Springfield History Museum News

The John F. Kennedy Experience: An Exhibit by Frank J. Andruss Sr., is an exhibition of rarely seen photos and memorabilia covering various periods in the lives of John and Jacqueline Kennedy. The exhibit is now open at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History.

The oldest surviving Stevens-Duryea automobile is now on view in the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History. The 1903 vehicle is on loan from a private collector.

Storm Stories: Path of Fury, a multi-media exhibition that looks back at the June 1, 2011 tornado, will be on view from June 1 through October 28 at the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History at the Quadrangle in Springfield. Admission to the history museum will be free for everyone on June 1.

In the digital age it is hard to believe that at one time images of family members were hard to obtain, expensive, and relatively rare. Before the advent of photography around 1850, the only way to capture a likeness was to hire an artist to paint a portrait. A selection of these paintings by artists James Sanford Ellsworth and Joseph Whiting Stock are on view at the Wood Museum of Springfield History through May 6 in the exhibition Wandering Folk Artists: Family Portraits in the Early 19th Century.

Hasbro GameLand, a dynamic new hands-on exhibit for children, will open to the public on November 25 in the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History at the Quadrangle. Made possible by a grant from the Hasbro Children’s Fund, the exhibit pays tribute to Springfield entrepreneur Milton Bradley and explores games of memory, chance, speed, imagination, strategy and word play. Opening day festivities will include family activities and appearances by the costumed characters MR. POTATO HEAD, PRINCESS FROSTINE and ELEFUN from popular Hasbro toys and games.

An exhibit highlighting philanthropists who have left a lasting legacy in Springfield and the Pioneer Valley is on view through November 20 at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History at the Quadrangle.

The influence of Springfield on the world famous children’s book author known as Dr. Seuss is explained in And to Think that He Saw It in Springfield, a new exhibit at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History at the Quadrangle.

In recognition of the 100th anniversary of Women’s History Month in March and the 375th anniversary of the founding of the city of Springfield, the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History will present the exhibition Women’s Work: The Untold Story from March 1 through September 25. The exhibition was developed with the assistance of guest curator Frances Gagnon.

The Springfield Museums’ fall lecture series will continue on Wednesday, October 20, at 5 pm with I’ve Got the Light of Freedom presented by Dr. Charles Payne, the Frank P. Hixon Distinguished Service Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. The program will be held in the Lyman & Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History and is free and open to the public. A reception and book-signing will accompany the talk.

The Springfield Museums will pay tribute to Springfield’s role in transportation history with the History on the Move car show on Saturday, September 25, from 10 am to 4 pm, on the museum grounds at the Quadrangle. Pre-1980 cars, including some vintage automobiles manufactured in Springfield, will be exhibited.

The story of State Street, from its Revolutionary War-era origins as the “Boston Post Road,” to its current transformation sparked by construction of the new Federal Courthouse, is being told in the exhibition and documentary The State Street Corridor Project: Road to Renewal. The exhibit will open on Sunday, May 23, with a reception from 3 to 5 p.m. at the new Museum of Springfield History at the Quadrangle. A short preview of the documentary produced by WBGY Public Television for Western New England will accompany the exhibit.

The new Museum of Springfield History will conclude its spring lecture series at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 25, with a talk titled “Springfield and the California Gold Rush.” The program will be held in the museum’s SIS Hall and is free with the price of museum admission.

The new Museum of Springfield History will continue its spring lecture series at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 28, with a talk titled “Crystal Products of the Frost King: Ice Harvesting and the Natural Ice Industry in New England.” The program will be held in the museum’s SIS Hall and is free with the price of museum admission.

The new Museum of Springfield History will kick-off its spring lecture series at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 14, with a talk on "Slavery in the Connecticut River Valley." The program will be held in the museum’s SIS Hall and is free with museum admission.

SPRINGFIELD - Habit makes it easy to misread the decimal point on a colorful “Mobilgas ethyl’’ pump in the Museum of Springfield History. Look closely: It advertises fuel not at $1.59 a gallon but at 15.9 cents. That was a good thing, considering that the 1911 seven-passenger Stevens-Duryea luxury touring car displayed around the corner got only seven miles a gallon.

Monday is the start of Black History Month. On Sunday the Museum of Springfield History unveiled an exhibit tracing the civil rights movement in the city during the 1960s.

In honor of Black History Month, the new Museum of Springfield History will host Freedom through Their Eyes: Fifty Years of Civil Rights Perspectives in Springfield, an exhibition conceived and created by ninety 11th-grade students from the class of 2011 at the Springfield Renaissance School. The exhibit will be on view at the museum from February 2-28, 2010.

The Springfield Museums are pleased to announce that the great hall addition which is part of the new Museum of Springfield History will be named SIS Hall.

The new Museum of Springfield History will open to the public on Saturday, October 10, at 11 a.m. The 40,000-square-foot museum highlights Springfield’s rich history of innovation and entrepreneurship.

At the close of the annual meeting of the Springfield Museums on September 23, Chairman of the Board Richard B. Collins announced a $4.3 million gift from an anonymous donor. The donor has requested that the gift remain anonymous until the spring of 2010, at which time the Museum of Springfield History will be named in the donor’s honor.

The Board of Trustees of the Springfield Museums have voted to proceed with the construction of Phase II of the new Museum of Springfield History.

The National Endowment for the Humanities announced yesterday it awarded $600,000 to the Springfield Museums Association for the construction of a local history museum adjacent to the Quadrangle.

The Springfield Museums are pleased to announce a $150,000 Capital Campaign grant from MassMutual Financial Group for the new Museum of Springfield History.
Construction of the new museum is underway in the former Verizon office building on Edwards Street, adjacent to the Springfield Museums' Quadrangle.

The Springfield Museums Association announced yesterday that it has received a $725,000 grant from the SIS Charitable Fund to be used for renovations of the new Museum of Springfield History.