Smithsonian Museum Day Live!

We are once again participating in the Smithsonian Magazine's annual Museum Day Live! Join us Saturday, September 28, and bring your pass to receive free admission for 2 people.

Visitors may gain free entry to the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum with a printed pass from Smithsonian Magazine. In order to receive your pass, you must sign visit the magazine's website, fill out some basic information, select what museum you want to visit, and print out your pass. This year, we are also experimenting with accepting the pass on the screen of your smartphone.

Two other museums in Crawfordsville are participating--the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County and the Rotary Jail Museum. Each pass is only good for one of those museums. The passes are limited to one per household, and are good for two people.

Last year we had great attendance for that day. This year we have a wedding on the grounds in the afternoon, so if you're planning to come, you might want to show up early in the day!

Fall Events at the Study

Happy September! We have a busy fall planned. We'll blog about all of these events in more detail later, but for now, here's a quick overview of important dates at the Study in September and October. Visit our website for a printable PDF version of this schedule.

Sept 12 - 7 p.m. - "From Daguerreotype to Digital: Dating and Preserving Family Photographs" Genealogy Lecture - FREE at the Carriage House

Joan Hostetler of Heritage Photo and Research Services will discuss photographic processes and formats from the 1840s to the present, as well as clues for dating photos and techniques for preserving them. Bring your own family photos to learn more about them. Please RSVP.

Sept 21-22 - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. - History Beneath Us Archaeology - FREE on the Study grounds

Assist archaeologists from the University of Indianapolis as they continue excavations on Lew Wallace's reflecting pool. Join in the fun by digging and sifting for artifacts. Great for the family or scout troop!

Sept 29 - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Smithsonian Museum Day Live - FREE with Smithsonian pass

Free admission to the Study with printed pass from Smithsonian Magazine. See the Smithsonian Magazine website for more information.

Oct 3 - 7 p.m. - "Writing Your Family History" Genealogy Lecture - FREE at the Carriage House

Ramon and Trisha Arredondo will speak about the process of writing their book Maria's Journey, a family story about immigration, the rise of the unions, the Great Depression, World War II, and more. Please RSVP.

Museum Day Live!

Today is Museum Day Live, presented in affiliation with the Smithsonian. People who visit the Museum Day website and print out a ticket can get free admission to one museum for two people. So far today we've had a lot of people participate, and we've only been open two and a half hours! It's great to see people taking advantage of these offers. Some of my visitors just came from the Rotary Jail, another great museum here in Crawfordsville, and I understand they're also pretty busy today.

It's a beautiful fall day in Indiana, so if you don't have afternoon plans, check out the Museum Day Live offer and come visit us!

Museum Day Live!

On September 29, we are participating in Smithsonian magazine's 8th Annual Museum Day Live!

For one day only, the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum will grant free access to visitors who download a Museum Day Live! ticket at Smithsonian.com. This emulates the free admission policy of the Smithsonian Institution's Washington, D.C.- based facilities, in order to encourage learning and the spread of knowledge nationwide.

To get your free ticket, go to www.Smithsonian.com/museumday and download the ticket. Visitors who present the ticket will gain free entrance for two at participating venues for one day only. One ticket is permitted per household, per email address.

More information about Museum Day Live! 2012 and a list of other participating museums can also be found at the website above. Other participants here in Montgomery County include the Rotary Jail Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County, and the Montgomery County Historical Society.

Upcoming Events at the Study

Fall is going to be a busy season for the Lew Wallace Study!

We will also be participating in Ask A Curator Day on Twitter with @Wallacestudy, so if you have questions you want to ask, you can Tweet them Wednesday, September 19, with the hashtag #askacurator.

September 22 brings a once in a lifetime opportunity to enjoy the Bohumir Kryl Project, presented in cooperation with the Wabash College Visiting Artists Series.

September 22-23 are also our History Beneath Us days, when archaeologists from the University of Indianapolis continue excavations on Lew's reflecting pool. Visitors can join in and help!

September 25 we have a short program on Estate Planning and Planned Giving, presented by Phil Purcell, Vice President of the Ball State University Foundation.

September 29 is Smithsonian Museum Day Live, when visitors get in free to the Study if they present a Smithsonian pass.

October and December also bring exciting events. If you want to download a PDF flyer of upcoming events, click here.