The Indy 500 bills itself today as \u201cThe Greatest Spectacle in Racing.\u201d That description would\u2019ve been just as accurate for the inaugural race on May 30, 1911, which featured 40 cars battling for a then-staggering $27,000 in prize money. Matt Anderson, Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford will take us on the journey through photos from that landmark first running \u2013 many taken by Henry Ford, one of the 80,000 fans who saw history being made at the Brickyard that day.<\/p>\n
Photo Credit: The Henry Ford<\/a><\/p>\n The\u00a0Studebaker Museum Speaker Series<\/a>, presented by the\u00a0Campisi Family Education Fund<\/a>, is held in the Wiekamp Auditorium. Regular Speaker Series admission is $2. Regular admission fees apply to tour the Studebaker National Museum and\u00a0The History Museum<\/a>. Studebaker National Museum and Campus members are admitted free!<\/em><\/p>","excerpt":"","slug":"the-first-indy-500","image":{"url":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THF229391.jpg","id":14785,"extension":"jpg","width":1200,"height":918,"filesize":802963,"sizes":{"medium":{"width":300,"height":230,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":14126,"url":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THF229391-300x230.jpg"},"large":{"width":1024,"height":783,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":118925,"url":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THF229391-1024x783.jpg"},"thumbnail":{"width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":5262,"url":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THF229391-150x150.jpg"},"medium_large":{"width":768,"height":588,"mime-type":"image\/jpeg","filesize":72506,"url":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THF229391-768x588.jpg"}}},"all_day":false,"start_date":"2026-10-21 13:30:00","start_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"10","day":"21","hour":"13","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"end_date":"2026-10-21 14:30:00","end_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"10","day":"21","hour":"14","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"utc_start_date":"2026-10-21 13:30:00","utc_start_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"10","day":"21","hour":"13","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"utc_end_date":"2026-10-21 14:30:00","utc_end_date_details":{"year":"2026","month":"10","day":"21","hour":"14","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"timezone":"UTC+0","timezone_abbr":"UTC+0","cost":"","cost_details":{"currency_symbol":"$","currency_code":"USD","currency_position":"prefix","values":[]},"website":"","show_map":true,"show_map_link":true,"hide_from_listings":false,"sticky":false,"featured":false,"categories":[{"name":"Speaker Series","slug":"speaker-series","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":29,"taxonomy":"tribe_events_cat","description":"The Studebaker Museum Speaker Series, presented by the Campisi Family Education Fund, is held in the Wiekamp Auditorium. Regular lecture admission is $2. Regular admission fees apply to tour the Studebaker National Museum and The History Museum. Studebaker National Museum and Campus members are admitted free!\r\n\r\n*Dates and prices are subject to change*","parent":0,"count":71,"filter":"raw","id":29,"urls":{"self":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/categories\/29","collection":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/categories"}}],"tags":[],"venue":{"id":13179,"author":"10","status":"publish","date":"2024-08-29 18:24:46","date_utc":"2024-08-29 18:24:46","modified":"2024-08-29 18:24:46","modified_utc":"2024-08-29 18:24:46","url":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/venue\/wiekamp-auditorium\/","venue":"Wiekamp Auditorium","slug":"wiekamp-auditorium","json_ld":{"@type":"Place","name":"Wiekamp Auditorium","description":"","url":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/venue\/wiekamp-auditorium\/","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress"},"telephone":"","sameAs":""},"show_map":false,"show_map_link":false,"global_id":"studebakermuseum.org?id=13179","global_id_lineage":["studebakermuseum.org?id=13179"]},"organizer":[],"custom_fields":[],"json_ld":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Event","name":"The First Indy 500","description":"<p>The Indy 500 bills itself today as \u201cThe Greatest Spectacle in Racing.\u201d That description would\u2019ve been just as accurate for the inaugural race on May 30, 1911, which featured 40 […]<\/p>\\n","image":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/THF229391.jpg","url":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/event\/the-first-indy-500\/","eventAttendanceMode":"https:\/\/schema.org\/OfflineEventAttendanceMode","eventStatus":"https:\/\/schema.org\/EventScheduled","startDate":"2026-10-21T13:30:00+00:00","endDate":"2026-10-21T14:30:00+00:00","location":{"@type":"Place","name":"Wiekamp Auditorium","description":"","url":"https:\/\/studebakermuseum.org\/venue\/wiekamp-auditorium\/","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress"},"telephone":"","sameAs":""},"performer":"Organization"},"is_virtual":false,"virtual_url":null,"virtual_video_source":""}ABOUT SPEAKER SERIES<\/h3>\n