Date: June 2nd 2022

Contact: Zoë Van Nostrand – Marketing & Visitor Experience Coordinator community@thehistorycenter.net-607-273-8284 ext. 229 (W-Sat 10-5pm)

www.thehistorycenter.net

THE HISTORY CENTER IS A 2022 BLUE STAR MUSEUM

ITHACA NY – The History Center in Tompkins County announced it will join museums nationwide in the Blue Star Museums initiative for the third year, a program that provides free admission to currently-serving U.S. military personnel and their families this summer. The 2022 program will begin on Armed Forces Day, Saturday, May 21, 2022, and end on Labor Day, Monday, September 5, 2022. Find the list of participating museums at arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

Blue Star Museums is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, in collaboration with the Department of Defense and museums across America.

The History Center encourages Blue Star families to attend our upcoming summer programs:

• -          6/25 – CHAT Learning to Fly Tommy w/ Roger Segelken (Details at thehistorycenter.net/CHAT)
• o   This program highlights Tompkins County’s role in manufacturing training planes for WWI pilots
• -          6/26 – The Shortstop Classic – Vintage Base Ball @ Taughannock Park (Details at thehistorycenter.net/theclassic)
• -          July – Guided Tours – Prohibition Era Ithaca
• -          September – Guided Tours – History of the Commons
• -          9/22 – Women of WWII: ON the Front Lines & the Home Front with Barb Warner Deane

A select number of tickets for each of our guided tours (thehistorycenter.net/tours) in July, August, and September will be set aside for Blue Star families. Please reach out to request these discounted tickets!

“The History Center is honored to be included as a Blue Star Museum, and to raise awareness about Tompkins County’s heroes.”

“Museums educate and inspire, cause us to wonder and imagine, dream and remember,” said Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the National Endowment for the Arts. “By participating in the Blue Star Museums program, The History Center in Tompkins County is offering military personnel and their families an opportunity to feel connected to the Tompkins County community and to explore the world through the power of arts, culture and design, contributing to each person being able to live an artful life.”

Blue Star Museums include children’s museums, art, science, and history museums, zoos, gardens, lighthouses, and more, and hail from all 50 states, District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The current list of participating museumswill continue to develop over the summer as organizations are welcome to register to be a Blue Star Museumthroughout the summer.

"Our military community looks forward to the Blue Star Museum program each year and I am excited to celebrate the 2022 season along with them!” said Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families. “Thank you to The History Center in Tompkins County for participating in this impactful program and offering military families the opportunity to enjoy the arts with you this summer.”

The free admission program is available for those currently serving in the United States Military—Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force, members of the Reserves, National Guard, U.S. Public Health Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps, and up to five family members. Qualified members must show a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), DD Form 1173-1 ID card or the Next Generation Uniformed Services (Real) ID card for entrance into a participating Blue Star Museum.

Follow #bluestarmuseums on Twitter @NEAarts and @BlueStarFamily.

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About The History Center in Tompkins County

The History Center in Tompkins County is a generation-to-generation education and research center focused on engaging the public with the history of Tompkins County (located in the ancestral and contemporary lands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫ' Nation) and the Finger Lakes region. The History Center helps people use the tools of history to understand the past, gain perspective on the present, and play an informed role in shaping the future. The History Center is located within the Tompkins Center for History & Culture, a collaborative visitor center and event space on the Ithaca Commons. Learn more at thehistorycenter.net and follow @TompkinsHistory on any platform.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

Established by Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Arts is the independent federal agency whose funding and support gives Americans the opportunity to participate in the arts, exercise their imaginations, and develop their creative capacities. Through partnerships with state arts agencies, local leaders, other federal agencies, and the philanthropic sector, the Arts Endowment supports arts learning, affirms and celebrates America’s rich and diverse cultural heritage, and extends its work to promote equal access to the arts in every community across America. To learn more, visit arts.gov or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

About Blue Star Families
Blue Star Families is the nation’s largest grass-roots military family support organization, with a mission to support military families to improve military readiness. Its distinctive approach builds stronger communities around military families through knowledge and programs that address the unique needs of those who serve. Blue Star Families’ nationally recognized surveys and analysis give military families an important voice that informs policymakers and its military family programs. It uses the power of its collective resources and cross-sector collaborations to make a difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of members of military families to strengthen the troops, their families, and our nation as a whole. For more information, visit bluestarfam.org.

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