Chasing Totality: The History and Science of Eclipses

Friday, Sept. 29, 2023 - December, 2024 | During Regular Museum Hours

On April 8, 2024, Spiegel Grove and the rest of Sandusky County will be plunged into total darkness as the moon completely blots out the sun. Astronomers have known about the 2024 North American Solar Eclipse for more than a century. You can find it predicted to the minute in the 1887 book “Canon of Eclipses,” which lists every eclipse through the year 2161.

The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums will explore the story of humanity’s fascination with eclipses in “Chasing Totality: The History and Science of Eclipses.” The exhibit will look at the science behind how eclipses work, the history of astronomy’s attempts to understand that science and a look at one particular solar eclipse that drove Americans across the country to the western territories during Rutherford B. Hayes’s presidency. “Chasing Totality” will open Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, and remain on exhibit through December 2024. Access to this exhibit is included with regular admission. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums members are admitted for free. For updated hours and admission prices, visit rbhayes.org.