The Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is dedicated to championing the literary, artistic, and cultural contributions of the late writer, artist, and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. It opened in January 2011 and was located in The Emelie, a structure on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

at 340 North Senate Avenue in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, until January 2019. Funding for a new building at 543 Indiana Avenue was secured, and the library reopened to the public on November 9, 2019. The library serves as a cultural and educational resource facility, museum, art gallery, and reading room. It supports language and visual arts education through programs and outreach activities with other local arts organizations to foster a strong arts network for both the local and national communities. One of the goals of the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library is to help bring tourism to Indianapolis. Tourism officials from the city look at the library as an important attraction and reason for people to visit. The library is one of several efforts supported by the city and institutions such as the

Lilly Endowment Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and among the largest endowments in the United States. It was founded in 1937 by Josiah K. (J. K.) Lilly Sr. and his s ...

and

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. The university is composed of seven aca ...

to expand the city's cultural activities, alongside the

Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) is an encyclopedic art museum located at Newfields, a campus that also houses Lilly House, The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, the Garden at Newfields and more. It is located at the corner of No ...

and

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the world's largest children's museum. It is located at 3000 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana in the United Northwest Area neighborhood of the city. The museum is accredited by the American Al ...

. Ball State University along with partner contributors granted the library $76,710 to digitize rare archival material and make the content more accessible to the general public via a digital display. On September 26, 2021,

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reported that the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library in Indianapolis has been designated a Literary Landmark by the Literary Landmarks Association.

Interior

Highlighted attractions of the library include a museum, art gallery, and reading room. The museum features rare remnants from Vonnegut's life, including the author's

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

medal awarded to him for his service in

Dresden, Germany Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

; the author's Smith-Corona Coronamatic 2200 typewriter; an unopened box of the author's Pall Mall cigarettes discovered by his children behind a bookcase following his death; an unopened letter sent overseas (in the course of World War II) to the author from his father; a series of rejection letters sent to the author by magazines which are periodically rotated; and a complete replica of his writing studio. The library's art gallery displays art by local and national artists. A small reading room with a selection of books by Vonnegut sits in the corner of the library. On the wall of the reading room is a quote by the author: "We are what we pretend to be so we must be careful what we pretend to be." The new building also features a permanent Slaughterhouse-Five exhibition, and a new Freedom to Read exhibit that celebrates First Amendment rights will open soon.

Public service

The library functions as an educational resource to schools ranging from grade school to high school levels. Resources for high schools include support for the Shortridge High School newspaper, the same newspaper Vonnegut edited as a teenager. Teachers can also look to the library for continuing education through the “Teaching Teachers to Teach Vonnegut” program, a program designed to assist educators in learning key methods of teaching Vonnegut's works to teenagers. The library holds an annual writing contest for high school students, and winners receive scholarships such as the Kurt Vonnegut Writing Award and the Jane Cox Vonnegut Writing Award. Resources are also available to local professional and amateur writers including a variety of writing events and discussions. The library is an active opponent of banning books. When the Republic High School in Missouri banned Vonnegut's classic 1969 novel ''

Slaughterhouse Five ''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to his t ...

'', the library offered students of the high school a free copy of the novel so they could read it themselves and draw their own conclusions. In regard to the book giveaway, a library representative stated: "We have up to 150 books to share thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor … We’re not telling you to like the book … we just want you to read it and decide for yourself." The library includes military veterans in its programming, with an annual event titled "Veterans Reclaim Armistice Day"; exhibitions of veterans' artwork, performance art, and writings; writing workshops; and opportunities for veterans to learn to use the arts and humanities as a way to communicate. Vonnegut himself was a veteran of

''So It Goes''

The library sponsors an annual literary magazine, ''So It Goes'', which debuted in December 2012 and publishes poetry and prose in the spirit of Kurt Vonnegut. Installments are themed: War and Peace (I), Humor (II), Creativity (III), Social Justice (IV), Indiana (V), A Little More Common Decency (VI), Lonesome No More (VII), Slaughterhouse-Five (VIII), Civic Engagement (IX), and Our Good Earth: Vonnegut and the Environment (X). Notable contributors include Tim O'Brien,

Lewis Black Lewis Niles Black (born August 30, 1948) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. His comedy routines often escalate into angry rants about history, politics, religion and cultural trends. He hosted the Comedy Central series ''Lewis Black's ...

, Etheridge Knight,

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. His 2000 memoir, '' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius'', became a bestseller and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. Eggers is a ...

Sean Gill Sean Gill is an American writer and film editor. Education Gill is a graduate of Oberlin College and Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School. He studied privately with Juan Luis Buñuel. Television Gill's television work includes editing episode ...

Marge Piercy Marge Piercy (born March 31, 1936) is an American progressive activist, feminist, and writer. Her work includes '' Woman on the Edge of Time''; '' He, She and It'', which won the 1993 Arthur C. Clarke Award; and ''Gone to Soldiers'', a ''New ...

, Nannette Vonnegut,

Dan Wakefield Dan Wakefield (May 21, 1932 – March 13, 2024) was an American novelist, journalist, and screenwriter. His novels ''Going All the Way (1970) and Starting Over (1973),'' were made into feature films with Wakefield also writing the screenplay f ...

, and

Clayton Eshleman Clayton Eshleman (June 1, 1935 – January 29 or 30, 2021) was an American poet, translator and editor, noted in particular for his translations of César Vallejo and his studies of cave painting and the Paleolithic imagination. Eshleman's work ha ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control Kurt Vonnegut Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Kurt

Interior

Public service

''So It Goes''

See also

References

External links