Voices from the Past!

The staff from the Reference/Local History department at the library have recently uncovered some voices from the past!

The 1959 and the 1960 Crawfordsville High School Athenian yearbooks both included a small record, called a Talking Page, in the back. On these platters was recorded memories of the school year! Each side is about seven-minutes long and contains interviews, music, announcements, and more.

Take a step back in time and listen to these long-forgotten recordings!

Sometimes the quality of the recording is a little poor -- some of the recording seems to have been made "live" (such as at a football game or in the high school auditorium). But often a voice from the past will come through as if it were recorded just yesterday.

Go to: CHS Talking Pages

Local Treasure: Indiana Post Office Murals

The Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County proudly presents Local Treasure: Indiana Post Office Murals, a traveling exhibit from the Indiana Historical Society. This exhibit opens at the Carnegie Museum on Saturday, August 10th.

The exhibition gives a brief history of the federal Section of Painting and Sculpture, which was established in the summer of 1934 "to secure suitable art of the best quality for the embellishment of public building," and then focuses on the histories of some of the 36 murals commissioned and executed for Indiana post offices that are in existence today. The exhibit is based on a 1995 IHS publication A Simple and Vital Design: The Story of the Indiana Post Office Murals, by John C. Carlisle with photographs by Darryl Jones.

The first mural installation in Indiana was Henrik Martin Mayer's two vertically oriented canvases, Sad News and Rural Delivery in July 1936 in Lafayette, while Marguerite Zorach's Hay Making, installed in Monticello in November 1942 was the last. The "boom years" were 1938 with 12 murals and 1939 with nine new art works in Indiana post office lobbies.

The Crawfordsville Post Office mural was created by Frank Long in 1942 and is titled Indiana Agriculture. It was the second to the last post office mural installed in Indiana in this program. The people depicted in the post office murals were occasionally specific figures, whether fictional like "The Raggedy Man," a James Whitcomb Riley character featured in Roland Schweinsburg's The Sleighing Party in Alexandria, or non-fictional such as Solon Robinson and Chief Mewonitoc in George Melville Smith's Crown Point mural From Such Beginnings Sprang the County of Lake.

"The other people shown may not be identifiable by name, but by type they represent the essence of the American scene concept," said Carlisle. "They are the farmers, the loggers, the railroad men, the pioneer mothers and the workers of our history."

The Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County will host this exhibit through September 8, 2012. Admission to the museum is free and the hours for walk-in visitors are Wednesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm. The museum is located at 222 S. Washington Street in Crawfordsville and is handicap accessible. All ages are welcome.

Since 1830, the Indiana Historical Society has been Indiana's Storyteller™, connecting people to the past by collecting, preserving, interpreting and disseminating the state's history. A private, nonprofit membership organization, IHS maintains the nation's premier research library and archives on the history of Indiana and the Old Northwest. IHS also provides support and assistance to local museums and historical groups, publishes books and periodicals; sponsors teacher workshops; and provides youth, adult and family programming. (www.indianahistory.org)

Summer at the Museum! It's not too late...

It's not too late!

You can still participate in the Summer at the Museum program!

The primary audience for this program is elementary and middle school students, though preschoolers and high school students are welcome. Siblings are always welcome. Kids visit the museum on their own schedule, complete the activities (independently or with an adult) and earn prizes. This program is meant to be completed at the students own pace and on their schedule. There are two levels, one easier level for the younger children and the more complex one for older kids/teens. All answers can be found in the museum and the staff can provide hints and/or explanations. Activities include an alphabet hunt through out the museum, a crossword puzzle, quick drawings, sequencing, jigsaw puzzles and origami. One set of activities, or one "day" can be completed each visit with a prize earned for each activity completed.


The program runs through August 11th and children can sign up any time the CMMC is open. New to the Summer Program is out CMMC Collectors' Corner. Summer at the Museum participants collect objects in nature, research them and trade them for points. The points can be used to 'buy' things from our Collectors' Corner.

Spinning Demo on Saturday!

Visit the Carnegie Museum this Saturday, July 7th from 1 to 4 pm for a “Spin In”. Admission is free and summer program participants receive credit for Yellow Day by attending. The Museum is air conditioned.

Marla Lewis and Jessica Madsen will demonstrate how fibers such as wool are spun into yarn. Marla will demonstrate her Turkish drop spindle Which winds a center-pull ball of yarn as you spin and Jessica will demonstrate a wheel, a top whorl drop spindle, and an Akha spindle (for cotton). They will also have a display of handspun items.

Spinning fits into the current major exhibition at the Carnegie Museum, Agriculture: The Cultivation of Montgomery County, as many sheep and other animals are raised in Montgomery County for their fibers which can be spun into yarns. Goats, sheep, rabbits, llamas, alpacas and others are all raised locally with this in mind.

The Carnegie Museum is located at 222 S Washington Street in Crawfordsville. To contact the Carnegie Museum call 765-362-4618.

Collectors' Corner

Join CMMC's 

Collectors' Corner!

Find something interesting.

• Find a natural object like a rock, fossil, skull, or pine cone. 

• Notice the surrounding where you found it. 

• Be sure to write down where and when you found it. 

• Think about what it is, how it grew, what it ate, or why it’s important. 

• Do some research and learn more about your specimen. 

• Write up a little report. 

  

Bring it to the Collector’s Corner. 

• Tell the staff about your specimen. 

• Earn points for what you know. 

Trade Now or Trade Later.

• Open a Collectors’ Corner account. 

• We’ll keep track of your points. 

• Trade with the points you earn immediately or save your points for future trade. 

Collecting is contagious! Come to trade and add to your collection. Plus, learn how to preserve and display your specimens.

What can you collect and trade? 

You can collect and trade many natural objects from around the world: rocks, shells, pine cones, fossils, seeds, insects, clean bones and skulls (no flesh attached), or a shed snake skin.

Things you CANNOT trade at the Collector’s Corner:

• Bird feathers, eggs, and nests 

• Animal mounts 

• Anything from protected or endangered species. 

• Any animal--dead or alive 

• Wildflowers 

• Anything sticky, smelly or slimy 

Why not? It’s the law! 

Federal and state laws protect and preserve the world’s wildlife resources. Collecting can impact the population and survival of plants and animals.

Tips for Collectors:

• Take one or two and leave the rest. Don’t over-collect. 

• Respect nature and private property. 

• Leave things like you found them. 

• Don’t collect protected items. 

• Learn more about the items you collect. 

• Take a small notebook to record your observations and make notes. 

Make sure you collect and trade before Collectors' Corner ends with our summer program in August.

Brain Day!

BRAIN DAY

Saturday, June 16th

1-4 p.m.

Visit the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County to learn about the human brain with Wabash professors, Dr. Neil Schmitzer-Torbert, Ph.D. Neuroscience, and Dr. Karen Gunther, Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Cognitive Science.

See real brains up close, view slides under a microscope, test your reflexes, find out how your brain adapts to changing perception...and much more!

Summer at the Museum

Summer at the Museum

Come to the Carnegie Museum of Montgomery County for the 4th annual Summer at the Museum program. The program runs from May 30th through August 11th. The primary audience for this program is elementary and middle school students, though preschoolers and high school students are welcome. Siblings are always welcome. Kids visit the museum on their own schedule, complete the activities (independently or with an adult) and earn prizes. This program is meant to be completed at the students own pace and on their schedule. There are two levels, one easier level for the younger children and the more complex one for older kids/teens. All answers can be found in the museum and the staff can provide hints and/or explanations.   Activities include an alphabet hunt through out the museum, a crossword puzzle, quick drawings, sequencing, jigsaw puzzles and origami. One set of activities, or one "day" can be completed each visit with a prize earned for each activity completed.

The program runs through August 11th and children can sign up any time the CMMC is open. New to the Summer Program is out CMMC Collectors' Corner.  Summer at the Museum participants collect objects in nature, research them and trade them for points.  The points can be used to 'buy' things from our Collectors' Corner.

The Carnegie Museum is open Wednesday -- Saturday, from 10 am to 5 pm and other times by appointment.

The museum is handicap and stroller accessible. Admission to the Carnegie Museum is free.

For more information please call the Carnegie Museum at 765-362-4618.