Exciting work continues here at the Study as our conservators, Brian Fick and Mary Yeager from Acanthus Arts in Indianapolis, uncover and restore more incredible decorative paint inside the historic building’s dome. Brian is spending his day 30 feet in the air, uncovering layer by layer of paint to get […]
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Ella Kostanzer visited the General’s Study around 1900, and described, among other things, a scene on the domed ceiling that contained “implements of war”. Because she is the only one to recount this detail, staff and visitors alike have long hoped she was right but didn’t want to rely on […]
2010 Youth Academy students learn what it was like toundergo surgery on the Civil War battlefield. Crawfordsville, Indiana, May 25, 2011—Amanda Wesselmann, Associate Director of the General Lew Wallace Study and Museum and Coordinator of the Lew Wallace Youth Academy, announced today that enrollment into the weeklong day camp, held […]
This is from a Crawfordsville native: “The Study was very much a part of my youth as my family lived just a few blocks away on Wabash Avenue, I went to school at Wilson from kindergarten through the middle of fourth grade, my Scout Troop met in the Carriage House […]
From a previous volunteer: “I remember that spot up there looked a little shaky back then. There was damage from the leaks, and the plaster around the skylight would flake off.” Thankfully, the Study Restoration Project seems to have fixed that issue!
Overheard from a young visitor: “I remember the bright orange carpet. And that there used to be a lot more stuff in here.” Hang on, Josie. Just a few more weeks and then we plan to move artifacts back into the Study! (The carpet’s gone for good, though.)
Today the Museum is participating in International Museum Day with free admission. The theme is Museums and REmembrance, and our visitors are talking up a storm about what they remember from their previous visits! This was overheard from a former teacher during a tour: “Didn’t there used to be a […]
The grounds of the Museum are bursting with plant life and color. Wildflower walks provided visitors with the rust-colored blooms of prairie trillium, pale blue blooms of wild hyacinth, along with bright yellow ragwort. The magnolia trees bloomed for just a short period of time, not liking the 30 degree […]
Lew Wallace created many things during his lifetime, from art to inventions to his Study. Many consider writing to be his greatest achievement, especially since he described in his autobiography that he hated school and frequently skipped class. Well, perhaps he should have applied himself to a few more vocabulary […]
At almost four million dollars, the 1925 silent film of Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur is the most expensive silent movie ever made. Expenses for the movie began in 1919, with MGM’s initial negotiations with Henry Wallace. They also had to negotiate with Abraham Erlanger, producer of the successful stage play. Eventually, […]