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Anton Boisen Photograph Exhibit

The Anton Boisen Photograph Exhibit makes images from a series of photographs taken by Anton Boisen available online for visitors to the web site.

Nineteenth-century Herbs Exhibit: "This Is for Remembrance"

Herbs were used for a variety of purposes in nineteenth-century American homes. This exhibit focuses specifically on medicinal uses of some herbs grown in the Wylie House garden.

Wylie House Restoration Exhibit

In the early 1960s the Wylie House underwent a major restoration. In this exhibit, see the process of how the house was returned as closely as possible to its original condition.

Each March the Wylie House mounts a special exhibit of antique quilts. Twenty to thirty quilts from our own collection and borrowed from friends of the museum are placed on beds and quilt racks throughout the house. Accompanying labels explain the patterns and history of the quilts. The exhibit is left up for the entire month.

Wylie House boasts an impressive collection of 19th century china, porcelain, pottery and stoneware, many of which are family pieces. Our collections were greatly enriched by the 2004 bequest from Morton C. Bradley Jr., the great-grandson of Theophilus and Rebecca D. Wylie. This exhibit, curated by Andrea Truitt, a student in Art History at IU, features British transfer printed objects, lusterware, Asian inspired items, Jasper and Parian ware, among others. We are eager to present more themed items from the Bradley bequest along with summaries of the kind of pottery techniques and trends that appealed to the Wylie families.

In conjunction with the above, we also produced an in-house exhibit of Wylie dining room artifacts. The exhibit features a formal dining room table setting complete with dishes, glassware, flatware, candelabras, saltcellars, linens and dining room furniture. Come see and learn more about patterns, manufacturers, and mid to late 19th century table manners in a house like the Wylies'. You'll also learn about who the Wylies invited for dinner, menus served, and several after dinner entertainments mentioned in family correspondence.

During October of 2004 the downstairs of Wylie House was filled with some fifty-three 19th-century fretless zithers, all restored to playing condition. The collector and restorer of these instruments also gave a lecture and demonstration of the instruments.

In collaboration with the Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection and an area collector, we mounted an exhibit of children's clothing and toys from the 19th century that stayed up for the summer of 2004.

During the Bloomington Early Music Festival of 2004, Wylie House hosted a special exhibit of early musical instruments.

This special exhibit focused on how people in the 19th century made their homes ready for winter, from putting up heavier curtains to preserving food to feed their families until spring.

During the summer of 2003, the museum had a special exhibit that dealt with childbirth and midwifery in the 19th century when babies were born at home with family members or midwives in attendance.

Wylie House owns a very nice collection of 19th century handwoven coverlets. In the fall of 2002, we brought out twenty of these coverlets to display in the house.

In collaboration with the Elizabeth Sage Historic Costume Collection, we mounted an exhibit of 19th century silk and woolen shawls in the spring of 2002.