Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library

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Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library
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Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in 2022
Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library
39°46′32″N86°09′59″W / 39.775583°N 86.166269°W / 39.775583; -86.166269
Location Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Type Library
EstablishedJanuary 2011;12 years ago (2011-01)
Other information
DirectorJulia Whitehead (Executive Director and Founder)
Public transit accessAiga bus trans.svg IndyGo logo.svg 6, 15, 34
Website www.vonnegutlibrary.org

The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is dedicated to championing the literary, artistic, and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist, and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. It opened in January 2011 and was located in The Emelie, a structure on the National Register of Historic Places at 340 North Senate Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana, until January 2019. Funding for a new building at 543 Indiana Avenue was secured, and the library reopened to the public on November 9, 2019.

Contents

The library serves as a cultural and educational resource facility, museum, art gallery, and reading room. It supports language and visual arts education through programs and outreach activities with other local arts organizations to foster a strong arts network for both the local and national communities.

One of the goals of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is to help bring tourism to Indianapolis. Tourism officials from the city look at the library as an important attraction and reason for people to visit. The library is one of several efforts supported by the city and institutions such as the Lilly Endowment and Ball State University to expand the city's cultural activities, alongside the Indianapolis Museum of Art and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. [1]

Ball State University along with partner contributors granted the library $76,710 to digitize rare archival material and make the content more accessible to the general public via a digital display. [2]

On September 26, 2021, AP News reported that the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis has been designated a Literary Landmark by the Literary Landmarks Association. [3]

Interior

Highlighted attractions of the library include a museum, art gallery, and reading room. The museum features rare remnants from Vonnegut's life, including the author's Purple Heart medal awarded to him for his service in Dresden, Germany during World War II; the author's Smith-Corona Coronamatic 2200 typewriter; an unopened box of the author's Pall Mall cigarettes discovered by his children behind a bookcase following his death; an unopened letter sent overseas (in the course of World War II) to the author from his father; a series of rejection letters sent to the author by magazines which are periodically rotated; [4] and a complete replica of his writing studio. [5] The library's art gallery displays art by local and national artists. A small reading room with a selection of books by Vonnegut sits in the corner of the library. [5] On the wall of the reading room is a quote by the author: "We are what we pretend to be so we must be careful what we pretend to be." The new building also features a permanent Slaughterhouse-Five exhibition, and a new Freedom to Read exhibit that celebrates First Amendment rights will open soon.

Public service

The library functions as an educational resource to schools ranging from grade school to high school levels. Resources for high schools include support for the Shortridge High School newspaper, the same newspaper Vonnegut edited as a teenager. Teachers can also look to the library for continuing education through the “Teaching Teachers to Teach Vonnegut” program, a program designed to assist educators in learning key methods of teaching Vonnegut's works to teenagers. The library holds an annual writing contest for high school students, and winners receive scholarships such as the Kurt Vonnegut Writing Award and the Jane Cox Vonnegut Writing Award. Resources are also available to local professional and amateur writers including a variety of writing events and discussions.

The library is an active opponent of banning books. When the Republic High School in Missouri banned Vonnegut's classic 1969 novel Slaughterhouse Five , the library offered students of the high school a free copy of the novel so they could read it themselves and draw their own conclusions. In regard to the book giveaway, a library representative stated: "We have up to 150 books to share thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor … We’re not telling you to like the book … we just want you to read it and decide for yourself." [6]

The library includes military veterans in its programming, with an annual event titled "Veterans Reclaim Armistice Day"; exhibitions of veterans' artwork, performance art, and writings; writing workshops; and opportunities for veterans to learn to use the arts and humanities as a way to communicate. Vonnegut himself was a veteran of World War II.

So It Goes

The library sponsors an annual literary magazine, So It Goes, which debuted in December 2012 and publishes poetry and prose in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut. Installments are themed: War and Peace (I), Humor (II), Creativity (III), Social Justice (IV), Indiana (V), A Little More Common Decency (VI), Lonesome No More (VII), Slaughterhouse-Five (VIII), Civic Engagement (IX), and Our Good Earth: Vonnegut and the Environment (X). [7] Notable contributors include Tim O'Brien, Lewis Black, Etheridge Knight, Dave Eggers, Sean Gill, Marge Piercy, Nannette Vonnegut, Dan Wakefield, and Clayton Eshleman. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Kurt Vonnegut was an American writer and humorist known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works; further collections have been published after his death.

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<i>Slaughterhouse-Five</i> 1969 novel by Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his time as an American soldier and chaplain's assistant during World War II, to the post-war years, with Billy occasionally traveling through time. The text centers on Billy's capture by the German Army and his survival of the Allied firebombing of Dresden as a prisoner of war, an experience which Vonnegut himself lived through as an American serviceman. The work has been called an example of "unmatched moral clarity" and "one of the most enduring anti-war novels of all time".

<i>Bluebeard</i> (Vonnegut novel) 1987 novel by Kurt Vonnegut

Bluebeard, the Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916–1988) is a 1987 novel by American author Kurt Vonnegut. It is told as a first-person narrative and describes the late years of fictional Abstract Expressionist painter Rabo Karabekian, who first appeared as a minor character in Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions (1973). Circumstances of the novel bear rough resemblance to the fairy tale of Bluebeard popularized by Charles Perrault. Karabekian mentions this relationship once in the novel.

<i>God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater</i> 1965 novel by Kurt Vonnegut

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, or Pearls Before Swine, Kurt Vonnegut's fifth novel, was published in 1965 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston and as a Dell mass-market paperback in 1970. A piece of postmodern satire, it gave context to Vonnegut's following novel, Slaughterhouse-Five and shared in its success.

Kilgore Trout is a fictional character created by author Kurt Vonnegut. Trout is a notably unsuccessful author of paperback science fiction novels.

Eliot Rosewater is a recurring character in the novels of American author Kurt Vonnegut. He appears throughout various novels as an alcoholic, and a philanthropist who claims to be a volunteer fireman. He runs the Rosewater Foundation, an organization created to keep the family's money in the family. He is among the few fans of the novels of Kilgore Trout.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shortridge High School</span> United States historic place

Shortridge High School is a public high school located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Shortridge is the home of the International Baccalaureate and arts and humanities programs of the Indianapolis Public Schools district.(IPS). Originally known as Indianapolis High School, it opened in 1864 and is Indiana's oldest free public high school. New Albany High School (1853) was Indiana's first public high school, but was not initially free.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vonnegut & Bohn</span> Former architectural firm in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Vonnegut & Bohn was an architectural firm in Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurt Vonnegut Sr.</span> American architect

Kurt Vonnegut Sr. was an American architect and architectural lecturer active in early- to mid-20th-century Indianapolis, Indiana. A member of the American Institute of Architects, he was partner in the firms of Vonnegut & Bohn, Vonnegut, Bohn & Mueller, and Vonnegut, Wright, and Yeager. He designed several churches, banks, and became the in-house architect for Indiana Bell and Hooks Drug stores, practicing extensively in the Art Deco style. He was the father of chemist Bernard Vonnegut and author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Vonnegut I</span> American architect

Bernard Vonnegut I, WAA, FAIA, was an American lecturer and architect active in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century Indiana. He was a co-founder of the locally renowned Indianapolis architectural firm of Vonnegut and Bohn, and was active in a range of residential, religious, institutional, civic, and commercial commissions. He is the namesake and grandfather of scientist Bernard Vonnegut, father of the architect Kurt Vonnegut Sr., and grandfather of author Kurt Vonnegut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Caleb Wright</span>

George Caleb Wright, AIA, was an American architect from Indiana. He was a partner in the Indianapolis, Indiana, architectural firms of Pierre & Wright, Vonnegut, Wright & Yeager, and Wright, Porteous & Lowe, and was later chief building inspector for the City of Indianapolis.

<i>If This Isnt Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young</i>

If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice to the Young is a 2013 collection of nine commencement speeches from Kurt Vonnegut, selected and introduced by longtime friend and author Dan Wakefield.

Evans Woollen III was an American architect who is credited for introducing the Modern and the Brutalist architecture styles to his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. Woollen, a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) and a graduate of the Yale School of Architecture, was active in the field from the mid-1950s to the early 2000s. He established his own architecture firm in Indianapolis in 1955 that became known as Woollen, Molzan and Partners; it dissolved in 2011. As a pacesetter among architects in the Midwest, Woollen, dubbed the dean of Indiana architects, was noted for his use of bold materials and provocative, modern designs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Robinson (artist)</span> Artist from Indianapolis, Indiana

Rebecca Robinson, also known as PSNOB, is a mixed media artist from Indianapolis, Indiana. Her work has been exhibited at the Chicago Museum of Science and History, Newfields, the Harrison Center, the Kurt Vonnegut Museum, and featured by the Arts Council of Indianapolis. She also designed custom cleats for the Indianapolis Colts. She is a member of the Eighteen Art Collective that created the Black Lives Matter street mural in Indianapolis.

References

External videos
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library Dec 17, 2010, C-SPAN, 16:39
  1. Gonzales, Matt (10 November 2010). "New Library Will Showcase Vonnegut's Life". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  2. Rapp, David. "Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library Tackling Digitization". The Digital Shift. Library Journal. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  3. Staff (September 26, 2021). "Indianapolis' Kurt Vonnegut museum named Literary Landmark". AP News . Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  4. "Treasures of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library | The Saturday Evening Post". www.saturdayeveningpost.com. 24 October 2011. Retrieved Dec 15, 2019.
  5. 1 2 Fitzsimmons, Emma Graves (19 November 2010). "Indianapolis Honors Its Literary Native Son". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  6. Samways, Ana (15 August 2011). "Sideswipe: August 15: An Oldie but a Goodie". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
  7. "So It Goes: The Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum & Library".
  8. "So It Goes Description".