LOCKWOOD-MATHEWS MANSION MUSEUM JOINS SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE’S 15TH ANNUAL MUSEUM DAY

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will open its doors free of charge to all Museum Day ticket holders on Saturday, September 21, 2019, 12-4 p.m. as part of Smithsonian magazine’s 15^th annual Museum Day, a national celebration of boundless curiosity in which participating museums emulate the free admission policy at the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington D.C.-based museums. Museum Day represents a nationwide commitment to access, equity and inclusion. Over 450,000 tickets were downloaded for last year’s event, and Museum Day 2019 is expected to attract more museumgoers than ever before.

This year, Museum Day will celebrate the Smithsonian Year of Music, an institution-wide initiative celebrating the Smithsonian’s vast musical collections and resources through 365 days of music-related programming. Music is not only a reflection of human creativity and innovation, but also a key method of communication and cross-cultural exchange and understanding. The Smithsonian Year of Music crosses disciplines, bringing together music-related resources in art, history, culture, science and education.

“The Board of Trustees and I are thrilled to join Smithsonian Magazine and offer universal access to all Museum Day participants. Visitors will have an opportunity to take a sneak-peek at the Museum’s music box collection and enjoy live music in this inspiring and illuminating National Historic Landmark” said LMMM Executive Director Susan Gilgore.

The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will display several 19^th and early 20^th century music boxes and phonographs in the Museum’s Music Room drawn from the Mansion’s permanent collection.  These musical machines, produced regionally as well as in several European countries, will include an Orchestral Cylinder Music Box with bells, miniature drum and wood block ca. 1880; a Graphone Type B ca. 1897; and a Victor Phonograph Type B, the first to use a 78 RPM record, ca. 1904; among others.  Choral music will be performed in the Mansion’s Rotunda by The Serendipity Chorale and The Suffragist Choir of the Unitarian Church of Westport. For a schedule of performances please visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com

Visitors will learn that the simpler music boxes, which are precursors of the record player, were mass-produced and available to the general public for $10-$20. Museum Day ticket holders will also be able to view the Museum’s exhibition, From Corsets to Suffrage: Victorian Women Trailblazers sponsored in part by CT Humanities The Museum’s 2019 Season is made possible in part by generous funding from LMMM’s Founding Patrons: The Estate of Mrs. Cynthia Clark Brown and the Museum’s Distinguished Benefactors: City of Norwalk and The Maurice Goodman Foundation. The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is a National Historic Landmark.  For more information on schedules and programs please visit www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, e-mail info@lockwoodmathewsmansion.com, or call 203-838-9799. Museum Day tickets will be available for download at Smithsonian.com/museumday beginning August 15. Visitors who present a Museum Day ticket will gain free entrance for two at participating venues on September 21, 2019. One ticket is permitted per email address. A list of participating museums, which will be continually updated, can be found at Smithsonian.com/museumday/search. For more information, please visit Smithsonian.com/museumday.