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Andrew Jackson's Hermitage Launching New Exhibit, Allowing Military in Free in 2015HERMITAGE, Tenn. --(Business Wire)-- To commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, The Hermitage is launching a major new $1.1 million exhibit on January 8, 2015, and inviting all U.S. military personnel, active and retired, to visit free of charge in 2015. The new exhibit, titled Andrew Jackson: Born for a Storm, marks the first comprehensive change to the exhibit content in the Andrew Jackson Center in 25 years. Born for a Storm is part of a new campaign to revisit Jackson's place in history and shift the focus of the National Landmark site from the mansion to the man.The name of the exhibit comes from a famous Jackson quote: "I was born for a storm, and a calm does not suit me." Admission to the site will be free and open to all on January 8 to encourage the public to take part in the celebration, which will include a keynote speech from presidential biographer and Jackson scholar H.W. Brands from the University of Texas at Austin and demonstrations and programs honoring the military. Visitors to the exhibit will get a new look at Jackson, starting with his early life as a frontiersman through his military and political careers and ending with a look at his legacy - both the negative and the positive aspects of his administration and policies - through new artwork, artifacts, interactive elements and interviews with historians like Jon Meacham. "We'll have all-new interactive features and updated imagery in addition to all of the rare and unique artifacts that make The Hermitage the most accurately preserved presidential site in the country," said Howard Kittell, president and CEO of The Hermitage. One element of the exhibit is focused on the Battle of New Orleans, one of the final and most storied battles of the War of 1812, in which then-General Andrew Jackson led a small group of American soldiers, Tennessee volunteers, freedmen and pirates to victory against a much larger and experienced British force. The victory was decisive and swift, and it catapulted Jackson into the national spotlight - and the United States onto the world stage as a major power. The Hermitage has hired design firm Solid Light to develop the new exhibit.
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