Recent Press Releases
PETA Donates $5000 to Mark Twain Museum
Last Updated on Tuesday, 20 April 2010 18:38 Tuesday, 20 April 2010 16:31
The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum welcomed Dan Mathews, vice president of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)on Saturday. Mathews spoke during a ceremony to install a new exhibit that emphasizes Twain’s love for animals and his opposition to vivisection. PETA sponsored the exhibit and is donating $5000 toward museum operations. Several photos of Twain’s dogs and cats comprise the exhibit, including Bambino, his beloved black cat that went missing from Twain’s New York City home for a brief time. Twain advertised in the New York Times, and people arrived at his door carrying cats of all colors and sizes, even after he advertised that Bambino had returned home.
“Mark Twain is one of our heroes,” said Mathews. “He did not want to know what benefits might be derived from vivisection – he only cared to know whether or not the animal suffered. That is all he needed to know. His mother, Jane,championed the protection of animals, and he learned it from her.” Mathews added that PETA wanted to show their support of Twain in 2010 and timed the ceremony to coincide with the 100thanniversary of Twain’s death on April 21st.
Museum supporters turned out for the ceremony with their pets in tow for the occasion. Chuck and Connie Brock brought their dogs, Dora and Diego, who instantly hit it off with the famed animal rights activist. Museum visitors were surprised to see puppies attending the event. Executive director Cindy Lovell was pleased with the ceremony. “This is just one more facet of Mark Twain that we can share,” she said. “Twain was probably the first celebrity to speak out against cruelty to animals.”
The museum installed a plaque with an excerpt from a letter Twain wrote to the London Anti-Vivisection Society, dated May 26, 1899. “I believe I am not interested to know whether Vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't. To know that the results are profitable to the race would not remove my hostility to it. The pains which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity towards it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further. It is so distinctly a matter of feeling with me, and is so strong and so deeply-rooted in my make and constitution, that I am sure I could not even see a vivisector vivisected with anything more than a sort of qualified satisfaction. I do not say I should not go and look on; I only mean that I should almost surely fail to get out of it the degree of contentment which it ought, of course, to be expected to furnish.”
Mathews wrote an op-ed piece praising Twain's legacy for the Huffington Post.
Mark Twain Young Authors Workshop Funded by Grants
Tuesday, 20 April 2010 16:23
The Mark Twain Young Authors Workshop will resume thissummer running June 27-July 3 thanks to a $5000 grant from The Gladys KriebleDelmas Foundation of New York City and a $2500 grant from Hannibal’s RiedelFoundation. The program issponsored by the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum and coordinated byStetson University’s HATS (High Achieving Talented Students) Program. Full scholarships includingtransportation and room and board are offered to twelve young writers presentlyin grades 4-8. This year theprogram plans to pair six Hannibal writers with six out of town writers. Interested students have until May 1 tosubmit a three-page typed writing sample, which will be blind-reviewed. Winners will be notified by May 15th. Full details and an application areavailable online at: http://www.stetson.edu/hats/MarkTwainYoungAuthors.php.
Participating students will spend one week immersed in thesetting that inspired Mark Twain’s most well known books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. They will participate in writers’ workshops that focus oneverything from setting to character development to dialogue. They’ll even look at song lyrics byJimmy Buffett, who is an ardent Twain fan and has written several songs aboutMark Twain. The young authors willconduct an interview and write on deadline, just like Sam Clemens thejournalist did. Hannibal nativeand writer, Melissa Scholes Young, will join museum director Cindy Lovell andcurator Henry Sweets as a writing instructor. The program was founded by Lovell in 2007 when she taught atStetson University in DeLand, Florida; the partnership continues with Stetsoncoordinating the application process.
Hannibal to Celebrate 100th Anniversary of Twain's Death
Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 April 2010 16:04 Monday, 19 April 2010 16:06
The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum is marking the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Mark Twain’s death at 12:00noon on April 21, 2010 in the garden of the Boyhood Home. The ceremony will honor the legacy of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known to the world as “Mark Twain,” who spent his formative years in Hannibal from the ages 4 to 17. Twain immortalized Hannibal in his best-loved books, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which continue to outsell today’s bestsellers in the U.S. and abroad; they are published in more than sixty languages.
The ceremony will include three events: 1) the burying of a time capsule; 2) the unveiling of a webcam; and 3) the unveiling of the new exhibit installation at the Huckleberry Finn House. Hannibal Mayor Roy Hark will issue a proclamation declaring 2010 “The Year of Mark Twain.” He will be joined by others who will make brief remarks including museum director Cindy Lovell, curator Henry Sweets, and the Tom & Becky ambassadors. Three essay contest winners, Kori Caswell (10th grade, Hannibal High School), Jack Baumann (6th grade, Holy Family School), and Lynsie Boling (4th grade, Center Elementary School) will read their 100 word essays about how the world will remember them 100 years after their death.
The time capsule will include artifacts from 2010 including a photo of the ten Tom & Becky ambassadors, the mayor’s proclamation, and a reproduction of the stories that ran in the Hannibal Courier-Post in 1910 when Mark Twain died. The Courier-Post plans to include the reproduction as an insert, and additional copies will be available at the Museum gift shops with sales going to support the Museum’s endowment.
The webcam has been on the Museum’s “wish list” for some time and is being donated by EarthCam.com, the premier global webcam network on the Internet with more than 200,000 visits each day. It will be mounted on the Becky Thatcher House and show the entire mall area in front of the Boyhood Home with the Mississippi River as a backdrop. The video will be broadcast around the world 24 hours a day. Visitors can pose by the recently installed whitewashing bucket at the famous fence and smile for the camera while viewers from around the world look on. EarthCam founder and CEO Brian Cury said, “We recognize Mark Twain’s importance to the world and are proud to be donating the webcam to the Museum. Webcams impact visitation to an area,and we expect that this will bring more visitors to America’s Hometown.” Once launched, viewers can access the webcam at www.earthcam.com/marktwain.
The Huckleberry Finn House, which was open to the public in 2006, is a replica of the home occupied by the Blankenship family. Twain wrote that Tom Blankenship was his model for Huck. St. Louis architect Laurent Torno, Jr., who oversaw the reconstruction, has designed and installed an exhibit that includes period furniture and panels detailing the story of the Blankenships. Support for this exhibit was provided by Jane Parham.
Hannibal residents and Twain fans from near and far are invited to turn out for this once in a lifetime event to honor America’s most beloved author. Events are planned in other cities around the world to honor Twain’s legacy on this day as well.
PETA Sponsors Mark Twain Museum Exhibit, Hails Author as America’s First Animal Advocate
Last Updated on Thursday, 15 April 2010 19:23 Thursday, 15 April 2010 19:15
Hannibal, Mo. — In advance of next week's 100thanniversary of Mark Twain's death, PETA is joining the author's hometown museumin commemorating Twain as America's first famous animal advocate. PETA isdonating $5,000 to The Mark TwainBoyhood Home & Museum, which will unveil a prominent plaque that features a quotefrom Twain about animal experimentation:
I believe I am not interested toknow whether Vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human raceor doesn't. To know that the results are profitable would not remove myhostility to it. The pains which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is thebasis of my enmity towards it, and it is to me sufficient justification of theenmity without looking further. It is so distinctly a matter of feeling withme, and is so strong and so deeply-rooted in my make and constitution, that Iam sure I could not even see a vivisector vivisected with anything more than asort of qualified satisfaction.
Animals were integral to Twain's writing, from his firststories through his final years. Many of his pieces that were left unpublished at his death also featureanimal-related themes, and some of these works are spotlighted in the recentlypublished book Mark Twain's Book of Animals.
"Italy had Leonardo da Vinci, Greece had Pythagoras,England had Wilberforce—and America had Mark Twain as its visionary animaladvocate," says PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews, who cites Twain asan inspiration in his memoir, Committed.
Mathews will join Cindy Lovell, executive director of the The Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum,at 12 noon on Saturday, April 17, to unveil the plaque.
For more information, please visit PETA.org or www.marktwainmuseum.org.
Hal Holbrook to Perform, “Mark Twain Tonight!” in Hannibal on May 8
Last Updated on Wednesday, 07 April 2010 16:34 Wednesday, 07 April 2010 16:33
Hal Holbrook will appear in his legendary stageperformance “Mark Twain Tonight!” at Hannibal High School on Saturday, May 8,2010 at 8:00 p.m. The Mark TwainBoyhood Home & Museum is sponsoring the event. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 9 at the Museum and can bepurchased by calling 573-221-9010, ext. 404. Ticket prices range from $35 to $100.
Holbrook, who serves as a member of the Museum’s AdvisoryBoard, has been performing as Mark Twain since 1954. This means he has been portraying “Mark Twain” longer (56years) than Sam Clemens was known as “Mark Twain” (47 years). Holbrook’s performances sell out toaudiences around the world, and he is booked solid in 2010, “The Year of MarkTwain.”
“We are immeasurably proud to host Hal Holbrook in SamClemens’ hometown,” said Museum director, Dr. Cindy Lovell. “Mr. Holbrook has been an enthusiasticand gracious supporter of the Museum’s efforts, and we are very excited aboutwelcoming him back to Hannibal.
Holbrook’s acting career is widely known. He has appeared in countless stageproductions, television shows and some 40 movies. Holbrook has received wide critical acclaim for his range ofroles and numerous accolades including the National Humanities Medal in 2003and the William Shakespeare Award from the Shakespeare Theatre in 1998. He was nominated for an Academy Awardfor his performance in “Into the Wild” in 2007, has earned 8 Emmy awards and hasbeen awarded honorary doctorate degrees from six universities.
His performance in Hannibal is one of many events plannedto celebrate 2010, “The Year of Mark Twain.” This year marks the 100th anniversary of Twain’sdeath on April 21 and the 175th anniversary of his birth on November30. Other events are listed on theMuseum’s website, www.marktwainmuseum.org.
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