Representing Indiana

March 23 was Museums Advocacy Day organized by the American Association of Museums, and I represented not only the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum but also the entire Indiana museum community to our elected officials in Washington, DC. Advocacy Day started with a day of training, including a briefing on federal issues pertaining to museums, a working lunch to connect with other museum advocates, and a role-playing session to get a feel for how meetings with congressional staff work - perfect for a first-timer like me.

The second day was actually on "the Hill," meeting with senators, representatives, and their staff. Because I was the only advocate from Indiana, I felt the pressure of getting the message across, but the training day had prepared me for what to expect. For instance, the staffs that run Congressmembers' offices are all about 21 years old, a far cry from the middle age you might expect on Capital Hill. While this group is young - many just out of college - they hold quite a bit of power in that they prepare the briefs and convey constituent priorities to elected officials. A bonus to meeting with a staff person and not a Congressmember is that winning over the staffer gets two people on your side: the one that prepares the brief and the one who reads and votes from it.

Even though I'm not certain that Senator Bayh, Senator Lugar, or Representative Buyer will sign the letter supporting the requested funding level for the Intitute of Museum and Library Services, Museums Advocacy Day was a great experience. I learned a lot, representated the Museum and the state, and the museum field coalesced for a cohesive effort advocating for issues that affect the people we serve. We are definitely louder when we speak with one voice!

Spring Visitor

Spring is on its way. The grass is getting greener, the weeds are sprouting and the museum is being graced with more visitors. For the last 3 weeks, a loud 'screeching' noise has permeated the neighborhood around the museum. A pair of hawks has appeared, hunting and scouting the area. Visitors wander the grounds, looking towards the treetops, wondering what is making that 'screeching' sound. Then the hawks are spotted and the fun begins.

The hawks, currently have 2 nests they visit. One nest in the top of a white oak, is filled with twigs and leaves. The other nest, in the largest ash tree on the grounds, is constructed of twigs and is located near our parking lot. The hawks are very people leery and fly away at the first sight of visitors. They can be seen soaring above the grounds and around the immediate area.

We will be keeping an eye on the nests, from a distance, in hopes of hatchlings.

In the past, sharp shinned hawks have built nests and raised their young. The 2010 hawks appear to be the red shouldered hawk. There is a Nature Backpack available to all museum visitors and comes equipped with a bird identification book and binoculars!

Member Sneak Preview Party, 3/3/10

Member Sneak Preview Party, 3/3/10, originally uploaded by WallaceStudy.

Larry Paarlberg, Director of the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum, greets guests to the Member Sneak Preview party for the opening of the Museum's new exhibit, "Sanctuary: Preserving the Legacy of Lew Wallace."

Member Sneak Preview Party, 3/3/10

Larry Paarlberg, Director of the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum, greets guests to the Member Sneak Preview Party for the opening of the Museum's new exhibit, "Sanctuary: Preserving the Legacy of Lew Wallace."

Member Sneak Preview Party, 3/3/10, originally uploaded by WallaceStudy.

All Local Crawfordsville Museums Debut New Exhibits

Crawfordsville’s local cultural attractions are gearing up for another exciting visitation season, preparing new exhibits, displays and presentations in anticipation of their public openings next week.

The Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County will kick off its 2010 season on Tuesday, March 2 with its Annual Meeting of the Membership of the Friends of the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County from 5:00-8:00 p.m., where members will get a first look at the Museum’s new exhibits and meet the 2010 Invention Convention contest winners. Beginning March 3, 2010, the Carnegie Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm. The Carnegie’s upcoming exhibits include: The Story of Sugar Creek, in conjunction with the Friends of Sugar Creek; Democracy in Action, a collaborative project with the Montgomery County League of Women Voters; Invention Convention and High School Prom. In June and July the Carnegie will host Inside Peanuts: the Life and Art of Charles M. Schulz.

The General Lew Wallace Study and Museum, which has been open to visitors since February 3, will debut their new exhibit, Sanctuary: Preserving the Legacy of Lew Wallace during a members-only sneak preview party on March 3 and a public grand opening on Saturday, March 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Sanctuary exhibit features images and artifacts relating to the unique Study building, Wallace’s personal sanctuary, ideally suited to his interests in science, art, and reminiscing. The General Lew Wallace Study and Museum is open for regular tours on Wednesdays through Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sundays 1:00-5:00 p.m.

The Rotary Jail Museum will present its new exhibit featuring the artwork of the Sugar Creek Quilters Guild Study Groups, beginning with a reception on March 14 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. The exhibit will be on display at the Jail through May 31. Visitors will be able to view beautiful finished quilts such as a Quilt of Hope, which will be given to a cancer patient after the exhibit, and a Quilt of Valor, which will be presented to a local soldier.

In addition to finished quilts, the exhibit will feature individual quilt blocks and some works in progress from quilters who are learning new techniques. Quilts in-the-making serve to illustrate another dimension of quilt creation, according to Montgomery County Cultural Foundation Executive Director Tamara Hemmerlein. “Our unfinished quilts show all that goes into the construction of a quilt, and the incredible amount of work and creativity that is invested into each piece.”

The solemn traditions in a Victorian-era house of mourning will be interpreted this year at Lane Place with their new exhibit, Coffins, Crape and Cakes: Nineteenth-Century Mourning at the Lane Place. The mirrors of the stately antebellum mansion will be draped in black, the doorbell will be muffled, and an elegant casket will stand in the formal parlor to illustrate the regular customs adopted by bereaved families in the Victorian period. The exhibit will run through November 2010; The Lane Place is open for tours on Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sundays from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

The Ropkey Armor Museum, located north of State Road 32 on CR 150 North in Crawfordsville, will feature it's newly restored Viet Nam era Tank, the M 41 Walker Bulldog, this spring. This summer the museum will offer its initial presentation of the "Faces of Freedom" exhibit, inspired by the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. They will also be introducing to their collection a reproduction of the mural by well-known artist Don Peters commemorating the Allied liberation of Rome during WWII. On September 17-19, the museum will be hosting the regional convention and open house of Military Vehicle Preservation Association, and on November 11, Veterans Day, the Ropkey Museum will hold its first-annual Veterans Bean Soup Supper in support of the local VFW and American Legion.

For more information on these museums and others in the area, contact the Montgomery County Visitors and Convention Bureau at 765-362-5200 or visit them online at www.crawfordsville.org.

Copyright Infringement and Motion Pictures: 1907 Ben-Hur

Writers, producers, and attorneys all over Hollywood and New York should wake up every day thanking Lew Wallace. As many of you know, after Lew Wallace wrote Ben-Hur, he had it published by Harper and Brothers. Late in his life Lew Wallace and Harper and Brothers reached agreement with Abraham Erlanger to produce a spectacular stage version of the book. It must have been amazing to see two teams of horses running at full speed on a turntable on the Broadway stage. This production was wildly successful and ran for 20 some years.

In 1907, two years after Wallace’s death, Kalem Picture Company, a movie production company created their version of the book. At just 15 minutes long, this movie only highlighted brief scenes from the book. The most exciting scene was, again, the chariot race. Kalem filmed the race on the Sheepshead Bay (New York) Racetrack with firemen from the Brooklyn Fire Department racing their fire horses around the track in front of scenery left over from a summer exhibition.

Kalem, following common movie production practices of the day, did not acquire any rights to the story. After just one showing of the movie, Lew Wallace’s heir, Harper and Brothers, and Erlanger Theaters took legal action. They shut the movie down and pursued litigation that eventually landed in the Supreme Court. While Kalem argued that the movie provided a form of increased marketing, Wallace’s heirs and business partners argued that it was not simply about the money (it never is), it was that the motion-picture version was so poorly done that it cheapened and degraded the original. In a decision written by Oliver Wendell Holmes the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Wallace’s heirs and business partners expressing the opinion that the movie was an infringement of the Ben-Hur copyright and by extension, of the author’s intellectual property rights. This ruling has been used for over 100 years to protect the intellectual and creative property rights of artists in all mediums from Mickey Mouse watches right down to uploading music on iPods.

Think Spring at "Victorian Landscapes" Workshop

“Victorian Landscapes,” the third workshop of the 2010 Winter Preservation Workshop Series, will take place on Tuesday, March 2 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum, 200 Wallace Avenue in Crawfordsville.
Meg Storrow, Principal Landscape Architect at Storrow Kinsella Associates, will explore historic landscapes, designs for modern properties, and plants, fencings, and other decorative elements that complement an historic house.

Plan to attend this fascinating seminar, held at the Carriage House Interpretive Center at the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum. Cost for this workshop will be $15 for members of the Lew Wallace Study Preservation Society or Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, and $25 for non-members. Registration will be open until the workshop; contact the Museum at 765-362-5769 or study@ben-hur.com for information.