Early Evansville History & Lincoln
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Rivertown USA
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Decades Of Change
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Arms For Victory
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EMTRAC
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CHANGING EXHIBITIONS
EVENTS
PAST EXHIBITIONS
HISTORY BLOG
Since Evansville’s humble beginnings in 1812 as McGary’s Landing on a bank of the Ohio River, the riverfront has undergone tremendous change. Through imagery, this blog looks at the first century of this evolution.
Evansville's location on the Ohio River and Pigeon Creek made the city a good location for mills. In the early days, water provided mills with the power to generate energy to operate. This article covers a few examples of Evansville's flour mills.
Some of the more historically interesting items in the collection of the Evansville Museum are the Wartime Log and other material of Charles C. Huppert (1918-2010)—a prisoner of war (POW) at Stalag Luft III in German occupied territory during World War II.
Through the history of Evansville several men who have held the presidency have visited our city. Some came before they held office, others after their service, and a few while they were president of the United States. In this blog, 19th century presidents who visited Evansville are highlighted.
Before the days of electronic media and social postings, postcards were a primary way for people to share their travels with the folks back home or to share greetings with friends and family. Whether one was on an adventure or wanting to drop a quick note, postcards were sent illustrating exciting experiences and/or to simply stay in touch.
From 1902-1957 both Hercules and Servel were major employers in Evansville as they produced significant products, including horse-drawn buggies, gas engines, refrigerators, and wings for P-47 fighter planes during World War II. Later, through 1975, the Whirlpool Corporation utilized portions of the former Hercules and Servel facilities.
On your visits to the Evansville Museum, you may have seen the bust known as “The Lady of the Grand”. This bust adorned the Grand Opera House, one of many structures designed by the Reid brothers in late 19th century Evansville. After making their mark in our city, the brothers, James and Merritt, relocated to the west coast where they received acclaim for their architectural designs.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries three men from Evansville were high ranking diplomates in the United States government—Secretary of State John W. Foster, Minister to China Charles Denby, Sr., and Minister to Liberia George Washington Buckner. What follows are brief looks at their professional lives. I encourage you to do further research into the lives and legacies of these three fascinating men. If you do so, you will learn more about their links to our country’s history.
Since Evansville’s humble beginnings in 1812 as McGary’s Landing on a bank of the Ohio River, the riverfront has undergone tremendous change. Through imagery, this blog looks at the first century of this evolution.
Evansville's location on the Ohio River and Pigeon Creek made the city a good location for mills. In the early days, water provided mills with the power to generate energy to operate. This article covers a few examples of Evansville's flour mills.
Some of the more historically interesting items in the collection of the Evansville Museum are the Wartime Log and other material of Charles C. Huppert (1918-2010)—a prisoner of war (POW) at Stalag Luft III in German occupied territory during World War II.
Through the history of Evansville several men who have held the presidency have visited our city. Some came before they held office, others after their service, and a few while they were president of the United States. In this blog, 19th century presidents who visited Evansville are highlighted.
Before the days of electronic media and social postings, postcards were a primary way for people to share their travels with the folks back home or to share greetings with friends and family. Whether one was on an adventure or wanting to drop a quick note, postcards were sent illustrating exciting experiences and/or to simply stay in touch.
From 1902-1957 both Hercules and Servel were major employers in Evansville as they produced significant products, including horse-drawn buggies, gas engines, refrigerators, and wings for P-47 fighter planes during World War II. Later, through 1975, the Whirlpool Corporation utilized portions of the former Hercules and Servel facilities.
On your visits to the Evansville Museum, you may have seen the bust known as “The Lady of the Grand”. This bust adorned the Grand Opera House, one of many structures designed by the Reid brothers in late 19th century Evansville. After making their mark in our city, the brothers, James and Merritt, relocated to the west coast where they received acclaim for their architectural designs.
Buildings serve as a reflection of the ever-changing attitudes and needs of people as pertains to their physical surroundings. Since the founding of Evansville, the citizens of the city have witnessed the construction and razing of many structures. This blog recalls three interesting buildings from the city's past with the hope that this will stir memories of these structures and of others and promote further consideration of our built environment. Whether one believes that Evansville has progressed architecturally since the time of these historic structures or that the city has lost meaningful links to the past, these buildings provide a reminder of key segments of our community's heritage.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries three men from Evansville were high ranking diplomates in the United States government—Secretary of State John W. Foster, Minister to China Charles Denby, Sr., and Minister to Liberia George Washington Buckner. What follows are brief looks at their professional lives. I encourage you to do further research into the lives and legacies of these three fascinating men. If you do so, you will learn more about their links to our country’s history.
Today, we take for granted the convenience of traveling on modern roads that connect us to communities throughout the Tri-State. Did you know that in the pre and early automobile eras that there was another form of transportation that interlocked our area?
With the 77th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion occurring soon, an operation in which LST 325 participated, I want to re-share some memories from my first visit to the ship twenty years ago. This occurred only eight months after LST 325 arrived in Mobile, Alabama, following its acquisition from the Greek government and after an arduous trip across the Atlantic Ocean undertaken by a determined group of LST veterans.
During our lives we have all faced challenging times and certainly history shares stories of unimaginable trials. One such story, a portion of which is likely familiar to many Evansvillians, is that of Alice Gresham Dodd the mother of James Bethel Gresham, the first United States combat fatality of World War I.
One of the exciting things about curating exhibitions at the Evansville Museum is the breadth of opportunity it provides for making new discoveries, at least for oneself, and sharing these with others—visitors, colleagues, friends and family. In my nearly 32 years at the Museum, I have been lucky to have been involved in many “discoveries” along the way*. I take this opportunity to share a few of these, and while they may not provide new information to you as a reader, I hope, at the least, that they encourage you to recall “discoveries” you have made in your lifetime.
What makes a good and interesting historic photograph? I’ve considered this through the years as I have been asked what my favorite photograph is in the Evansville Museum’s collection. On a broad level, I think a good historic photograph makes one think and want to learn more. In some cases, the thinking and learning are about a historic period and the who, what and why of an era, in other cases it is on a personal level or it may be a combination of the two.
Ever wonder how the Museum’s exhibitions come to life? This blog by our History Curator, Thomas R. Lonnberg, will answer many of your questions!
How does one end up being the curator of history at the Evansville Museum? What led me down this path of interpreting objects, people and events? What follows is the story, or at least the printable parts, that resulted in my becoming the first and, to this point, only curator of history of the Evansville Museum.
This week, McKenna, out education intern, interviews our curator of history Tom Lonnberg. They discuss his background, how he designs history programs, and the Museum’s latest history exhibitions and programming.
Evansville, Indiana – On May 20, 2020, at the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Evansville Museum of Art, History & Science, M. Susan Hardwick was appointed an Honorary Lifetime Trustee.
Based on the 2012 Evansville Museum exhibition of the same name curated by Museum’s Curator of History Tom Lonnberg.
The Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science is committed to doing our part as we address the ramifications of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Our top priority is the health and safety of our visitors, volunteers and staff members.
With an abundance of caution, the Evansville Museum will be closed to the public beginning Saturday, March 14th through Tuesday, March 31st.
Though Evansville was not devoid of unrest, perhaps because of its basic conservatism and its Midwest location it was not impacted by nor involved to as great an extent in the cultural upheaval that swept parts of the country during the decade of the 1960s.
Buildings serve as a reflection of the ever-changing attitudes and needs of people as pertains to their physical surroundings. Since the founding of Evansville, the citizens of the city have witnessed the construction and razing of many structures. This blog recalls three interesting buildings from the city's past with the hope that this will stir memories of these structures and of others and promote further consideration of our built environment. Whether one believes that Evansville has progressed architecturally since the time of these historic structures or that the city has lost meaningful links to the past, these buildings provide a reminder of key segments of our community's heritage.