Program: Mystery social / dinner function Target Audience: Members should be the focus, as this could be their special event. They could bring friends! Non-members wishing to take part could be charged a small fee. It would also be wonderful if staff, volunteers, interns and board members were present and participating! Description: This is intended to be a social function that can further educate participants on the history of medicine related to Indiana, specifically Central State Hospital. It will play out very much like a live clue game. The main idea could include finding the “Ghoul” among the guests. The meeting/event was called and those present were invited because the previous night the grounds keeper discovered a body cage that was missing the body (this can obviously be changed to fit the particular program i.e.: the body cage could be broken into; an empty grave could have been found; a body was left in the autopsy room but removed before the autopsy began, etc.) Upon hearing this, the director of the hospital developed a list of possible suspects and invited them all under the pretences of a gathering (dinner, meeting, social function, etc.). Now it is the job of all the suspects to clear themselves of these allegations while finding out who really is the “Ghoul”. The participants can have various jobs at the hospital, or could even be patients. This will allow for the participants to learn more about the museum, while having a fun time. This could lead to potential “members” and also to word of mouth advertising. Those that attend will tell their friends and family about their experience. When guests arrive (this could be staggered or have all arrive at one time) they could be given a tour of the building/grounds available. If it is a nice night out, I think it would be a good idea to have outside gatherings/games (i.e. croquet). This will give the participants a chance to bond if they do not already know each other. The tour should also allow them to get a grasp on what their characters were expected to do. For example if you were in the Chemistry lab, the guide would ask “who is a chemist tonight?” to give them an idea of where they would work maybe even more detail “day in the life of a chemist” kind of experience. Anticipated Cost: Potential cost of around $20.00, this could be more or less. This event does not need to cost a lot of money. All that is going to be needed are scripts for the participants. These can be created by volunteers/staff members or an Intern (Education or Public Programs) and sent out along with a description of what the character looks like. People can have quite a bit of fun with this by creating their costumes and getting involved in their characters during the event. As stated earlier, non-members could be charged a small fee to participate, but this should be a special member event. As it stands the event does not need to have food however, if you do it can be pitch-in style. It may also be possible to have some staff/volunteers get together before the event and have a cooking party with store bought food. The lawn games could be found for under $20.00 online, if they cannot be found in someone’s garage or shed and borrowed for an evening. Relation: The characters portrayed should be museum specific. If you don’t want to have characters be actual doctors that used to work at the hospital, you can simply have a doctor. Doctors, nurses, lab techs (chemistry lab), researchers, psychiatrists, etc. can all be included. Included with the character and the script can be information about that doctor, but it is not imperative. When the participants arrive they can be given more information about the museum and the time period. It is important that the year be mentioned because of the life of the hospital. Specific cases can be discussed. Advertising: Advertising this type of program could be email or postcard invitations and RSVP’s to members. Non-members can be reached with free newspaper ads, and volunteer/staff distribution to friends, classmates, and other social places. It may also be beneficial to email University departments such as Museum Studies, history, and medical programs. Background Information: Information on bodysnatching and body selling should be explored to share with participants. Why this was happening, and what was done with the bodies. Famous cases of this (Indiana specific and otherwise) could be brought up.
Program/ Potential Special Exhibit: Sick Daze (Days) Target Audience: School groups and museum visitors Relation: This program would directly relate to medicine and the medical field. The diseases explored during this event should be related to the 19th and the first part of the 20th centuries. Mental illness can also be explored as to how it was identified and the treatments they had used. Description: Each room of the museum would house a different disease/ailment. There would be information provided as to how that was diagnosed and treated while the pathology lab was in operation. The tour guides could also be informed as to how to incorporate this disease information into their basic tours. This could occur for a weekend or could be extended, but should last more than one day. Anticipated Cost: $0.00. Background Information: 19th and 20th century disease information as well as treatment information should be explored. The medicines used to treat these diseases and ailments then versus now specifically at Central State and in Indiana. Special Advertising: Grassroots efforts coordinated with local schools. This is a wonderful educational opportunity and schools would be very willing to participate given the proper information about the program. Emails, flyers and Facebook update as well.
Program: Visit with Dr. X Target Audience: Museum visitors Relation: This program would give a living history experience of the medical history of Indiana. The year portrayed can vary, but should stay within the operation of the Central State Hospital. Description: This program would involve 2 – 3 actors for the parts required. These volunteers would be provided with all the necessary background information. The idea of the program is to create an immersive environment with the ability for guests to interact with the “expert”. Ideally, this environment would be the doctor’s office available at the museum. The 3 actors would play the parts of a doctor, a nurse and a patient in the 19th century. The doctor would be diagnosing or otherwise examining the patient for any variety of issues. The nurse would be helping the doctor in any way necessary. When the patrons enter the office, they will be included in the exhibit and are more than welcome to interact with the actors in the space. They can ask questions ranging from the tools being used to the life of a doctor in the 19th century. The actors should be well versed in the medical history of Central State Hospital in addition to the happenings of the year being portrayed. Anticipated Cost: $0.00 This program would need background research and volunteers or interns to be properly executed. Any costumes could be donated or acquired at a low cost by the volunteer or intern actors. If interns are used, then the research can also be done either by them, or by the education or public programs intern. Background Information: More information would be needed on the types of ailments that each doctor would have encountered during a certain year while working at Central State Hospital. In-depth information on a specific disease that will be portrayed in the space on any given day will also need to be researched and provided for the actors. It may also important to know information about other issues that patients at Central State experienced. Special Advertising: Emails, Facebook update, free newspaper ads and flyer distribution by volunteers. The flyers can be distributed to the local area, including schools, churches and other local gatherings.
Program: Doctor for a Day Target Audience: School groups, families and medically interested public. Relation: The mission states “Through its exhibits, publications, and programs, the museum educates the community concerning health care, health careers, and life sciences in Indiana during the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries.” This program would include extensive information about health and life science careers including the nineteenth century to the present. Description: This program would begin as a lecture. There would be descriptions of various medically related careers including information about how technology has changed them over the years. Once through with some description and discussion, groups would be toured around the pathology building and introduced to the spaces. Each room would offer a chance to learn more about the people that would have worked in those areas and what they would have been discovering or seeking to treat and learn about. Anticipate Cost: $0.00 This would be a more career specific tour given by volunteers or current museum staff. Background Information: Medical careers starting in the nineteenth century to current time and how they have changed due to technology would be needed for this program. The program would satisfy many Indiana academic standards, so those should be research to provide adequate learning opportunities for the students involved. Special Advertising: In addition to the emails and posted flyers, I would suggest sending an email to the local Universities, as they may have an interest. As always, a Facebook update could be helpful!
Program: Mystery social / dinner function
Target Audience: Members should be the focus, as this could be their special event. They could bring friends! Non-members wishing to take part could be charged a small fee. It would also be wonderful if staff, volunteers, interns and board members were present and participating!
Description: This is intended to be a social function that can further educate participants on the history of medicine related to Indiana, specifically Central State Hospital. It will play out very much like a live clue game. The main idea could include finding the “Ghoul” among the guests. The meeting/event was called and those present were invited because the previous night the grounds keeper discovered a body cage that was missing the body (this can obviously be changed to fit the particular program i.e.: the body cage could be broken into; an empty grave could have been found; a body was left in the autopsy room but removed before the autopsy began, etc.) Upon hearing this, the director of the hospital developed a list of possible suspects and invited them all under the pretences of a gathering (dinner, meeting, social function, etc.). Now it is the job of all the suspects to clear themselves of these allegations while finding out who really is the “Ghoul”. The participants can have various jobs at the hospital, or could even be patients. This will allow for the participants to learn more about the museum, while having a fun time. This could lead to potential “members” and also to word of mouth advertising. Those that attend will tell their friends and family about their experience.
When guests arrive (this could be staggered or have all arrive at one time) they could be given a tour of the building/grounds available. If it is a nice night out, I think it would be a good idea to have outside gatherings/games (i.e. croquet). This will give the participants a chance to bond if they do not already know each other. The tour should also allow them to get a grasp on what their characters were expected to do. For example if you were in the Chemistry lab, the guide would ask “who is a chemist tonight?” to give them an idea of where they would work maybe even more detail “day in the life of a chemist” kind of experience.
Anticipated Cost: Potential cost of around $20.00, this could be more or less. This event does not need to cost a lot of money. All that is going to be needed are scripts for the participants. These can be created by volunteers/staff members or an Intern (Education or Public Programs) and sent out along with a description of what the character looks like. People can have quite a bit of fun with this by creating their costumes and getting involved in their characters during the event. As stated earlier, non-members could be charged a small fee to participate, but this should be a special member event. As it stands the event does not need to have food however, if you do it can be pitch-in style. It may also be possible to have some staff/volunteers get together before the event and have a cooking party with store bought food. The lawn games could be found for under $20.00 online, if they cannot be found in someone’s garage or shed and borrowed for an evening.
Relation: The characters portrayed should be museum specific. If you don’t want to have characters be actual doctors that used to work at the hospital, you can simply have a doctor. Doctors, nurses, lab techs (chemistry lab), researchers, psychiatrists, etc. can all be included. Included with the character and the script can be information about that doctor, but it is not imperative. When the participants arrive they can be given more information about the museum and the time period. It is important that the year be mentioned because of the life of the hospital. Specific cases can be discussed.
Advertising: Advertising this type of program could be email or postcard invitations and RSVP’s to members. Non-members can be reached with free newspaper ads, and volunteer/staff distribution to friends, classmates, and other social places. It may also be beneficial to email University departments such as Museum Studies, history, and medical programs.
Background Information: Information on bodysnatching and body selling should be explored to share with participants. Why this was happening, and what was done with the bodies. Famous cases of this (Indiana specific and otherwise) could be brought up.
Program/ Potential Special Exhibit: Sick Daze (Days)
Target Audience: School groups and museum visitors
Relation: This program would directly relate to medicine and the medical field. The diseases explored during this event should be related to the 19th and the first part of the 20th centuries. Mental illness can also be explored as to how it was identified and the treatments they had used.
Description: Each room of the museum would house a different disease/ailment. There would be information provided as to how that was diagnosed and treated while the pathology lab was in operation. The tour guides could also be informed as to how to incorporate this disease information into their basic tours. This could occur for a weekend or could be extended, but should last more than one day.
Anticipated Cost: $0.00.
Background Information: 19th and 20th century disease information as well as treatment information should be explored. The medicines used to treat these diseases and ailments then versus now specifically at Central State and in Indiana.
Special Advertising: Grassroots efforts coordinated with local schools. This is a wonderful educational opportunity and schools would be very willing to participate given the proper information about the program. Emails, flyers and Facebook update as well.
Program: Visit with Dr. X
Target Audience: Museum visitors
Relation: This program would give a living history experience of the medical history of Indiana. The year portrayed can vary, but should stay within the operation of the Central State Hospital.
Description: This program would involve 2 – 3 actors for the parts required. These volunteers would be provided with all the necessary background information. The idea of the program is to create an immersive environment with the ability for guests to interact with the “expert”. Ideally, this environment would be the doctor’s office available at the museum. The 3 actors would play the parts of a doctor, a nurse and a patient in the 19th century. The doctor would be diagnosing or otherwise examining the patient for any variety of issues. The nurse would be helping the doctor in any way necessary. When the patrons enter the office, they will be included in the exhibit and are more than welcome to interact with the actors in the space. They can ask questions ranging from the tools being used to the life of a doctor in the 19th century. The actors should be well versed in the medical history of Central State Hospital in addition to the happenings of the year being portrayed.
Anticipated Cost: $0.00 This program would need background research and volunteers or interns to be properly executed. Any costumes could be donated or acquired at a low cost by the volunteer or intern actors. If interns are used, then the research can also be done either by them, or by the education or public programs intern.
Background Information: More information would be needed on the types of ailments that each doctor would have encountered during a certain year while working at Central State Hospital. In-depth information on a specific disease that will be portrayed in the space on any given day will also need to be researched and provided for the actors. It may also important to know information about other issues that patients at Central State experienced.
Special Advertising: Emails, Facebook update, free newspaper ads and flyer distribution by volunteers. The flyers can be distributed to the local area, including schools, churches and other local gatherings.
Program: Doctor for a Day
Target Audience: School groups, families and medically interested public.
Relation: The mission states “Through its exhibits, publications, and programs, the museum educates the community concerning health care, health careers, and life sciences in Indiana during the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries.” This program would include extensive information about health and life science careers including the nineteenth century to the present.
Description: This program would begin as a lecture. There would be descriptions of various medically related careers including information about how technology has changed them over the years. Once through with some description and discussion, groups would be toured around the pathology building and introduced to the spaces. Each room would offer a chance to learn more about the people that would have worked in those areas and what they would have been discovering or seeking to treat and learn about.
Anticipate Cost: $0.00 This would be a more career specific tour given by volunteers or current museum staff.
Background Information: Medical careers starting in the nineteenth century to current time and how they have changed due to technology would be needed for this program. The program would satisfy many Indiana academic standards, so those should be research to provide adequate learning opportunities for the students involved.
Special Advertising: In addition to the emails and posted flyers, I would suggest sending an email to the local Universities, as they may have an interest. As always, a Facebook update could be helpful!