Spring Blooms

The grounds of the Study are filled with blooming wildflowers. Wild hyacinth, allium, iris, wood violets, prairie trillium are just some of the wonderful plants found on the Study grounds.
Gardens are in the process of being planted. Cannas, elephant ears, caladiums, castor beans, lantana are some of the plants that will be on display throughout the summer. The children's garden is featured this year, with local children doing the planting. Lamb's ear (please touch) and cherry tomatoes are some of the fun plants in this garden. Cool season pansies and alyssum were planted during the Lew Wallace Birthday Celebration. Marigolds are to be planted soon and the garden will be filled with lots of bright colorful flowers.

New Items Make Gifting a Breeze!

Things are blooming outside, and new things are also popping up in our gift shop! We have several new book titles for readers of all ages, including our 2008 Brown Bag Book Club selections Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and The Wizard of Menlo Park by Randall Stross. Younger readers can check out You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Civil War Soldier!, which spells out what life was like in the Union army, from the wool uniforms to the tasteless hardtack!

Lew Wallace became very acquainted with the art of using a quill pen on parchment paper, and now you can too! Our “Create Your Own Parchment Document” kits include ink, glass ink bottle with cork stopper, feather quill pen and piece of parchment to make your own historical-looking documents. Want to make your words really stick? Our new Lew Wallace magnetic poetry kits mix the fun of creating your own verse with some terrific Wallace-themed words to make an activity that entertains and educates!

In addition, we have a terrific collection of items for the Civil War buff, literary enthusiast and nature lover in your family. Remember the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum gift shop when you shop, and keep General Wallace’s legacy alive with every gift you send! Contact us through our website, by emailing info@ben-hur.com, or by giving us a call at 765-362-5769 and let us help with all your gift-giving needs.

International Museum Day--May 18, 2008

The General Lew Wallace Study and Museum in Crawfordsville is celebrating International Museum Day on Sunday, May 18, 2008 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. International Museum Day has been celebrated throughout the world since 1977. In celebration of the impact that museums have on the cultural enrichment of the community, the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum will be offering free tours of its facilities, light refreshments, and a free gift to all visitors. The General Lew Wallace Study and Museum is located at 200 Wallace Avenue in Crawfordsville. For more information on this and other events at the Museum, contact 765-362-5769 or visit our website at www.ben-hur.com.

Spring

Spring at the Study has finally arrived! A cold and wet March has given way to warmer temperatures and sunshine with bouts of rain. The Study grounds are covered in scilla, spring beauty and cut-leaved toothwort. Dogtooth violets are starting to bloom along with lily of the valley. The numerous trees on the grounds are starting to leaf and the redbud trees are in full glory. The magnolias, daffodils and tulips have finished blooming and the gardens are waiting for the planting of annuals. Frost-free date is around the 10th of May and the gardens will be planted by the 1st of June. Plants that were listed in catalog of the 1800's are planted to maintain the historic aspects of the Study. Ageratum, marigolds, lantana, elephant ears, cannas are just some of the plants that are planned for the gardens.

New Strategic Directions for the Museum

This year the Museum will complete its first five-year strategic plan and indicators suggest that we will complete the plan 100%! This is a major accomplishment for the staff and board and we are truly grateful to the Crawfordsville community, our members, and visitors for helping us position the Museum as an organization that contributes to our county's quality of life and provides daily enrichment to our visitors and program participants.

In a few months the Museum board will begin meeting to develop the next five-year strategic plan. In preparation for this, we have developed five core compentencies that we believe the Museum does really well. These competencies will inform our strategic goals so we need to make sure we got this right. I would love to hear what you think about these core competencies. Do you agree? Is there something else we do as well or better? Is this bunk? I want to hear it! It's only through conversations and partnerships with our constituents that we will do our best work and make difference in the community and beyond. Here they are:

General Lew Wallace Study and Museum
Core Competencies

1. We know General Lew Wallace and we make him relevant.

2. We are really good at articulating our message.

3. We possess expertise in the small museum field.

4. We are creative and innovative, and we execute the project.

5. We are obsessed with the visitor experience.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your comments!
Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko

Learning with Lew adds up

The Museum is certainly set to break attendance records this year with scheduled group visits. So far this year we've had 260 people in grades 2-12 come through the Museum! The next six weeks are full of school tours, with 380 more people on the calendar from schools throughout the region. These include high school English classes, home school groups, and fourth-graders studying Indiana state history. We're also set to serve almost 200 adults through bus tours and club meetings. No matter the age, there's always something to learn with Lew!

Yes, believe it or not, Spring has decided to finally make an appearance in Indiana, and the folks at the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum were just in time to welcome this long-lost season with some much-needed cleanup of the Museum grounds.

Park Day, a national initiative of the Civil War Preservation Trust, aims to help Civil War heritage sites (like ours) by organizing an annual cleanup day to restore, maintain and bring new life to our winter-sleepy land. This year's effort was our best yet, bringing over thirty volunteers together to paint, weed, rake, mulch, and remove branches from the grounds.

In addition to the crowds of volunteers, scads of visitors were also attracted to the Museum in this first burst of warm Spring weather. We've had over twenty visitors inside the Study and Carriage House today, and if this is any indication of our visitation this year, we'll be breaking another attendance record!

Stay tuned as we roll into the crazy (never lazy) days of summer here at the Study!