Honoring Public Service: Virtual Museum Campaign

Honoring Public Service: Virtual Museum Campaign

Honoring Public Service: Founding a Virtual Museum

As the Chair of the Founding Board of the Virtual Museum of Public Service (VMPS), an IRS-approved 501(c)3 registered charity, I am seeking your support for the long-overdue appreciation of public servants.

As an academic, I have helped launch the public service careers of thousands of public administration students. As a scholar, I have written widely about how public servants deliver on governments’ promises. And as Past-President of the American Society for Public Administration, I have been especially concerned with a precipitous decline of trust in government. Members of the board mirror my career and share my concerns. They also see the compelling necessity to celebrate public service.

In an environment where the valuable contributions and personal sacrifices of tens of millions of public servants are often invisible or misunderstood, VMPS will underscore the value of public service and the integrity of those who deliver on their government’s promises.

VMPS will do so by highlighting the critical work and quiet pride of public servants in service to their fellow citizens.

We define public servants broadly: as civil servants, employees, and elected officials in all branches of government, their nonprofit partners and private sector contractors, the investigative news media, and countless volunteers. All contribute to accomplishing the public sector’s missions.

VMPS will present multimedia exhibits that highlight the positive roles public servants have played in delivering on our government's pledges to the public. Each exhibit will emphasize how individual public servants and groups have significantly improved our quality of life across health, education, criminal justice, defense, the arts, parks, and dozens of other services that build social capital.

Please see the museum prospectus at: https://www.publicservicemuseum.org/-our plan for creating this novel resource for public servants, citizens, students, educators, and policymakers.

Complementary tools and materials will render the museum a comprehensive educational resource, including an interactive timeline documenting the history of public service, a media room, literature, data and infographics, videos, podcasts, and a comprehensive career and volunteer information page that will allow visitors to explore ways in which they themselves can make a difference. Hundreds of such resources have already been identified.

An initial funding goal of $100,000 will make possible the inauguration of the museum by September 2023. We plan to grow the virtual museum continuously, with the long-term goal of honoring public servants across the diversity of roles and professions that contribute to the quality of our lives.

Please help establish the Virtual Museum of Public Service by contributing any amount and by sharing this message with your colleagues and your networks.

Marc Holzer, Ph.D.

Founding Dean and Emeritus Professor, Rutgers University School of Public Affairs and Administration

Distinguished Professor (Ret.), Institute of Public Service, Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University-Boston

Fellow, National Academy of Public Administration