The James Dean Museum — Attraction in Fairmount

I find museums and archives—historical preservation of any kind, really—to be the most important practice, second only to making history itself, so I've been looking forward to visiting the James Dean Museum for many years. I've followed their socials & I think the relocation was a great move, as it has allowed for far more space (including historical artifacts that have never before been displayed to the public!). I really admired how involved and devoted the entire Fairmount community is to preserving his legacy. So much history in one town. Lovely people.

My girlfriend and I were kindly greeted by Dorothy, who guided us on a lovely tour and excitedly gushed about Jimmy with me! I always love meeting people who are as passionate about their interests as I am with mine. Dorothy was incredibly personable, very kind and funny, and really knows her stuff! Thank you for all that you do! I really appreciate and admire your dedication! Jimmy really does attract the best crowd.

The gift shop has a great selection of hard-to-find and one-of-a-kind James Dean collectibles & the pricing was affordable—I was surprised by how little I had spent, having bought so much! I think I'll treasure my 'Rebel Without a Cause' daisy compact replica most of all. After seeing it on the website for so long, it's finally in my hands! (you CAN make online purchases, I just wanted to get mine in person!)

Thanks again & props to Dorothy for making the visit a dream come true! In Jimmy's own words, "all you have to do is...

Dorothy and Christy are amazing stewards of this incredible museum. We arrived later in Fairmount than we'd planned on 8/26. We also knew only of the Gallery in town, and Jimmy's grave. By the time we found out about the Fairmount Museum's collection, they were closed. We were hoping only for a quick photo with Garfield sporting his Rebel jacket when we stopped by. We had made the long drive from Texas to Wisconsin to move our son to college and took a WIDE loop to Fairmount on the way home. To our absolute luck/delight - we found Dorothy and Christy outside when we arrived. Some rough weather was rolling in, and they'd stepped outside for a moment to monitor while waiting on a scheduled board meeting to start. It was quite simply one of the greatest accidental meetings we've ever had. They not only flipped on all the lights and welcomed us inside, they shared in every ounce of our joy. These ladies LOVE James Dean. It was so incredible to have them all to ourselves while we poured over what is undoubtedly the most impressive James Dean collection in existence. They shared so much information (and enthusiasm) with us. It was truly unforgettable, and we are forever indebted to them for their kindness. We loaded up with merch before we left, and if we can't make this year's festival in a few weeks, we WILL make next year's. Meanwhile planning a trip to Marfa since only one of us has been. We'll make sure we send...

Our group of four decided to drive from Indy up to Fairmount while we were in Indiana from NE OH and NW PA for the Studebaker Drivers' Club national meet. I got interested in Dean while driving through CA two years ago and totally accidentally driving by Blackwell's Corners and also the site of Dean's accident down the road. I since have read Lee Raskin's book "On the Road to Salinas" about Dean's love of Porsches and racing and the particulars of his accident.

First, Fairmount has a charming, stuck-in-time feel. The museum is absolutely awesome, and we had a guide named Dorothy who could promptly answer any question we had. We simply could not have had a more engaging, friendlier tour guide of the museum. It is amazing the amount of artifacts from his school days and also his L.A. and NYC career days, there. I believe I will be back to visit next time I'm in that area of Indiana.

UPDATE: I visited again in March 2025 with the same Studebaker Club friend I visited with in 2021. First time we'd seen the new museum. Awesome, and much bigger. I appreciated the cars, especially. Thankfully the encyclopedic docent Dorothy still works there! We were sorry to miss meeting Mr. Winslow earlier that day but someday hope to if we're out there. We can discuss Fords...