George Eastman Museum offers FREE admission on September 22
The museum will also host a free discussion at noon as part of Museum Day,
Looking for Frederick Douglass: Resources in Libraries, Museums, and Archives
Rochester, N.Y., September 4, 2018—The George Eastman Museum will be open to the public for FREE on Saturday, September 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In the spirit of Smithsonian magazine’s Museum Day, the Eastman Museum is opening its doors to all visitors for the day to encourage the Rochester community to experience the photography exhibitions David Levinthal: War, Myth, Desire and Gail Albert Halaban: Out My Window, and the History of Photography Gallery, as well as hands-on activities for all ages in the Discovery Room.
Additionally, as part of the City of Rochester’s celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Douglass, the Eastman Museum is hosting a free discussion at noon on September 22 about the challenges that exist in thoroughly researching and accessing information about Douglass.
Looking for Frederick Douglass: Resources in Libraries, Museums, and Archives
Saturday, September 22
12 p.m., Dryden Theatre
Free admission
Frederick Douglass was a highly visible public figure, a popular orator, and a prolific writer and memoirist; he has also been called “the 19th century’s most photographed American.” Yet, two hundred years after his birth, locating and bringing together documentary records of Douglass’s life can be a challenge. While the circumstances of his life and legacy certainly play a role, this elusiveness may have as much to do with the differing standards and practices among libraries, museums, and archives that hold such materials. The discussion will be moderated by the George Eastman Museum’s Head of Library and Archives, Ken Fox, and will include the following panelists:
- Jessica Lacher-Feldman, assistant dean and the Joseph N. Lambert and Harold B. Schleifer Director of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, University of Rochester
- Jennifer Morris, archivist, Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, Washington, DC
- Heather Shannon, associate curator, Department of Photography, George Eastman Museum
In addition to the free discussion and access the museum’s galleries and historic mansion, the Eastman Museum is offering the following free tours throughout the day:
- 10:30 a.m. & 2 p.m. Historic Mansion Tour
- 11 a.m. Gallery Tour in Sign Language (register in advance: tours@eastman.org)
- 12 p.m. & 3:30 p.m. Garden Tour
- 1 p.m. Gallery Tour
Museum Day is an annual celebration hosted by Smithsonian magazine where participating museums and cultural institutions across the country provide entry to anyone presenting a Museum Day ticket. The George Eastman Museum will be participating again this year, but visitors to the museum will not need to present a Museum Day Ticket, as all visitors will be admitted for free that day.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 28,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program and, through its two joint master’s degree programs with the University of Rochester, makes critical contributions to the fields of film preservation and of photographic preservation and collection management. For more information, visit eastman.org.
