Visitors can take part in Smithsonian magazine’s 13th annual Museum Day Live! event with the Indiana Historical Society, a Smithsonian Affiliate. On Sept. 23, IHS will open the doors of the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana History Center free of charge with a downloadable ticket. The event celebrates the spirit of the Smithsonian Institution, which offers free admission every day.

New this year from IHS, guests to the History Center can enjoy an episode of Aerial America: Indiana, a video series offering glimpses from the sky of our nation’s most treasured landmarks. The program will play in the Frank and Katrina Basile Theater at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m.

Museum Day Live! guests will also be the first to experience IHS’s newest exhibit, You Are There 1863: Letter Home from Gettysburg. The exhibit invites guests to join war bride Mahala Beem as she reads a just-received letter from her husband Capt. David Enoch Beem of the 14th Indiana Infantry Regiment.

In honor of the exhibit’s public debut, IHS will host a series of sing-alongs in Eli Lilly Hall, with a guest appearance by local actor and performer Kevin Stonerock. Stonerock will perform “Civil War through Song,” which looks at stories from the Civil War. Performances are at 1:15 p.m., 1:45 p.m., 2:15 p.m., and 2:45 p.m.

In addition, IHS visitors can travel back in time with the latest touch-screen technology of Destination Indiana, enjoy the music of an Indiana legend in the Cole Porter Room and learn what it takes to preserve IHS’s collections in the W. Brooks and Wanda Y. Fortune History Lab. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase in the Stardust Terrace Café, operated by Hoaglin to Go.

The Museum Day Live! ticket is available for download at www.smithsonian.com/museumday. Each ticket is good for one person, plus one guest. Only one ticket is allowed per household.

Tickets used at the History Center can be printed or shown on a smartphone. The History Center, located at 450 W. Ohio St. in downtown Indianapolis, will observe regular operating hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the Museum Day Live! event.

For more information on this event or other IHS offerings, call (317) 232-1882 or visit IHS online at www.indianahistory.org.

About the Indiana Historical Society

Since 1830, the Indiana Historical Society has been Indiana’s Storyteller™, connecting people to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing the state’s history. A private, nonprofit membership organization, IHS maintains the nation’s premier research library and archives on the history of Indiana and the Old Northwest and presents a unique set of visitor experiences called the Indiana Experience. IHS also provides support and assistance to local museums and historical groups; publishes books and periodicals; sponsors teacher workshops; produces and hosts art exhibitions, museum theater and outside performance groups; and provides youth, adult and family programs. IHS is a Smithsonian Affiliate and a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.