Exhibits
On-going Exhibits
"A Slice of Life: Artifacts Found on the Grounds at Wylie House Museum"
"Miscellaneous Photos Depicting Early 20th Century Rural Life, taken by Anton Boisen"
"Barn Dismantling and Reassembly Photos"
Upcoming Exhibits
All upcoming exhibits located in the Morton C. Bradley, Jr. Education Center, main floor;
Hours: 9 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday
March through April 2012
"The Monroe County Female Seminary"
May through June 2012
"Anton Boisen and the Country Church, 1911 – 1916"
July through August 2012
"Strawberries, Smilax, and Sage, Traditional Horticulture: Preserving gardening methods and heirloom varieties of the late 19th century"
Digital Exhibits
Anton Boisen Photograph Exhibit
The Anton Boisen Photograph Exhibit makes available visitors to the web site, online images from a series of photographs taken by Anton Boisen. Click here to enter the exhibit.
Past Exhibits
August 1 - 31, 2011, Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. till 3:30 p.m.Morton C. Bradley, Jr. Education Center, main floor.
"Looking for Andrew Wylie: Portraits and Their Paths"
Visitors to Wylie House see only one image of Indiana University's first President, Andrew Wylie, when they visit the museum. We know the portrait of Wylie that now hangs in the front hallway has been in the museum since 1966, not long after it opened under the auspices of former President Herman B Wells. We know little else about it, however. A quest to uncover additional provenance on this portrait lead not only to the discovery of several previously unknown (to us) portraits of Andrew Wylie, but to additional information on Wylie descendents, family letters, 19th century Indiana painters, and to another look at the historic relationship between IU Administrators and Wylie descendents.
May 3, 2011 - June 30, 2011, Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. till 3:30 p.m.
Morton C. Bradley, Jr. Education Center, main floor.
DNR Historic Preservation Month Photo Contest Entries
This traveling photographic exhibit is from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology. The photos are entries from the Preservation Month photo contests sponsored by the DNR and will be available for viewing in the Morton C. Bradley, Jr. Education Center, main floor.
March 1 - 31, 2011, Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. till 2 p.m.
Antique Quilt Exhibit
Throughout the month of March visitors to the Wylie House will see approximately 20 antique quilts from our own collection displayed on the beds and chests in the house. Most of these lovely hand-made quilts date from the 19th century, with a few from the early 20th century. One additional 19th century quilt, made in Brown County, Indiana, was borrowed for the exhibit.
October 1, 2010 – February 19, 2011
Developed: Photography in the 1800s
Monroe County History Center
202 E. 6th St., Bloomington, IN
812-332-2517
Wylie House collaborated with the MC History Center on an exhibit exploring the methods and people involved in the local photography scene during the 1800s. Prof. Theophilus A. Wylie is purported to have produced the first daguerreotype in Indiana in his Chemistry lab at Indiana University in 1841. Items selected from our collections and those of the IU Archives included early photographic techniques such as the daguerreotype, tintype, crystoleum and the carte-de-visite. Images depict family and community members, the old college campus buildings on E. 2nd St., a page from the literary and science journal, The Extra Equator that mentions Wylie's "apparatus," and a unique photo of the Monroe County Courthouse.
April 1st - April 30th, 2009
Whimsy and the Wylies: 19th Century Expressions of Kin, Career and the Colloquial
Located in the Herman B Wells Library Lobby, West Case
Painting, drawling and sketching were important parts of elite general education during the 19th century regardless of whether a student planned to pursue art as a career. The images produced by Theophilus A. Wylie and his family during the course of their formal and familial upbringing offer us a wonderfully rich example of how such training was employed in everday life. Images were chosen from hundreds that appear in family documents and books held in collections at Wylie House Museum and the IU Archives.
April-May 2008
What Women Wore: Clothing and Accessories of the 19th Century
Open during museum hours during the months of April and May, 2008. During their guided tours, visitors can view 19th-century women's clothing and accessories from the Sage Collection and the collection of the Wylie House Museum on display throughout the house. Wylie House Graduate Assistant Suzanne Godby Ingalsbe has curated this exhibit focused on women's fashion from the 1830s-1890s, incorporating family photos and letters as well as pieces from these collections. Click on the thumbnails below to see larger versions of the pictures.
March 4 - March 31, 2008
The Monroe County Female Seminary: An Historic Retrospective
Matrix Gallery, School of Education, 3rd Floor
Utilizing materials from the IU Archives, Wylie House and the Monroe County History Center, this exhibit commemorates one of the first publically funded efforts to provide females in Bloomington with an education. The Monroe County Female Seminary (MCFS) existed in a wood-framed two story building on the northeast corner of 7th and College Streets (now One City Center) from 1835 to approximately 1862. Several daughters of the Andrew and Theophilus Wylie families attended the Female Seminary and wrote about it in their letters. Mrs. E. J. McFerson, the second principal of the MCFS, was also a close friend of both Wylie families. This institution is said to have graduated approximately 700 students during its existence. Research for the exhibit grew out of a three month collaboration with five Bloomington High School South students during the fall of 2007.
February 28-March 31, 2008
Quilt Exhibit: Featuring Quilts by the Wylie House Quilters
Open during museum hours. Each March Wylie House mounts a special quilt exhibit. This year we feature contemporary work by our Wylie House Quilters, Diamond Mather, Ellen Pittman, Virginia Miller, and Marjorie Clayton. Visitors can enjoy more than thirty pieces by these talented quilters. Accompanying labels explain the history and patterns of each piece. The exhibit may be viewed during March tours of Wylie House.
March, Yearly
Antique Quilt Exhibit: Quilts in the Wylie House.
Location: Wylie House Museum.
Each March the Wylie House mounts a special exhibit of antique quilts. Twenty to thirty quilts from our own collection and borrowed from friends of the museum are placed on beds and quilt racks throughout the house. Accompanying labels explain the patterns and history of the quilts. The exhibit is left up for the entire month. Click here for more information about the Wylie House Quilters.
October 2007
That's for Remembrance:
Herbs in the Nineteenth Century American Home
Open during museum hours during October. Outdoor Interpreter Sherry Wise and folklore student Meg Hathaway have created this display of herbs grown
in the Wylie House garden. Visit the Wylie House Museum to learn about the use of herbs in nineteenth-century American homes, focusing particularly
on how the herbs were used for medicinal purposes.
Monday, October 30 thru Friday, November 17, 2006
Prints, Patterns and Porcelain: A selection of ceramics from the Wylie House collections.
Location: Fine Arts Library Foyer.
Wylie House boasts an impressive collection of 19th century china, porcelain, pottery and stoneware, many of which are family pieces. Our collections were greatly enriched by the 2004 bequest from Morton C. Bradley Jr., the great-grandson of Theophilus and Rebecca D. Wylie. This exhibit, curated by Andrea Truitt, a student in Art History at IU, features British transfer printed objects, lusterware, Asian inspired items, Jasper and Parian ware, among others. We are eager to present more themed items from the Bradley bequest along with summaries of the kind of pottery techniques and trends that appealed to the Wylie families.
Wednesday, November 1 thru Thursday, November 30, 2006
A Glimpse of Wylie Household Taste: Ceramics from the Wylie House Collection.
Location: Wylie House Museum.
In conjunction with the above, we also produced an in-house exhibit of Wylie dining room artifacts. The exhibit features a formal dining room table setting complete with dishes, glassware, flatware, candelabras, saltcellars, linens and dining room furniture. Come see and learn more about patterns, manufacturers, and mid to late 19th century table manners in a house like the Wylies'. You'll also learn about who the Wylies invited for dinner, menus served, and several after dinner entertainments mentioned in family correspondence.
October 2004
Harps of Gold
Location: Wylie House Museum.
During October of 2004 the downstairs of Wylie House was filled with some fifty-three 19th-century fretless zithers, all restored to playing condition. The collector and restorer of these instruments also gave a lecture and demonstration of the instruments. Click here for the Harps of Gold poster.
Summer 2004
Children's Clothing and Toys in the 19th Century
Location: Wylie House Museum
In collaboration with the Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection and an area collector, we mounted an exhibit of children's clothing and toys from the 19th century that stayed up for the summer of 2004.
Friday, May 21 thru Monday, May 31, 2004
Early Musical Instruments
Location: Wylie House Museum.
During the Bloomington Early Music Festival of 2004, Wylie House hosted a special exhibit of early musical instruments.
Autumn 2003
Getting Ready for Winter
Location: Wylie House Museum.
This special exhibit focused on how people in the 19th century made their homes ready for winter, from putting up heavier curtains to preserving food to feed their families until spring.
Summer 2003
Midwifery
Location: Wylie House Museum.
During the summer of 2003, the museum had a special exhibit that dealt with childbirth and midwifery in the 19th century when babies were born at home with family members or midwives in attendance.
Autumn 2002
Twenty Heirloom Coverlets from the Wylie House Collection
Location: Wylie House Museum.
Wylie House owns a very nice collection of 19th century handwoven coverlets. In the fall of 2002, we brought out twenty of these coverlets to display in the house.
Spring 2002
Shawls
Location: Wylie House Museum.
In collaboration with the Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection, we mounted an exhibit of 19th century silk and woolen shawls in the spring of 2002.
Exhibit Photos
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Wylie House was the venue for a special exhibit of early musical instruments during the 2004 Bloomington Early Music Festival. -
Wylie House has a very nice collection of 19th c. handwoven wool coverlets. A selection of these beautiful textiles are often displayed on the beds during the late fall and winter months. -
This beautiful Jacquard coverlet was woven in Indiana by James Craig around 1850. -
Another lovely Jacquard coverlet, this one woven by the one of the Muir brothers of Indiana in 1853. -
Most often our special exhibits are mounted in the museum or education center. However, occasionally we place an exhibit elsewhere, like this one about the Monroe County Female Seminary that was on display in the School of Education building in 2008. -
When possible, we find materials for special exhibits from within our own collections, but we do occasionally borrow from other collections or individuals. A local collector and restorer of 19th century fretless zithers brought a wide variety of those instruments to the museum for a month-long exhibit in 2004. -
Fretless zithers on display at the museum in 2004. -
The fretless zithers exhibited by a local collector in 2004 drew a lot of interest, as did the lecture and demonstration that was offered on a Sunday afternoon. -
Wylie House has collaborated a number of times with the Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection at IU. These two children's ensembles were part of an exhibit that paired children's clothing of the 19th century with children's toys from that period. -
A local collector lent some wonderful examples of 19th century toys for the special exhibit of children's clothing and toys. -
19th century child's locomotive that was exhibited in the museum. -
More 19th century toys that were part of the Children's Clothing and Toys in the 19th Century special exhibit of 2004. -
Each March, Wylie House mounts a special exhibit of antique quilts. This exhibit coincides with the Indiana Heritage Quilt Convention in Bloomington. -
Generally 24 to 30 antique quilts are on display during the month of March at Wylie House. Seeing them on beds, as they would have been used, rather than hanging from a wall is something visitors enjoy. -
In 2008, Wylie House again collaborated with the Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection at IU for a special exhibit of 19th c. women's fashion. While we have a nice collection of shawls and a few garments, most of the clothing for this exhibit came from the Sage Collection, like this 1890s dress. -
Another dress, this one from the 1830s, from the Sage Collection that was part of a special exhibit at Wylie House in 2008. -
Corsets and shoes from the Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection were part of our 2008 fashion exhibit.
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