This year, the Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) highlighted this important anniversary. During the conference, held on June 17-18 at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C., presenters discussed the impacts and evolution of multilateral institutions while placing a special emphasis on the history of Bretton Woods and its institutions.
The World Bank Group Archives was thrilled to be asked by conference organizers to contribute an archival exhibit in the atrium of the World Bank Group's Main Complex. The exhibit told the history of the World Bank Group through seven eras. Large panels divided the exhibit into seven "rooms" where archival record displays and informational banners offered visitors the opportunity to dig deeper into each era, and iPads provided access to our World Bank Historical Timeline. Last, but certainly not least, was the opportunity for visitors to take selfies with lifesize cutouts of two famous Bretton Woods delegates: Henry Morgenthau, Jr. (U.S. Treasury Secretary and Bretton Woods conference president), and John Maynard Keynes (U.K. delegate to the conference and chairman of the commission responsible for the World Bank).
During the same week as the ABCDE conference and Archives exhibit, the Archives also hosted a Heritage Days dining experience for Bank staff and guests. The meal, served in the Bank's executive dining room, allowed diners to step back in time to 1944: a menu based on the Bretton Woods Conference's farewell dinner was offered, a band played 1940s music, and an archival exhibit containing records from the Bretton Woods Conference was installed in the dining room's entrance. We were thrilled to have World Bank Group President David Malpass and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde join us for the festivities!
Scroll through the carousel below for a quick glimpse of our atrium exhibit and Heritage Days event.