Benjamin Harrison Home has Two Exhibits

Photos courtesy Andy Chandler

As part of the lead-up to America’s 250^th, the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site in downtown Indianapolis is presenting not one, but two exhibit galleries with themes related to the Presidencies and Founding Fathers.

The carriage house is where tours to the mansion begin and is where visitors will encounter the first of two exhibits, At the Founding. This exhibit is focused on the Declaration of Independence and Benjamin Harrison V’s signing of that document. Capps Curatorial Fellow and IU Indy graduate student, Thomas Crain, the creator of the exhibit, explained that he wanted to use artifacts to trace the Harrison lineage from the Declaration signer Benjamin Harrison V to his great grandson President Benjamin Harrison. It includes personal effects from the family, such as walking sticks and signed contracts. Visitors will also be able to place their signatures on a copy of the Declaration (not the originals mind you). 

The final stop of the house tour will be the second gallery, Presidential Ink. Jennifer Capps, the VP of Curatorship and Exhibitions, stated the idea came as a biproduct of At the Founding and she wanted it to emphasize the importance of signatures in legislation, personal and official correspondence, and the administration of government. 

Visitors will also see an autopen from Pen Point Tech in Louisville, something that can be used to copy the signature of a president and Ms. Capps does give demonstrations of how it works. 

The Presidential Ink exhibit is housed on the third floor of the museum and houses letters, commissioning documents, and even baseballs signed by the men who held the Office of the Presidency. A majority of the exhibit comes from the personal signature collections of both former Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and former President Nixon Associate Counsel Tom C. Huston.  

One of the more fascinating documents in the collection, and one that Ms. Capps was happy to point out as a favorite, was an 1806 ship’s pass that was signed by President Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison, making this one of the rarer documents to be signed by two Presidents.  

The exhibit At the Founding will be open to the public until November, and Presidential Ink will be open until December. They can be viewed during regular museum hours and are part of the museum admission. Visitors are encouraged to find hours, visitor information and purchase tickets on their website at www.bhbsite.org.