Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World and Related Events

Franklin Family Days

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: Nov. 27, 2009, Nov. 28, 2009, Nov. 29, 2009

Time: Noon to 4 p.m.

Fee: $10 adults, $8 seniors and college students, $5 children ages 6-17; free for children age 5 and under and MHS members.

Tour the new exhibit "Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World" with hands-on activities, music and performances about Franklin's electrifying past.

Craft Activities, daily, noon to 4 p.m.: Make a 2010 Almanack using a replica Franklin common press, a set of pipe-cleaner spectacles and a printer’s cap from folded newspaper.

Exhibit Activities, daily noon to 4 p.m.: Join a museum interpreter in the "Electricity Party" area for "circle shocks," a static shock transferred around a ring of joined hands, and demonstrations of how lightning works with "Franklin's Bells" and the "Thunder House."

Dance Party, daily 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.: Join costumed instructors Jane Peck and Judith Eisner of "Dance Revels Moving History" for a dance party and lesson in colonial-era dance moves.

Meet Ben Franklin, Friday, noon and 1:30 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.: Franklin, as portrayed by actors Christopher Lowell and Shawn Hoffman, will talk about his life and what made him tick.

Ben Franklin: "Still, Healthy Wealthy and Wise," Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m.: Head to the 3M Auditorium for Christopher Lowell's special theatrical presentation complete with audience Q & A.

Musical Experiments, Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m.: Douglas R. Ewart and the Inventions use a variety of objects including skis, tennis rackets, vinyl records and CDs to create music for this unique performance. Plus, learn about Franklin's own invention called a glass armonica, a musical instrument made of glass bowls.

Colonial Music Jam, Sunday, 2 p.m.: Join musician Judith Eisner and the "Moving History Ensemble" for a classical music performance using instruments from Franklin's day.

Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Opening: November 27, 2009

Hours:

Museum and Stores:

Tuesday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (free admission 5 to 8 p.m.); Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday noon to 5 p.m.

Closed Mondays except Monday holidays year round (open Martin Luther King Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day).

Library:

Tuesday noon to 8 p.m.; Wednesday through Friday noon to 5 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday noon to 4 p.m.

Closed Monday, Memorial Day and Labor Day Weekends, and major holidays including the day after Thanksgiving.

Fee: $10 adults, $8 seniors and college students, $5 children ages 6-17; free for children age 5 and under and MHS members.

You know about Benjamin Franklin’s famous experiment with a kite, a key and some lightning, but did you also know about his rebellious youth? That he pioneered wind surfing and invented swim fins? That he helped found the nation’s first hospital, was an environmentalist and charted the Gulf Stream to assist in ocean travel? In many ways Benjamin Franklin is the founding father nobody knows – misunderstood because of the sheer breadth and diversity of his accomplishments. Discover the many ways Franklin has affected our world today in the new exhibit, “Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World,” on display at the Minnesota History Center, Nov 27, 2009-July 4, 2010.

Presented by Xcel Energy with additional support by Medtronic Foundation. Media support provided by Star Tribune, KARE 11 and WCCO Radio.

Exhibit Reception, 'Inventive Women'

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: Dec. 1, 2009

Time: 5 to 8 p.m.

Fee: Free

Meet Nancy G. Johnson, photographer for the exhibit "Inventive Women: Portraits of Scientists and Engineers from the University of Minnesota" and learn about the women scientists featured. Johnson will respond to audience questions.

This exhibit is offered in conjunction with "Ben Franklin: In Search of a Better World" on view concurrently at the Minnesota History Center. For more information visit http://www.mnhs.org/benfranklin.

History Lounge: The Inventive Mr. Jones

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: Dec. 8, 2009

Time: 7 p.m.

Fee: Free

Explore the complex life and mind of Minnesota inventor Frederick McKinley Jones, a self-taught engineer who tirelessly pursued innovations that would improve the lives of others. Jones pioneered new technology in areas ranging from communication and medical imaging to mobile refrigeration, eventually receiving 61 patents in his name. Join Society historian and educator Dwight Scott as he discusses how Jones faced down racial prejudice and his own demons to become one of the most accomplished inventors of the 20th century.

This program is held in conjunction with the History Center exhibit "Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World." For more information visit http://www.mnhs.org/benfranklin.

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History Forum: Benjamin Franklin

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: Dec. 12, 2009

Time: 2 to 3:15 p.m.

Fee: Individual tickets: $14; $10 MHS members, on sale September 21.

Reservations: required, call 651-259-3015 or register online

Talented polymath Benjamin Franklin focused most of his long life and his prodigious energy on politics. Through his own experiences in America’s early political and civic life, Franklin acquired a deep insight into the ways human nature complicates government and developed a clear-eyed, still relevant concept of the imperative role citizens must play in maintaining liberty and democracy.

Explore Benjamin Franklin’s search for the keys to sustainable democracy with Lorraine Pangle, scholar of American political thought and ethics, author of "The Political Philosophy of Benjamin Franklin and Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas-Austin."

Forum guests are encouraged to tour the new History Center exhibit "Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World" before of after the lecture.

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History Forum: General George Marshall

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: Jan. 30, 2010

Time: 2 to 3:15 p.m.

Fee: Individual tickets: $14; $10 MHS members, on sale September 21.

Reservations: required, call 651-259-3015 or register online

A humble, but blunt and pragmatic planner, General George C. Marshall directed both the largest war-time army and the largest post-war recovery plan in U.S. history. After helping America win World War II, he sold us on the Marshall Plan to rebuild what had been destroyed, challenging the United States to lead in war and peace.

Explore General Marshall’s quest to repair a world devastated by war with U.S. foreign relations and military history scholar and author of George C. Marshall: Soldier-Statesman of the American Century, Mark A. Stoler, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Vermont.

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History Forum: Margaret Sanger

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: Feb. 20, 2010

Time: 2 to 3:15 p.m.

Fee: Individual tickets: $14; $10 MHS members, on sale September 21.

Reservations: required, call 651-259-3015 or register online

As a public health nurse in the New York slums, Margaret Sanger worked with hundreds of mothers who wanted to ease their families’ path out of poverty by preventing unintended pregnancies, but had no safe way to do so. The experience inspired Sanger to launch a 50-year crusade to legalize birth control and sex education, altering American ideas about personal liberty along the way.

Explore Margaret Sanger’s battle for women’s reproductive freedom with Ellen Chesler, historian and author of the Sanger biography "Woman of Valor," and director of Hunter College’s Eleanor Roosevelt Initiative on Women and Public Policy at Roosevelt House.

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History Forum: Frederick Douglass, In Search of A Better World

Minnesota History Center, St. Paul MN

Dates: March 6, 2010

Time: 2 to 3:15 p.m.

Fee: Series subscription: $76; $54 MHS members, on sale September 1. Individual tickets: $14; $10 MHS members, on sale September 21, pending availability.

Reservations: required, call 651-259-3015 or register online

As a former slave who became one of America’s greatest social critics, Frederick Douglass spent a lifetime speaking truth to power. Motivated by a persistent faith in racial equality and a belief that ending slavery would save America’s soul, Douglass used the power of words to navigate the wilderness of pre-Civil War race relations, and helped guide the United States out of bondage.

Explore Frederick Douglass’ quest for a path to equality with David Blight, leading Douglass scholar, two-time PBS historical advisor, award-winning author of "Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory," and Class of 1954 Professor of History at Yale University.

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