Cape Coral Historical Museum one participant in Museum Day
The Cape Coral Historical Museum is taking part in Museum Day, a nationwide event sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and its publications.
Museum curator Anne Cull said the Washington, D.C., based institution approached the historical museum about taking part in Museum Day.
“It’s a really good opportunity for us to get some exposure,” she said. “They asked us to join them for this particular day.”
Admission is free Sept. 26 for everyone who visits the Smithsonian Web site and fills out a special form.
One thousand two hundred different museums are participating in Museum Day. The Cape museum will sit along such storied pieces of history as the book depository museum in Dallas, where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly shot John F. Kennedy; the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama, the birthplace of the civil rights movement; and, of course, the Smithsonian’s storied museums in Washington, D.C.
The historical museum opens Sept. 9 for the season, and Cull said the Historical Society already has a full schedule of events planned for the 2009-10 season.
As one of the events, Cull will present a book she co-authored with Chris Wadsworth, called “Images of Cape Coral,” through Arcadia publishing.
She also is promoting it with a book signing Oct. 13 at Cultural Park Theater.
At the heart of the museum’s efforts though are the exhibits, which have tripled since the museum’s opening.
Cull said the new features, including exhibits on Gulf American Corporation and American Indian artifacts, are bringing people back, giving them the opportunity to discover the museum all over again.
Cull added that the changes helped museum attendance to spike last year after the new building opened.
“It’s changed so much from the early days, when everything was helter skelter, but now we’re organized and it’s a good presentation of early history,” Cull said. “And our attendance was picking up last year because we have so much more to see now. People were coming back and bringing their friends and family.”
For more information on the Historical Society’s schedule of events, contact the museum at 772-7037.
For more information on National Museum Day, or to print a copy of the free museum day pass, visit the Web site: microsite.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/.