State Historical Society of Iowa

DEADLINE TODAY🚨ATTEN: K-12 Teachers! 📚✨It’s not too late to sign up for FREE professional development this June, hosted by the State Historical Museum of Iowa. Check out this lineup, share with fellow teachers, and HURRY—the next deadline is TODAY, Friday 5!

🔎 Iowa History Institute: Iowa to the Civil War (June 10–11)
📍 State Historical Museum of Iowa
2-day deep dive into Iowa history with artifact access + behind-the-scenes tours.
➡️ Earn 1 license renewal credit + free copy of A New History of Iowa by Jeff Bremer
🚨Register by June 5

🧠 Hands-on History (K–6) (June 15–16)
📍 State Historical Museum of Iowa
Interactive, classroom-ready strategies with artifacts, mock field trips, and a build-your-own mini museum.
➡️ Free copy of Flashes of Brilliance + ready-to-use lessons
🚨Register by June 10

🗂️ Student-Led Historical Inquiries (7–12) (June 25–26)
📍 State Historical Museum of Iowa
Learn how to guide students through real research using primary sources.
➡️ Free classroom materials + behind-the-scenes access + 1 license renewal credit
👀 Small cohorts. Big ideas. Real classroom takeaways.
🚨Register by June 22

👉 Save your spot: https://lnkd.in/e7htkqJk

📬 For more PD and classroom-ready content, subscribe to the The Goldfinch Dispatch: https://bit.ly/48xzN59 💡 Bellringers, Iowa history mysteries, ready-to-use lessons, PD opportunities, and museum updates, straight to your inbox on the first Wednesday of every month!

☀️ Our first FREE! Summer Family Fridays at the State Historical Museum of Iowa is tomorrow, June 5th! Pop in between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. for hands-on crafts, themed scavenger hunts, and a guided tour collection tour at 11 a.m. (registration is only required tour, link below). 😎 School's out for ...See you at the museum!

https://history.iowa.gov/events/summer-family-friday-all-about-museum

🚨NEW starting THIS Friday!☀️ Join us for Summer Family Fridays, featuring hands-on crafts, themed scavenger hunts, and guided tours from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. on select Fridays throughout the summer (schedule below!). Each week is a new theme with different ways to explore Iowa history together…PLUS:

🎟️ Collect stamps in your Summer Museum Activity Pass each time you visit! Turn in your pass at the end of the summer for a chance to WIN a special prize!

NOTE: Registration is required for Collection Tours. All other activities are drop-in and self-guided.

🏛️ June 5 | All About the Museum
Explore the museum through a special scavenger hunt, create a museum-inspired craft, and enjoy a behind-the-scenes collections tour.

✈️ June 12 | Planes, Wagons and Automobiles
Discover the history of transportation through hands-on activities, a themed scavenger hunt, and guided exhibit tour.

✊ June 19 | Juneteenth and the Civil War
Learn stories of freedom, courage, and community through activities, a scavenger hunt, and guided tour highlighting Black Iowans’ contributions to Iowa history.

🇺🇸 June 26 | Revolutionary Iowans
Celebrate the people who embodied the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness through crafts, a scavenger hunt, and guided tour.

🎂 July 10 | America 250
Help celebrate America’s 250th birthday with themed activities, a scavenger hunt, and creative ways to share your birthday wishes for the nation.

🚂 July 17 | Early Iowa Statehood
Step into Iowa’s pioneer era with hands-on activities, games, a scavenger hunt, and guided tour.

🎨 July 24 | Art and Portraits
Explore the stories behind art and portraits in the museum through a guided tour, themed scavenger hunt, and creative activities.

Visit https://history.iowa.gov/visit/events for the full calendar, tour details, and registration information.

SummerAtTheMuseum

to an important moment in Iowa history earlier this month at Blood Run National Historic Landmark. 📍🗺️ Earlier in May, community members gathered west of Granite, Iowa, for the dedication of a permanent creek crossing honoring Lance Foster, whose lifelong work helped preserve Native American language, tradition, culture, and history across Iowa and surrounding states. Foster passed away on January 12, 2025, at the age of 64, but his impact continues to shape the preservation and interpretation of this remarkable site.

Now known as Lance’s Crossing: A Bridge to Understanding, the memorial crossing stands at one of Iowa’s most significant cultural and archaeological landscapes. Blood Run was a major Oneota trading center from the 1500s to the 1700s where Native nations interacted and traded, later becoming a point of exchange with Europeans. Today, it is the largest National Historic Landmark and archaeological site in Iowa.

The dedication ceremony included a prayer and cedar ceremony led by Calvin Harlan of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, followed by reflections from friends, tribal representatives, historians, and preservation partners. The preservation of Blood Run would not have been possible without the efforts of Lance Foster and many others dedicated to protecting this landscape for future generations.

📰 Read more about the dedication ceremony and the history of Blood Run in this article from the N’West Iowa Review: https://bit.ly/4dMX44F
🚘 Learn more about visiting Blood Run, one of the State Historical Society of Iowa’s seven historic sites, here: https://history.iowa.gov/visit/historic-sites-0

History of Blood Run comes alive at expert forum, dedication ceremony LARCHWOOD—Up in the far corner of N’West Iowa tucked away behind the rolling hills lies a place with deep historical significance to the area and the native people that lived

Don’t miss the FINAL two museum tours of the month, happening THIS SATURDAY at the State Historical Museum of Iowa! 🏛️

May 30 🏛️ Museum Exhibit Tour: Iowa and the Civil War
Explore Iowa’s role in the Civil War and hear stories of the people who shaped history. Sign up here: https://history.iowa.gov/events/pop-museum-tour-iowa-and-civil-war-0

May 30 🏛️ Family Museum Collection Tour
Step behind the scenes for a family-friendly look inside the museum collections storage area! Sign up here: https://history.iowa.gov/events/family-museum-collection-tour-8

Advance registration is required for both tours. We hope to see you there!

Thank you to We Are Iowa Local 5 News for welcoming the State Historical Society of Iowa back to the today to share what’s happening this summer at the museum! 😎

Check out the clip (link below) to hear from Matthew Jayne (SHSI Learning & Engagement Manager) and Hanna Howard (SHSI State Curator) as they discuss ☀️summer camps, 🏛️tours, our ✨NEW Family Fridays, and preview our new Revolutionary Iowans Exhibit Experience commemorating America’s upcoming 250th birthday. 🇺🇸

Visit history.iowa.gov for our full event calendar of, museum tour registration, summer camp information and more. 🙌

The State Historical Museum of Iowa is FREE and open to the public:
Tuesday-Friday: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m.-3 p.m.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ojetWrOVU

Summer fun taking place at the State Historical Society of Iowa The State Historical Society is offering day camps for kids, Family Friday and a new exhibit project, "Revolutionary Iowans," in honor of America 250.▶️ Subs...