Smithsonian Museum Day at New Haven Museum

On Saturday, September 29, 2012, the New Haven Museum will be open free of charge from 12 to 5 pm. In the spirit of Smithsonian Museums, who offer free admission everyday, Museum Day Live! is an annual event coordinated bySmithsonian magazine in which participating museums across the country open their doors for free. Read more at:http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/#ixzz239jvYbPR

In celebration of the New Haven Museum’s new exhibition, Cycle New Haven, the Museum will also offer a free family workshop from 1 to 4 pm in which children and their families can make bicycle gear jewelry, vanity plates and other crafts. At 1 pm, the Stage and Story Troupe from the Yale Children’s Theater will perform. Cycle New Haven is the latest exhibition at the New Haven Museum highlighting the Elm City’s history and relationship with the bicycle. From Pierre Lallement filing his patent for the pedal-driven velocipede in 1866 to the growing popularity of the bike today as an instrument of sustainable transportation, New Haven has played a long and impressive role at the forefront of cycling in America. Cycle New Havenfeatures material from the New Haven Museum’s archives and collections, along with contributions from the local community.Cycle New Haven is a celebration of bicycles and New Haven innovation.

The New Haven Museum has worked in conjunction with The Devil’s Gear Bike Shop, and Elm City Cycling in highlighting the industrial developments surrounding the manufacturing of bicycles in New Haven, racing at the turn of the 20thcentury, and the social involvement of our community throughout the last 100 years.

The New Haven Museum, founded in 1862 as the New Haven Colony Historical Society, is located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Avenue. For more information, contact Michelle Cheng, Director of Education, at (203) 562-4183 ext. 11 or education@newhavenmuseum.org.