It’s easy to do the math at the Studebaker National Museum and Center for History: one fabulous museum (Studebaker National Museum) + one fabulous museum (Center for History) = one outstanding museum campus (The Museums at Washington and Chapin). With the October 28, 2005 move of Studebaker National Museum to a new facility adjoining the Center for History, visitors can enter one front door, buy one ticket and visit two museums.

As Studebaker National Museum's building plans unfolded, there were deliberate decisions by both museums to share one parking lot for visitors as well as one entrance, one lobby and many other features. One sign marks the museums' names. One visitor services staff member sells tickets to both museums. Banners of both museums along Chapin coordinate the two logos. Visitors can choose among admission to The Studebaker National Museum, admission to the Center for History, or a Campus admission. A Joint Membership is offered, entitling free visits to both museums. Staffs and boards of both museums have been working side by side in myriad areas for over a year to create the museum complex.

Studebaker National Museum’s priceless collection of wagons, vehicles and artifacts spans 150 years of local industrial history. Its new home is a state-of-the-art museum reflecting the design traditions of Studebaker buildings from the 1920s and 1930s.

The Bullet Nose Gallery sports a Raymond Loewy-designed 1950 Champion convertible, distinctive for its front-end “Bullet Nose” treatment that was new for 1950. Spinning on a large turntable, the car is seen as it would have appeared in a 1950s showroom. Similarly exciting is an authentic “Car Drop,” reminiscent of actual Studebaker production.

Hydraulic lifts in the lower level hold vehicle storage in “double-decker” fashion, so that all cars, even those not part of an interpreted exhibit, are visible to the public. Interactive exhibits like “Build Your Own Car” are both fun and educational.

Through Studebaker’s exhibitions, visitors can trace the area’s industrial past from the 1800s to the present and learn about the Studebaker family, the great South Bend/Mishawaka industrial giants, Studebaker’s critical role in the country’s war efforts and more.

OF SPECIAL NOTE is the largest presidential carriage collection known to exist, showcasing carriages belonging to Presidents Lincoln, McKinley, Harrison and Grant. Within this collection is the museum’s oldest vehicle, the Lafayette carriage built in 1824.

The Center for History is a magnificent historic site that showcases Copshaholm, the 38-room Victorian mansion of industrialist Joseph Doty Oliver and his family. Completed in 1896, the house retains the family’s original furnishings. Copshaholm, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has three floors with 14 fireplaces and nine bathrooms. Surrounding Copshaholm are the Historic Oliver Gardens, 2.5 acres of landscaped gardens that include a tea house, formal Italianate garden, rose garden, pergola, tennis lawn and fountain. The Oliver family founded the Oliver Chilled Plow Company, a major international manufacturer of farm implements and equipment in the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Located just a short walk from Copshaholm is the Worker’s Home, a restored cottage furnished to reflect life as it might have been lived by a Polish working-class family of the 1930s. The Worker’s Home or Dom Robotnika, which means “worker’s home” in Polish, celebrates the community’s diverse ethnic heritage.

The Center for History also features five exhibition galleries, including Voyages Gallery, a series of permanent exhibitions where visitors can explore stories of the people of the St. Joseph River Valley, from the prehistoric era to present-day cities. The Ernestine M. Raclin Gallery of Notre Dame History, which opened in 1999 in partnership with the University of Notre Dame, features different aspects of the university’s history. A wide variety of compelling stories can be found in the changing exhibitions of the Carroll Gallery, Leighton Gallery and Changing Gallery.

Also on view at the Center for History is a Women Who Played Hard Ball: The Real “League of Their Own,” a permanent exhibition of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League collection, which is housed at the museum.

The Center for History’s Kidsfirst Children's Museum is an interactive gallery that encourages children to explore history through hands-on activities. Here, children can “navigate” the St. Joseph River in a canoe, climb aboard our Conestoga wagon to make-believe they're journeying cross-country to their new homestead and more.

The Museums at Washington and Chapin are open Monday - Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. Tours through Copshaholm and the Worker’s Home are guided, with the last tour beginning at 2 p.m.

Admission to the museums ranges from $5 to $12. Senior and student rates are available. Special rates are available for groups of 20 or more. Reservations are necessary for group tours.

To find out more about Studebaker National Museum, call (574) 235-9714. For information about the Center for History, call (574) 235-9664.