Higgins Armory Museum Celebrates Founder with Free Admission!

December 7, 2005
Contact: Sara Murphy
(508) 853-6015 ext. 26
smurphy@higgins.org

(WORCESTER, Mass., December 7, 2005) – Come celebrate Founder’s Day with FREE admission for all on Saturday, January 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.! Join us for a fun filled day to mark the founding of the Higgins Armory Museum by John Woodman Higgins. Watch exhilarating combat displays, take a tour of the galleries or participate in one of our many art workshops, including making your own shield or felt pennant ($5 per child).

Founder’s Day celebrates the life and dream of John Woodman Higgins, a lifetime resident of Worcester, Massachusetts, who had an interest in metalworking, steel and tales of chivalric knights from a very young age. It seems only natural, then, that he would become a collector of suits of armor later in life. When his collection grew too big for his home, he dreamed of opening a museum that would not only house his many suits of armor and antique weapons but also allow the public to view his extensive assortment of historical artifacts. In 1931 his dream was realized when Higgins’ “Steel Museum” was opened in a new, state of the art, glass and steel building. Although John Woodman Higgins passed away in 1961, his museum lives on in the same spirit as when it was founded.

“Founder’s Day is an opportunity for everyone to experience John Woodman Higgins’ love of armor while celebrating the realization of Higgins’ dream of opening an armor museum,” said Kent dur Russell, executive director of the Higgins Armory Museum. “It gives people a chance to see what the Higgins has to offer!”