Did you know that John Steinbeck’s dad was once a Monterey County treasurer?
Exactly my point. Time to visit the National Steinbeck Center, famous in the whole nation as one of the largest literary museums in the U. S. devoted to a single author, aka the largest literary museum near you that you’ve never paid a visit to.
Established in 1998 and located at 1 Main St. in Salinas, the museum is located just a few blocks from where John Steinbeck was born in 1902. It’s open 10am-5pm Wednesday to Sunday. The cost of attendance is usually $15 for an adult ticket, $13 for a discounted ticket, and $7 for a child. But this weekend, on Saturday, March 4 and Sunday, March 5—and on the first full weekend of each month throughout the 2023—people who are credit card or debit cardholders at Bank of America, Merrill or Bank of America can visit the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas for free.
Steinbeck wasn’t shy about criticizing the banking sector in his socially-sensitive novels. As we read in The Grapes of Wrath (1939): “The bank—or the Company—needs—wants—insists—must have—as though the bank or the Company were a monster, with thought and feeling, which had ensnared them...The banks were machines and masters all at the same time…They breathe profits; they eat the interest on money. If they don't get it they die...It is a sad thing, but it is so. It is just so.”
Nonetheless, the Bank of America Museums on Us program offers free weekend general admission to more than 225 cultural attractions across the country in 123 cities across the U.S., 28 of those in California, including the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. The program has been running for the past 25 years.
The Steinbeck Center began as an initiative by the local community and civic leaders to create a forum for Steinbeck's writings and one that would inspire and launch successful literacy and educational programming. It is both a museum and a memorial to Steinbeck and his times, open to students, authors and scholars with its 45,000 documents and artifacts presented in a 2,000-square-foot space, which makes for the biggest Steinbeck archive in the U.S. One can even admire the author's camper truck exhibited—consistent with anything that pertains to his work and life, including his marine line and geographical explorations in California. The center has an orientation theater and a museum store; it holds the Steinbeck Festival and the Young Authors program.
Guests are advised to allow at least two hours for a self-guided experience. All guests are greeted by a docent or staff member who will give a brief orientation and is available to answer questions throughout your self-guided tour.
To enter for free, present your credit or debit card from one of the participating banks, along with a photo ID. All Monterey County school and youth groups are admitted to the National Steinbeck Center at a reduced rate of $2.50 per student; their teachers and chaperones are admitted free.
National Steinbeck Center, 1 Main St., Salinas. 775-4721, steinbeck.org. $15/regular admission; free for Bank of America customers on selected weekends, including March 1-2. For details about this program, visit bit.ly/3SE4eNH.