The National Museum of Liberia is a

national museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numbe ...

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As th ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It ...

. Initially housed in the First Executive Mansion on Ashmun Street of the city which is now used as a library, it was established by an Act of the

National Legislature This is a list of legislatures by country. A "legislature" is the generic name for the national parliaments and congresses that act as a plenary general assembly of representatives and that have the power to legislate. All entities included in ...

in 1958 under the administration of Liberia's 18th President, Dr William V.S. Tubman. Partly funded by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

,Ministry of Education in Liberia
Retrieved on May 4, 2008 in coordination with the Department of Public instructions (what is now the Liberian Ministry of Education), its primary goal was to obtain, preserve and display cultural artefacts and other historical items which depict the country's heritage.

History

The museum remained under the Department of Public Instructions until 1965 when it became the responsibility of the Department of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism. In 1981 this detached 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 building on

Providence Island Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

but four years later this building was removed to facilitate the construction of the People's Bridge over the

Mesurado River Mesurado River is a river of Liberia. It flows through the capital of Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 c ...

. It was later moved to the Old Supreme Court building and formally reopened on July 25, 1987 with a ceremony given by the Vice President of Liberia, Harry F. Moniba.Ministry of Information of the Government of the Republic of Liberia
Retrieved on May 4, 2008

Museum layout

The museum is classified in three tiers, where on the ground floor there is a histographical gallery containing presidential papers, private documents and

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

of past important executives of the Liberian government and

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now creat ...

s and cartographical resources related to its culture. On display is the nation's first flag dating back to August 1847. There are also other items ranging from postage stamps to an editorial page of Liberia's daily newspaper, the ''

Liberia Herald The ''Liberia Herald'', founded in 1826 is the first newspaper ever published in Liberia which at the time was a colony. It was founded by Charles Force who died shortly after the first issue was published. In March 1827 Samuel Cornish and John B ...

''.BBC News
May 18, 2005, Retrieved on May 4, 2008 Other items include traditional Liberian household furniture and utensils, and there is a craft shop run by the African Arts & Crafts Inc. On the next floor is the Ethnographical Gallery and on the top floor the contemporary arts gallery which illustrates Liberian artistic works many of which are product of a contract between the museum and art institutions and art colleges throughout the country where artists are commissioned to produce for the museum purposes. Other museum facilities include a portable video system, editing and archival materials, cassette recordings and slides of visual and oral arts many of which offer an insight into Liberian cultures such as dance and the use of

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

s in the country.

Effects of the Liberian civil war

The national museum was deeply affected by the 14 years of war during the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and

Second Liberian Civil War The Second Liberian Civil War was a conflict in the West African nation of Liberia lasted from 1999 to 2003. It was preceded by the First Liberian Civil War, which ended in 1996. President Charles Taylor came to power in 1997 after victory in t ...

s. According to the director of the museum Caesar Harris approximately 5,000 artifacts were looted during this period and now less than 100 larger artifacts remain. Still intact though is a 250-year-old dining table given as gift from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

to Liberia's first President,

Joseph Jenkins Roberts Joseph Jenkins Roberts (March 15, 1809 – February 24, 1876) was an African-American merchant who emigrated to Liberia in 1829, where he became a politician. Elected as the first (1848–1856) and seventh (1872–1876) president of Libe ...

. During the war, valuable museum items were often sold to fleeing expatriates and the museum itself came under fire during rebel attacks in 2003. However, although the war severely affected the content of the museum today it also has items which offer an insight into the war itself.

References

External links

UNESCO
{{Authority control Museums in Liberia National museums Buildings and structures in Monrovia Museums established in 1958 Education in Monrovia