Morton C. Bradley Education Center
(L to R) Louisa Wylie Boisen holding Morton C. Bradley, Jr., Rebecca Dennis Wylie, Marie Boisen Bradley, and Louise Bradley on the front steps of Wylie House.
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Morton C. Bradley, Jr., great-grandson of Theophilus and Rebecca Wylie, had a great fondness for IU and the Wylie House even though he lived his entire life in Arlington, Massachusetts. His mother, Marie Boisen Bradley, grew up in Wylie House and his grandmother, Louisa Wylie Boisen, had lived here with her parents for most of her adult life.
Morton Bradley, Sr. & Marie Boisen Bradley in front of Wylie House
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When he died in September 2004, Mr. Bradley left his entire estate to IU, naming the Museum as one of three IU beneficiaries. Through this generous bequest Wylie House acquired many family heirlooms including furniture, textiles, glassware and china, photographs, and family letters, as well as enough money to build a much needed new Education Center for the Museum. The building will look like a large 19th century barn and will sit directly behind the current Annex.
Besides housing our offices and work space, the Bradley Education Center will provide additional exhibit space, a large multipurpose room, a small gift shop, and accessible restrooms. This additional space will allow us to greatly increase our programming. We especially look forward to having elementary school groups spend time here, but also we expect to host more receptions, lectures, concerts, and workshops for adults and IU students. We will maintain our offices in the current Annex until construction is completed. Once we've moved into the new building, the old Annex will be torn down and the site will be landscaped to resemble the old homestead.
In addition to constructing this new building, we plan to restore a small back porch to the house itself. The original was removed during the 1960s, before standards for historic preservation had been developed. Fortunately, we have excellent photographs to guide us in replicating this porch, and the IU Architect's Office has developed plans for a handicapped accessible ramp that will blend nicely with it (replacing the current ramp).
Back porch, taken just prior to the 1960s restoration.
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The entire construction project is expected to take approximately one year to complete. During that time, we will post photographs to these pages so that you can watch our progress. We will also post any adjustments to our hours that may be necessary to accommodate the work being done to the house itself.
Preservation Endowment
We are undertaking the first ever major fundraising campaign for the Museum in an effort to establish a preservation endowment. Since IU funding for restoration and repair of campus buildings continues to be cut or at least is not increased, we recognize the need to provide for a reliable source of funding to maintain both the house and our new education center into the future. We have already developed a list of projects that such funding might provide for besides routine maintenance. Included are a wooden fence around the garden, UV filtering for the windows, and additional decorative painting for the entry hall of the house. If you would like information on how to help with this effort, please contact the IU Libraries Development officer at
http://www.libraries.iub.edu/index.php?pageId=1389 .
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