Contact:
Dan Carpenter
(325) 673-4587
Marketing@thegracemuseum.org

Grace begins new monthly history talks

Abilene, TX (January 18, 2008) - The Grace Museum is beginning a new series of history talks designed to explore topics of Texas history.

The "4th Friday" lecture series begins this Friday at 10:30 a.m., and will be presented on the fourth Friday of each month. Each lecture is presented by a local scholar.

The first 4th Friday lecture features Dr. Robert Sledge, Historian-in-Residence, McWhiney Research Foundation. Sledge will be lecturing on his 2005 book, It's a Jungle Out There. The book is an entertaining yet informative look at Texas high school mascots in which Sledge traces the lore and the legends, the popular and the pertinent, the original and the obscure, the conventional and the controversial.

Lectures will be held in The Grace's 3rd floor Education Center, and are free for museum members, $3 for non-members.

The Grace Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Thursday. Admission is free Thursday evening after 5 p.m.

For more information, call 325-673-4587.

-30-

The Grace Museum's exhibitions and educational programs are supported in part by grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, the City of Abilene, Taylor County, and the Downtown Revitalization Program of the Tax Increment Finance District.

The Grace Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1909, The Hotel Grace served as a rest stop for railway travelers. The mission-style building was renovated and re-opened in 1992 as The Grace Cultural Center. The Grace Museum , a non-profit organization, now serves as a home to a Children's Museum, History Museum , and Art Museum. At 55,000 sq. ft., The Grace Museum is the 10th largest general museum in Texas . The Grace Museum is the cornerstone of cultural arts and education in West Texas.