Author Gail Stephens Stops In at Study

Lew Wallace scholar and author Gail Stephens made a brief stop at the Study Friday while traveling west. Gail serves on the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society Board of Trustees and wrote Shadow of Shiloh, winner of the 2011 William Henry Seward Award for Excellence in Civil War Biography. A volunteer at Monocacy National Battlefield, Gail has given talks here in the past about the Battle of Shiloh and the complex misunderstandings that occurred there.

While Gail was here, she graciously agreed to sign our stock of her book. If you come in soon, you can purchase an autographed copy of Shadow of Shiloh for only $27.95--but do it soon! Supplies are limited, and we aren't expecting to see Gail again until early 2014.



 
 

Membership and Sponsor Appreciation Party

If you are a member of the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society and haven't yet RSVPed for the Membership and Sponsor Appreciation Party on Sunday, June 2, make sure you do so today! You won't want to miss seeing Lew Wallace, Jr.'s Duesenberg automobile, here for this weekend only. We also have ongoing offerings including:

• Refreshments by Juniper Spoon & Iron Gate
• See Lew Wallace, Jr.’s Duesenberg
• Meet Wallace family members
• Update on the Making a Historic Difference Campaign
• Take a Behind the Scenes Tour
• History Beneath Us archaeology with Anne & Chris Moore
• Enjoy live music by The Brass Masters Quintet
• Play lawn games

You won't want to miss out on this fun and informative event. If you're not a LWSPS member, you can join online via Paypal by visiting the Join & Support page of our website.

We hope we'll see you on Sunday from 4-6 p.m.

We need your help with our Strategic Plan

This Thursday, May 16, we are hosting a public comment meeting at Crawfordsville High School. The Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society and Study staff are hard at work developing a new strategic plan. The strategic plan is a vital document that guides how we serve the community and our visitors. It helps us shape our programming and exhibits.

We would love to have your input in this process. We invite everyone to come to the public comment meeting and share thoughts, questions, concerns, and ideas. The General Lew Wallace Study & Museum celebrates and renews belief in the power of the individual spirit to affect American history and culture--and one way to do that is through helping shape our future efforts here at the Study.

Please join us at 7 p.m. at Crawfordsville High School and share your thoughts with us!

Wallace Scholar Gail Stephens to Speak in Cincinnati

For those of you who live in Ohio or southern Indiana, here's a great opportunity to connect with Lew locally!

Gail Stephens, a Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society board member, is scheduled to speak to the Cincinnati Civil War Roundtable a week from today (5/16/2013). Gail, a volunteer at Monocacy National Battlefield and author of Shadow of Shiloh: Major General Lew Wallace in the Civil War, is one of our Wallace scholars. She will be presenting about Lew and may spend some time speaking specifically about Lew's defense of Cincinnati, since that was one of his major contributions during the war.

Drake Center, 151 West Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45216 (telephone 513-418-2544).  The normal schedule is 7:15 PM for the meeting and program. Attendance at the talk costs $5.

For further information, please visit the Cincinnati CWRT's website.

Growing Up With Ben Hur - a Guest Post

by Nancy VanArendonk

When I was growing up -- back in the days before Netflix, Redbox, Movies On Demand and the like -- there were just two possibilities if you wanted to see a film that had been made some years earlier. You could hope that it might someday be run on one of the four existing TV channels (three national networks and one local station), or that the film studio would deem it worthy of re-release and that it would come back briefly to theaters. Which is why I remember that when I saw the splashy newspaper ad for the re-release of the 1959 Ben-Hur (possibly for the 10th anniversary of its release?), I put up a positively merciless campaign of begging to get my parents to take me to see it. Eventually my dad gave in and took me to a drive-in theater where it was showing.

And I loved it. :)

Apparently I had good taste. No film in history has ever won more Academy Awards (11), and only two have even tied with it (Titanic and The Lord of the Rings) -- and it took 40 years and the invention of computer generation to do that!

I read the novel, and for once thought the film version of a story actually better than the book. Mind you, I definitely enjoyed Wallace's tale, but for me the film had an impact that the written version didn't deliver in the same way... especially in regard to the final part of the character Messala's story.

Eventually it became possible to see the film every few years, as it began to be shown on TV on some Easter weekends. With each viewing I appreciated new aspects. Were not the Sheik's horses the most gorgeous in filmdom? And how deliciously potent those three words, "You're wrong, Messala," just before Judah steps from the shadows!

Then came the availability of the home videocassette recorder. As my husband Larry remembers it, we purchased our first VCR -- a Beta, yet -- specifically to record Ben-Hur, which was scheduled to be run on TV. This was not the casual investment that VCRs later became; at that time each blank cassette tape cost $26 and could record just over four hours of material. But we'd end up splurging still more because of the film: Years later, when friends from another country moved to Indiana, we discovered in conversation that they'd never seen the movie. We invited a group and planned to make a big evening of it, and how better to do that than to buy a bigger TV? (Hey, you can't fully appreciate the chariot race when it's all compressed can you?) ;-)

There's a family story about Ben-Hur that predates me by many decades, though I hadn't heard it until after I'd developed my own fondness for Lew Wallace's tale. My parents were married in 1926. Since they were young and without money, someone suggested that they drive out of state to the farm of an aunt for their honeymoon. The drive there was a disaster in itself, as they camped in a pup tent en route; one night it not only rained, but a stray cat ran into their tent to escape the weather and used the dry area therein as a toilet, forcing them to relocate. And then, as you might imagine, staying with an elderly aunt wasn't really a honeymoon-conducive scenario. My father started reading Ben-Hur, and continued to do so throughout their stay. My mother, bored and frustrated with the entire situation, was still aggravated decades later about my dad having read that book on their honeymoon!

My own fondness for Lew Wallace's story began to give family members ideas when searching for birthday or Christmas presents for me. My younger daughter bought an autographed photo of Charlton Heston as a galley slave. Larry began shopping for unusual editions of the novel. One vintage volume, for instance, is illustrated with photos from the 1899 Broadway stage production, which ran for 21 years and featured live horses in the chariot race. Later, Larry found for me a century-old program from that play. And, since the novel's decades-long popularity had led to countless things being named after it, another of my surprises was an antique box of Ben-Hur brand black pepper (see photo)... the box was still filled with peppercorns!

The search for such things is half the fun, and today I was again rewarded with a "find." I attended a Vintage Book & Paper show, and while there I found an 1880s copy of Ben-Hur that had been autographed by author Lew Wallace! This makes my second autographed Wallace volume, the other being a copy of The Prince of India.

Such finds are fun. The search (to paraphrase a line from the film) goes on. :)

Larry & I appreciate a lot of classic films, so when the historic Artcraft Theatre in Franklin reopened about a decade ago and began showing classic movies to raise money to restore the 1922 building, we attended regularly, and seven years ago we sponsored our first film there. It was (surprise!!) Ben-Hur.

In the years since, we have sponsored many other films at the Artcraft. But when we learned that Ben-Hur was once again on the schedule, there was no question; we had to sponsor the movie! And so, on March 29th & 30th we will again be sponsoring this. I hope that many will come and enjoy this film as it was meant to be seen, on the Artcraft's 33-foot-wide screen. Showings will take place both days at 2:00 and at 7:30, but for the evening showings I strongly recommend finding seats no later than 7:00. Tickets are $5, or just $4 for students or seniors.

The Artcraft, by the way, is interesting in its own right. All those who work in the theater are volunteers. This way all the funds from the ticket sales can go to restoring the theater. The popcorn sold there is grown just five miles away and is popped fresh as you watch, and all evening films are preceded by door-prize drawings, the singing of the national anthem, and the showing of a vintage cartoon. For a few hours, you've gone back in time.

But those added benefits won't distract us; we'll all know why we're there:  To see BEN-HUR!  :)


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Note: Nancy and her husband Larry are members of the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society as well as enthusiastic Ben-Hur fans. I asked Nancy to write this guest post so we could learn more about her reasons for sponsoring the movie screen as well as her relationship with Lew Wallace's legacy. If you have a story you'd like to share with our friends and readers, let me know! I'm always interested in sharing your stories.
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6 Questions With Board Member Helen Hudson

Helen Mundy Hudson is a retired public school teacher of AP English and German, part-time Wabash professor, director of Athenas, and erstwhile writer. She has served as president of the LWSPS board. She is fascinated by Icelandic studies.

How long have you been on the LWSPS board?
6 or 7 years

Tell us something funny or interesting (or embarrassing, if you're brave!) about yourself.
I was once a barrel racer and pole bender in horseback competition, played tenor sax, and collected stamps. I've been involved in a 30+ year love affair with Iceland.

How did your involvement with the Lew Wallace Study begin?
I knew it as a pretty place tied to Ben-Hur. Then Dale Petrie called me, I met Cinnamon, and the rest is history.

Why do you think the preservation of the Lew Wallace Study is important?
I'm a trained Mid-Century Modern :) and so entirely believe in our motto - "power of the individual spirit to affect American history and culture." Lew and Susan Wallace were not only bright and important people, they knew how to live their lives richly, and because they were rich they left us the increasingly more valuable Study and grounds.

What is your favorite thing about Lew Wallace?
His painted walls and his library--especially his library...  Oh, and there was the Civil War and New Mexico and Turkey. What's not to like?

What is one thing you would like our blog readers and Facebook friends to know?

About Bohumir Kryl, the valuable paint (equal to the U.S. Capitol paint), the worldwide scholarship done on Lew Wallace. I would love for people to learn more about the contents of Lew's library.

Thank you, Helen, for all your hard work and your dedication to preserving culture in our community!

6 Questions With Board Member Gail Stephens

Gail Stephens has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Politics from George Washington University in Washington DC, and did graduate work at Johns Hopkins and Harvard Universities.  She worked for the Department of Defense for 26 years, retiring in 1994 as a member of the Department’s Senior Executive Service.  Upon retirement, she began to study the American Civil War.  She lectures regularly on various Civil War topics, including Monocacy, Major General Lew Wallace and the 1864 Maryland campaign, and gives battlefield tours.  In 2002, she won the National Park Service’s E.W. Peterkin award for her contributions to public understanding of Civil War history.  She has written articles on Lew Wallace and Early’s 1864 invasion of the North for several Civil War publications, including North and South magazine. Her book on Wallace’s Civil War career, Shadow of Shiloh, published by the Indiana Historical Society Press in October 2010, won the Civil War Forum of New York City’s William Henry Seward Award for best Civil War biography of 2011.

How long have you been on the LWSPS board?
I was just elected to the board in December 2012 and I'm happy to be a member.

Tell us something funny or interesting about you.
I loved Ben-Hur when I was a kid.  I read the book twice and saw the movie with Charlton Heston no less than four times, but I thought it was totally weird that it was written by a General.

How did your involvement with the Lew Wallace Study begin?
I've been a volunteer at Monocacy National Battlefield, the site of Lew Wallace's greatest military feat, since 1997.  One of the rangers and I began to study Lew Wallace about ten years ago, so we came out to Indiana, did some research at the Indiana Historical Study, and then stopped by the Study where we spent a couple of days with Joann Spragg, learning about Wallace and looking at the collections.  I loved the Study and the sense it gave me of Wallace as an incredibly creative person -- which gave me real insight into the man because I realized that creativity and military success go hand-in-hand.

Why do you think the preservation of the Lew Wallace Study is important?
Because Lew Wallace is a great model for us all.  He rose to fame and distinction because of his own hard work and creative abilities.  His fame spread throughout the U.S., particularly after the publication of Ben-Hur, but he was justly famous during the Civil War as the man who helped U.S. Grant win his first big victory at Fort Donelson, the man who occupied the great Confederate city of Memphis, and the man who saved the cities of Cincinnati and Washington from Confederate armies.  He was also one of the first Union generals to advocate recruiting and arming Negroes for the Union army.  If you read U.S. newspapers published during the Civil War, his fame is obvious.  Wallace went on to a rich life as an inventor, territorial governor, diplomat and writer.  His contributions to this country are numerous, and Indiana saw fit to make him one of their two "immortals" in Statuary Hall at the US Capitol, so his memory should be preserved.

What is your favorite thing about Lew Wallace?
His creativity -- especially when he applied it to dealing with the Confederate sympathizers in Maryland during his time as department commander.  Those folks, including the women who attempted to smuggle drugs and other supplies south, weren't going to get away with anything if Lew Wallace could help it!

What is the one thing you would like our bloggers and Facebook followers to know?
Lew Wallace DID NOT GET LOST AT SHILOH and U.S. GRANT DID NOT REMOVE HIM FROM COMMAND!  At Shiloh, Wallace was obeying the orders he received from Grant.  After Shiloh, Wallace could have remained a division commander in Grant's army but there was little fighting after the seizure of Corinth, Mississippi, so he left -- voluntarily -- hoping to find a command elsewhere.  I truly hate the old saw that Wallace was lost at Shiloh.  It's one of the reasons I wrote my book, Shadow of Shiloh, and in it, I explain the true situation before and during that great battle.

Check out this video of Gail explaining the battle of Shiloh while she was here in 2009.

5 Questions with Board Member Rusty Carter

Rusty Carter is another familiar face around Crawfordsville, thanks to his real estate work with F.C. Tucker West Central. Rusty is rejoining the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society in 2013 after several years of hiatus; however, he isn't new to helping out around the Study!

How long have you been on the LWSPS board?
1 month this time. Not sure how many years last term.

Tell us something funny or interesting (or embarrassing, if you're brave!) about yourself.
When we rehabbed the Carriage House - I pushed for the gift shop area to have a full size horse - I lost this idea. [ed: For those of you who don't realize it, our gift shop is located in the horse stall of the Carriage House!]

How did your involvement with the Lew Wallace Study begin?
I began several years ago when Joanne Spragg was director. Not sure why or how, but it all started then.

Why do you think the preservation of the Lew Wallace Study is important?
History is important to this city. We must maintain it.

What is your favorite thing about Lew Wallace?
Nothing specific. [ed: We think Rusty meant to say, "Everything!" ;-) ]

Thanks for being involved and working hard to keep Lew's legacy going, Rusty!

6 Questions with Board Member Suanne Milligan

Suanne Milligan is a familiar name in Crawfordsville, since she is an attorney here in town. She served on the board several years ago and is a past board president. She has been a member of the Holiday High Tea Committee and the Collections and Executive Committees.


How long have you been on the LWSPS board?

3 years

Tell us something funny or interesting (or embarrassing, if you're brave!) about yourself.

I live in the neighborhood and saw the "Study hawk" attacking a crow in my driveway--very bloody! The hawk flew off with the crow in its talons.

How did your involvement with the Lew Wallace Study begin?

My Girl Scout troop had an overnight at the Carriage House--then called the Girl Scout Little House.

Why do you think the preservation of the Lew Wallace Study is important?

It is completely unique and Ben-Hur was (and still is) an amazing accomplishment.

What is your favorite thing about Lew Wallace?

The broad scope of his interests.

What is one thing you would like our blog readers and Facebook friends to know?

The Study stimulates the imagination and the grounds are lovely and serene.


Our many thanks to Suanne for her dedication and involvement with the LWSPS board!

6 Questions with Board Secretary Anne Moore

Anne Moore's first board meeting was this past Monday, but she's definitely a familiar face around the Study grounds. Anne and her husband Chris are the driving force behind our History Beneath Us weekends each spring and fall. They have been doing archaeology here for several years, and have unearthed portions of the reflecting pool wall and an as-yet-unidentified structure to the west of the Carriage House.

How long have you been on the LWSPS board?

I just started!

Tell us something funny or interesting (or embarrassing, if you’re brave!) about yourself:

I used to think that the lyrics to Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” said “Pay the rent, come back”

               

How did your involvement with the Lew Wallace Study begin?

Several years ago, I attended a historic preservation lecture series at the Study. At that time, the staff approached me about doing some archaeology on the grounds. Partnering with the University of Indianapolis, we have been conducting an archaeological dig twice a year titled “History Beneath Us” to expose part of Lew’s reflecting pool.

Why do you think the preservation of the Lew Wallace Study is important?

I think Lew was an extraordinary gentleman and his study is a physical representation of that spirit. By preserving the study, we can hopefully preserve some of that spirit and continue to share it with generations to come.

What is your favorite thing about Lew Wallace?

I love that he was a renaissance man. He had so many talents and interests, and excelled at all of them!

               

What is one thing you would like our blog readers and Facebook friends to know?

That the Lew Wallace Study and Museum has so many opportunities to become involved, events are happening all the time and there’s something for everyone! Come out and join us!


We're grateful to have Anne coming on board with us here at the LWSPS!

6 Questions with Board Treasurer Dale Petrie

Welcome to a new series here on the blog. With the start of a new year, the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society has four new board members, as well as several returning board members. Over the next several weeks, we will introduce blog readers to board members, both new and returning.

Our first Q&A is with Dale Petrie. He has been on the LWSPS board for 8 years and currently serves as treasurer. Dale is a 1975 graduate of Wabash College with a degree in Economics. He works at Sommer Metalcraft. Dale and Linda, his wife of 37 years, are the parents of two, Erin and Daniel.

Tell us something funny or interesting (or embarrassing, if you're brave!) about yourself.

One day I hope to read Ben-Hur.

How did your involvement with the Lew Wallace Study begin?

Appointed by the Park Board as its representative.

Why do you think the preservation of the Lew Wallace Study is important?

It's important to maintain historically important structures.

What is your favorite thing about Lew Wallace?

The variety of his skills and interests.

What is one thing you would like our blog readers and Facebook friends to know?

That Lew was a real person who walked the same streets as many of us do everyday, interacted with his neighbors, drank coffee downtown, and yet was a world renowned figure.

Our thanks to Dale for his dedicated service on the LWSPS board!

New! Online Donations & Memberships at our Website

Have you been planning to join the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society, but just can't seem to find a stamp to mail us your check? Have you thought about doing it, but decided it was too much work? Are you looking for last-minute donations to write off on your taxes?

Here at the Study, we're operating on a small budget, and we're always looking for ways to make it easier for you to give us money. After all, it's your support that allows us to provide great programming such as this year's Civil War Lectures, the Civil War Encampment, the Lew Wallace Academy, and more. We're also trying to raise money to match a grant that will allow us to restore the interior paint of the Study to how Lew had it.

So this week we are unveiling online donations and purchases of memberships via Paypal. Just visit the Join and Support page of our website and choose either to donate online or to purchase a membership for yourself or someone you love.

Keep in mind that, while we have done some testing with this, it is still in early stages. If you experience any difficulty, please email us or comment here. If you are purchasing a gift membership, we need to know the recipient's name and address. Hopefully you'll see an "Instructions to Seller" box where you can enter that information. If that isn't the case, please email us at study@ben-hur.com to give us that information, and to alert us that the instructions box isn't showing up.

We are always interested in finding new ways to keep you informed about what's going on here and to get you engaged in our mission. Hopefully this addition to our offerings will benefit you as well as us!

Christmas Shopping in the Carriage House

We all have that one person, don't we? That person who seems to have everything? That person who says, "I don't need anything this year?" So how do you shop for someone like that?

Consider giving them a gift that also supports local history and culture!

Proceeds from the gift shop here are used for the benefit of the museum. We have books about Lew Wallace, copies of Ben-Hur, Christmas tree ornaments, t-shirts, and even artwork. For the real collector in your family, you can purchase the two-volume autobiography Lew was writing at the time of his death; it was completed by his wife Susan. We also have Mama G beaded earrings created by a local artist and Indiana-shaped cheese boards made by a local artisan.

If you would prefer to give a gift that is less tangible but carries the benefits of being tax deductible and directly supporting our mission, buy a membership to the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society in someone's name. Membership levels start as low as $25 for the Lieutenant Level and go all the way to Ben-Hur Level at $500.

If you're interested in preserving Lew Wallace's legacy, Christmas is a great way to do it!