Is This The Most Important Museum In Upstate New York?

As many of our readers know, I have authored nearly a dozen books and travel guides pertaining to all aspects of Upstate New York.  While researching my book "The Unknown Museums of Upstate New York" a few years ago, I was totally caught off guard when I visited a small museum in far northern Oswego, New York, a museum that up until that time I had never even heard of.  Since then, I have found that many, many others have also never heard of this place.  And that should be changed, for this tiny museum tells a harrowing story of escape, fear, safety, redemption and ultimately freedom.  It is a very important story.

In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered a staff assistant in the Department of Interior to go to Italy, find 1,000 refugees and then escort them back to the United States.  FDR proclaimed that he was welcoming these poor souls to the US as "his personal guests for the duration of the war."  By doing this he circumvented the stringent immigration laws enacted during World War II.

Ruth Gruber was the name of the assistant, and she was able to find, process and accompany 982 refugees, 90% of them Jewish, and bring them to America.  It was a frightening journey across the North Atlantic, with the Germans hunting for the ship she and her refugees were on.  Eventually they made it to New York City safely and then on to, of all places, Oswego, NY where they were housed at Fort Ontario, a decommissioned military fort.

This small but riveting museum tells of this little known wartime story and the role the camp, the local people, and the immigrant refugees themselves all played in this little known saga.

Have you heard of the "Safe Haven Museum" in Oswego before?  No?  Don't worry, most haven't.  Plan a visit now.

You will not soon forget it.