the war in
Liberia, more 5,000 items were stolen
from the museum. Only 100 large
artifacts remain in the museum including the
country’s first national flag which is as old as
the nation itself and a table gifted by Queen
Victoria which is over two and half centuries
old.
For many years after its establishment,
the museum remained under the Ministry of
Education, formerly the Department of Public
Instructions until 1965 when it became the
responsibility of the Ministry of Information
Cultural Affairs and Tourism. In 1981 this de-
tached to form the National Bureau of Culture
& Tourism of which the museum operated
under through much of the 1980s until June
1987 when it was dissolved and returned to
the control of the Department of Information.
In 1972, the museum was relocated to a new
48 LIBERIA EXHIBIT | JANUARY - JUNE
National Museum
– A DEPOSITORY OF HISTORICAL RELIC
Snuggled at the corner of Broad
and Buchanan Streets in Liberia’s
capital, Monrovia, the museum
was established in 1958 by former
President William Tubman. The
current items on display in the
museum are the remnants of the
thousands of artifacts which were
originally housed at the museum.
During the heydays of the war in
Liberia, more 5,000 items were stolen
from the museum. Only 100 large
artifacts remain in the museum including the
country’s first national flag which is as old as
the nation itself and a table gifted by Queen
Victoria which is over two and half centuries
old.
For many years after its establishment,
the museum remained under the Ministry of
Education, formerly the Department of Public
Instructions until 1965 when it became the
responsibility of the Ministry of Information
Cultural Affairs and Tourism. In 1981 this de-
tached to form the National Bureau of Culture
& Tourism of which the museum operated
under through much of the 1980s until June
1987 when it was dissolved and returned to
the control of the Department of Information.
In 1972, the museum was relocated to a new
48 LIBERIA EXHIBIT | JANUARY - JUNE
