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!

Cooking With Susan - Baltimore Sandwiches

Lew's wife Susan contributed several recipes to cookbooks over the years. This one is from the 1913 Sunshine Cookbook.

Baltimore Sandwiches:

2 tablespoons of sugar                                      

1 teaspoon of salt

½ pint of vinegar                                    

2 large tablespoons of melted butter

2 teaspoons of mustard                                     

2 large coffee cups of boiled ham minced fine, using a portion of the fat

A little pepper

2 tablespoons of fresh cream                 

Yolks of 3 eggs             

Heat the vinegar, beat the yolks of the eggs, sugar, salt, mustard, butter, pepper, well together, and stir into the hot vinegar.  Continue stirring on the stove till the sauce bubbles; then add the cream and pour it over the ham; have ready baking powder biscuits rolled thin and cut small.  Thoroughly bake or they will be soggy, split and spread with butter while slightly warm, then spread thickly with the minced ham and lay the halves together.

Exciting Archaeological Find!

Dr. Chris Moore (right) explains the find to his students and
members of the public participating in History Beneath Us.

Unit 12 (the unit that was opened near the Carriage House) has proven to be interesting.  Yesterday, the archaeologists from the University of Indianapolis found flat glass (like what is used in window panes), coal, a piece of yellow ware and square nails.  Both the yellow ware and the square nails date to Lew Wallace's use of the property.  Today they uncovered a feature of dark, ashy soil that could be left over from a chimney.  They have also found more square nails in this feature which dates it to Lew!



The dark soil in the upper left corner of the unit contains the
dark, ashy soil and could be the remains of a chimney.

Archaeologists in Training

More pictures of archaeology on the grounds today.  Kids are uncovering some great finds in the Archaeologist Training area and helping out at the reflecting pool, too!

History Beneath Us

The archaeologists from the University of Indianapolis are here and have started working.  They have already opened up a new unit between the Carriage House and the south wall and have found some window glass, coal and bricks.  They have also started opening up new units around the reflecting pool to continue uncovering the top layer of bricks.  This will allow us to see the original shape of the pool and how it relates to the Study building.

 

Come out and assist in the dig, sift for artifacts, check out the Archaeologist Training area or just observe the archaeologists at work! 

Ben-Hur & J.K. Lilly, Jr.

Lew Wallace, Jr.

In the mid-1930s, Josiah K. Lilly, Jr. noted Indianapolis philanthropist and partner in the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical business was acquiring papers and memorabilia significant in Indiana history. One of the documents he acquired was the original manuscript of Ben-Hur. He purchased the document, hand-written in purple ink by Lew Wallace, from the author’s grandson, Lew Wallace, Jr.

J.K. Lilly

Upon closer inspection, Lilly realized that the manuscript was missing the opening pages of several chapters including the pages from Book 1, Chapter 1. Lew, Jr. had no idea where the missing pages had gone, but speculated that his grandfather might have taken the pages and had them bound in a long missing special edition. A total of twenty-seven pages were gone. Lilly searched for almost twenty-five years, but never found the missing pages.

J.K. Lilly, Jr. donated over 20,000 books and 17,000 manuscripts to Indiana University in the 1950s. These gifts became the foundation for the Lilly Library at IU which was dedicated on October 3, 1960. At the dedication, Frederick B. Adams, Jr., director of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, was one of the featured speakers. Adams diverted from his prepared script to say: “It is not easy to hit the moon with a satellite and it is almost equally difficult to plan the right conjunction of mind and book and time. The proper conditions are here in Lilly Library . . .ready and waiting.”

The audience did not understand Adams’ point until with a broad smile he announced that “Here in my hand are the missing leaves to the original Ben-Hur manuscript.” Confusion turned to disbelief and then to cheers as the audience realized the magnitude of the announcement. Wallace’s original manuscript was on display for the dedication and the pages held by Adams were taken over and matched to the torn edges in the original manuscript. All twenty-seven pages were there!



Ben-Hur. First Edition, First State

Adams explained that Harper Brothers, the original publishers of Ben-Hur had held the missing pages until 1959. At that time, the publishing house gave them to the Pierpont Morgan Library. When the Lilly Library dedication was announced the trustees of the Morgan Library and Harper Brothers decided the pages should be reunited with the Wallace’s original work. On October 3, 1960, after a separation of almost eighty years, Lew Wallace’s masterwork was again whole thanks to the generous philanthropy of the Pierpont Morgan Library, Harper Brothers and Josiah K. Lilly, Jr.

Source: Montgomery Magazine, November 1980, article by Pat Cline

Bohumir Kryl Project This Saturday

Saturday, September 22 has been designated Bohumir Kryl Day by Crawfordsville Mayor Todd Barton. Bohumir Kryl was hired in 1896 by General Lew Wallace to carve the limestone frieze on his Study building. Kryl also worked on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis. While in Indianapolis, Kryl auditioned for John Phillip Sousa and was hired as the virtuoso cornetist. Kryl joined several bands during his musical career, travelling and performing across the country and the world. Kryl also wrote his own music.

In cooperation with the Wabash College Visiting Artist Series and the Michigan & International Antique Phonograph Societies, the General Lew Wallace Study & Museum will present The Bohumir Kryl Project on September 22 from 8-10pm at Salter Hall on the Wabash College campus, with a pre-show program at 7:30pm.

The Bohumir Kryl Project will include a narration of Kryl’s life and live audio phonograph recordings of Kryl’s music. An hour-long concert band performance will follow featuring music Kryl wrote and performed during his lifetime.

This event is free, but seating is limited and tickets are required. Call the Wabash College ticket office for more information. If you aren't able to get tickets for the evening show, consider attending the dress rehearsal from 3-5pm. It is free and open to the public, and we will have souvenirs for sale at both dress rehearsal and the main event.