User:Cclamb/National Museum of Language

National Museum of Language
The National Museum of Language, located in College Park, Maryland, is a cultural institution established in 2008 to"examine the history, impact, and art of language," and remains one of only a handful of institutions designed for this purpose. The museum features exhibits "tracing the roots of early alphabet languages, such as Arabic, Latin, Greek and Hebrew, as well as one featuring the Chinese and Japanese character-based languages." The NML also features online presentations to supplement the current exhibit on their website. The museum is entirely run and staffed by volunteers.

History
Linguists at the NSA put on an exhibition in 1971 called "Language, Its Infinite Variety", however the idea of a language museum does not gain hold until 1985, when the linguists from the NSA exhibition meet again to discuss the possibility. The linguists are unable to establish exhibits at that time, but an organizing committee was formed and a board of directors elected in 1997 - 1998. Prior to opening to the public, the museum hosted a "Creole Languages as Misunderstood and Endangered Languages” symposium in 2007. The museum opened officially on May 3rd, 2008, with an exhibition entitled ‘‘Writing Language: Passing It On”. The National Language Museum hosts a lecture series in partnership with the University of Maryland, College Park's Center for Advanced Study of Language.

Funding
The NML is operated by an all-volunteer staff, and offers free admission. The majority of its funding comes from donations, membership fees, and occasional government grants. Many local College Park, Maryland business are listed as having donated to the NLM.