DAR Museum one of more than 600 museums
to offer free admission

to military personnel and their families this summer

WASHINGTON, DC - The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution is proud to announce its participation in Blue Star Museums, a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, and more than 600 museums across America to offer free admission to all active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2010.   Families can visit hours of operation and additional information.  The complete list of participating Blue Star Museums is available at www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.

The DAR Museum is already open to the public for free year round, so in recognition of the Blue Star Museums partnership, a specially designed scavenger hunt tour of the building will be available for active duty military personnel and their families along with a goody bag. The DAR Museum is composed of 31 period rooms depicting scenes from life in early America, as well as permanent and changing exhibitions which showcase American furnishings and decorative arts prior to 1830. The current exhibition “Honoring Lafayette: Contemporary Quilts from France and America,” runs through September 4, 2010 and celebrates the life of the Marquis de Lafayette and explores the cultural bonds between France and America. Also offered through the Blue Star Museums program will be free admission to DAR Library for genealogical research as well as a special scavenger hunt section for the Americana Room exhibits (which are free year round) featuring items from the historic manuscript collection.

“The Daughters of the American Revolution is honored to partner with the Blue Star Museums program to offer active duty military personnel and their families not only a special free self-guided tour to our DAR Museum and Americana Room but also to waive the research fee for our DAR Library,” says DAR President General Linda Calvin. “For 120 years the DAR has promoted historic preservation, education and patriotism and it is only natural to participate in this worthy program to show our appreciation for the U.S. Military personnel and their families.”

“America’s museums are proud to join the rest of the country in thanking our military personnel and their families for their service and sacrifice,” said National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman. “I cannot imagine a better way to do that than welcoming them in to explore and enjoy the extraordinary cultural heritage our museums present.  The works of art on view this summer will inspire and challenge viewers, and sometimes they will just be a great deal of fun.”

“There have always been wonderful examples of partnerships between museums and military installations, but the scale of this gift from the museum communities to military families is thrilling,” said Blue Star Families Chairman Kathy Roth-Douquet.  “Military families work hard for this country, and it is gratifying for us to be recognized for that.  We anticipate that thousands of military families will participate in the program and visit museums this summer – many of them for the first time.  Blue Star Families will work hard to help our military families make the most of these opportunities.”

Blue Star Museums details

More than 600 museums in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are taking part in the initiative. Blue Star Museums runs from Memorial Day, May 31 through to Labor Day, September 6, 2010.  The free admission program is available to active duty military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five immediate family members), which includes active duty Reserve and active duty National Guard.  Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program.  For questions on particular exhibits or museums, please contact the museum directly.  To find out which museums are participating, visit www.arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.  The site includes a list of participating museums and a map to help with visit planning. 

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About DAR

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote historic preservation, education and patriotism.  Any woman 18 years or older, regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background, who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution is eligible for membership. With more than 165,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world's largest and most active service organizations. Encompassing an entire downtown city block, DAR National Headquarters houses one of the nation’s premier genealogical libraries, one of the foremost collections of pre-industrial American decorative arts, Washington, D.C.’s largest concert hall, and an extensive collection of early American manuscripts and imprints. To learn more about the work of today's DAR, visit www.dar.org.

About Blue Star Families

Blue Star Families is a national, non-partisan, non-profit network of military families from all ranks and services including guard and reserve, with a mission to support, connect and empower military families.  In addition to morale and empowerment programs, Blue Star Families raises awareness of the challenges and strengths of military family life with civilian community and leaders.  Membership includes spouses, kids, parents, service members, veterans and civilians. For more information, please visit www.bluestarfam.org.

About the National Endowment for the Arts

The NEA is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts – both new and established – bringing the arts to all Americans, and providing leadership in arts education.  Established by Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government, the Arts Endowment is the largest annual national funder of the arts, bringing great art to all 50 states, including rural areas, inner cities, and military bases. For more information, please visit www.arts.gov.