An Impressive History and a Dazzling Future

I have worked for the Friends of Independence National Historical Park for exactly three years, three months and eight days.  It seems like a lifetime ago when I walked into the Friends office in the Merchant Exchange Building on my first day and was given the helpful suggestion that I should read some “old” newsletters to familiarize myself with the organization.

Three Years, three months and eight days later and I am still reading the history of The Friends of Independence.  It never ends.  Our organization has over 39 years worth of stories, board minutes, articles, pictures… you name it, we have it.  Just when I think I have read or put my hand on everything the Friends have done, something new emerges and leads to other sources of information. 

A quick trip to the archives can become hours of entertainment as I read through the past events and gaze in awe at all the things our organization has done in support of Independence National Historical Park.  Just the other day, while I was talking with a volunteer who has been working up in the archives for us, she pointed out two things in the Friends past that I did not know about.  This means two more things to add to my ever expanding list of things I need to look up the next time I am in the archives.

I have to say, this is my favorite part of working for the Friends, because it is fascinating to see how much we have done, how much we have given, and how many initiatives we have taken during our 39 years.  On the other hand, as the only full time staff member, this is also quite daunting.  It is overwhelming trying to think of new, bigger, better things we can do.  Most non-profits are always looking to have that edge, to come up with the next big thing to make them stand out and yet what they are doing now, the Friends of Independence was doing years ago.

How do we top ourselves?  How do we look back on our impressive history and say we can do better, we can outshine ourselves?  As the first Friends group for a National Park, we were the trailblazer for many of the programs and events that are now common among Friends groups.  It is difficult to re-invent the wheel when there is nothing wrong with it in the first place. 

So what do we do?  Do we rest on our laurels or do we keep going?  The answer is that we try new things, we enhance the already great ideas that have worked for us and we review our history and see what we did before that can be started again.  This is the great thing about such a long and extensive history; there is a never-ending source of ideas.  We are taking our past and creating a dazzling future for our organization and the park we love to support. 

So as Program Director for the Friends, I will continue to look for inspiration from our past, to learn the lessons from the ones that came before, and to always keep the best interest of the organization at heart.  I will do this because in another thirty-nine years, three months and eight days, I hope the staff member charged with researching the history of the Friends, will look back at the many things we did while I worked here and say “How can we top our past?”

~Maiti Gallen

  Program Director to the Friends of Independence National Historical Park