Darcy Maulsby: Adventures Along the Historic Lincoln Highway

Prairie Creek Assisted Living, 301 4th St N, West Bend, IA 50597, USA

Adventures Along the Historic Lincoln Highway in Iowa Nothing says freedom like the great American road trip, especially when you cruise the historic Lincoln Highway in Iowa. Better known today as Highway 30, the Lincoln Highway revolutionized Iowa and America when the historic route was developed more than a century ago. If you’ve ever traveled […]

Pete Grady: Unconditional Surrender

Monticello Public Library, 205 E Grand St, Monticello, IA 52310, USA

Unconditional Surrender: A Visit with Ulysses S. Grant is a one-man show about the life and times of the Civil War General and 18th President of the United States. Pete Grady, the author and performer, has performed his show over 100 times at venues in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, South Dakota, Colorado, and Arizona. Grady is fully […]

Chad Timm: Working with the Enemy

German American Heritage Center & Museum, 712 W 2nd St, Davenport, IA 52802, USA

Working with the Enemy: German, Italian and Japanese Prisoners of War in Iowa during the Second World WarAs part of a relatively quiet and under-publicized government program, thousands of enemy soldiers invaded Iowa in 1943. With the hugely successful 1942 Allied campaign against Adolf Hitler’s vaunted Afrika Corps in North Africa, the number of enemy […]

Jennifer Sterling: 6-on-6 Girl’s Basketball in Iowa: Traditions, Transitions, and Legacies

Lakin Library and Envisioning Center, 725 Main St, Tabor, IA 51653, USA

For most of the 20th century, Iowa was known for its devotion to a unique form of women’s sport known as 6-on-6 girls’ basketball. As other states abandoned 6-on-6 in the 1970s, Iowa remained committed to this half-court game until 1993, when the final 6-player championship was held. This multi-media presentation recounts Iowa’s 6-on-6 history, […]

Jeff Stein: Iowans You Should Know

Mowry Irvine Mansion, 503 W Main St, Marshalltown, IA 50158, USA

Iowans You Should Know: Stories from the Iowa Almanac (new in 2021)Did you know that the Eskimo Pie® was invented in Iowa? So was the electric razor, the clip-on bow tie, and the self-filling fountain pen. Iowa was also the childhood home of four Academy Award®-winning performers, and three different Iowa-born musical acts had national #1 […]

Tom Milligan: Cartoons & Conservation

Malvern Public Library, 502 Main St, Malvern, IA 51551, USA

In this 45-minute presentation, Jay N. “Ding” Darling visits with the audience, as an old friend, in his 11th office at The Des Moines Register. Beginning with his early years in Sioux City where as a young boy where he became aware of the natural world around him while developing skills as an editorial cartoonist, he […]

OJ Fargo: Just Before the Battle, Mother

Swisher Community Library, 72 2nd St SE, Swisher, IA 52338, USA

Just Before the Battle Mother—A Visit from a Civil War SoldierMr. Fargo dresses in full Union Army regalia and focuses the first person presentation on an individual Iowa soldier’s Civil War experience. After a brief overview of the state’s involvement, the audience is introduced to a returning Civil War veteran (played by O. J. Fargo). […]

Jennifer Sterling: 6-on-6 Girls Basketball in Iowa

Stuart Public Library, 111 Front St, Stuart, IA 50250, USA

6-on-6 Girl’s Basketball in Iowa: Traditions, Transitions, and LegaciesFor most of the 20th century, Iowa was known for its devotion to a unique form of women’s sport known as 6-on-6 girls’ basketball. As other states abandoned 6-on-6 in the 1970s, Iowa remained committed to this half-court game until 1993, when the final 6-player championship was […]

OJ Fargo: Just Before the Battle, Mother

Carnegie-Stout Public Library, 360 W 11th St, Dubuque, IA 52001, USA

Just Before the Battle Mother—A Visit from a Civil War SoldierMr. Fargo dresses in full Union Army regalia and focuses the first person presentation on an individual Iowa soldier’s Civil War experience. After a brief overview of the state’s involvement, the audience is introduced to a returning Civil War veteran (played by O. J. Fargo). […]

Donald Shurr: Lewis & Clark in Iowa

West Des Moines Public Library, 4000 Mills Civic Pkwy, West Des Moines, IA 50265, USA

Lewis and Clark in Iowa“Lewis and Clark in Iowa” begins with the story before the expedition: the sale of the Louisiana Purchase to the United States. Tracing the 1803 course from Elizabeth, Pennsylvania to St. Charles, Missouri, Shurr discusses the background of the many “players” of the expedition including York, the engages and Seaman. Moving […]

Beth Hoffman: Bet the Farm

Lied Public Library, 100 E Garfield St, Clarinda, IA 51632, USA

Beth Hoffman was living the good life: she had a career as a journalist and professor, and a comfortable home in San Francisco. Yet in her late 40s, she and her husband decided to leave the big city and move to his family farm in Iowa—all for the dream of becoming a farmer, to put […]