Events

How Iowa Met Baseball: the Myths, the History, the PlayersOver the past century the setting for the spring passion of many Iowans has been the ballpark. This presentation explores the myths of baseball’s origins, the early history and evolution of the game, baseball’s journey to Iowa and the role of the Civil War in spreading its […]

Nancy Drew: Iowa’s Heroine to the WorldNancy Drew is the most popular female detective in fiction. Few know, however, that Nancy is an Iowa heroine and that her creator was Mildred Augustine of Ladora. Nancy Drew and Mildred Augustine are extraordinary role models for Iowa girls and boys, women and men. An academic pioneer (the […]

The Curious Case of the Bipolar DetectiveA 40-minute exploration into the clinical world of Sherlock Holmes’s mood swings throughout the 60 Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories, while also educating about clinical diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder. Presentation is accessible to both professionals and general lay audiences alike.

Nancy Drew: Iowa’s Heroine to the WorldNancy Drew is the most popular female detective in fiction. Few know, however, that Nancy is an Iowa heroine and that her creator was Mildred Augustine of Ladora. Nancy Drew and Mildred Augustine are extraordinary role models for Iowa girls and boys, women and men. An academic pioneer (the […]

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 […]

Iowa’s Lost History from the Titanic What do an orphan train rider, a kidnapper, a missionary, a wealthy businessman, a wedding guest, a betrayed wife, a farmer and an immigrant recruiter have in common? All had ties to Iowa, and all were passengers aboard the ill-fated Titanic on the fateful night of April 15, 1912, […]

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 […]

American Dreamer: The Life and Times of Henry A. WallaceIn this one-act play based on the award-winning book of the same name by Senator John C. Culver and John Hyde, actor Tom Milligan portrays Henry A. Wallace, the agricultural innovator and founder of Pioneer Hi-Bred seed corn company who became US Secretary of Agriculture and […]

Whitetail: Treasure, Trophy or Trouble?Although Iowa’s original deer herd vanished in the face of white settlement, the animals rebounded during the 20th century to the point of overpopulation. Adapted from a 2003 book written for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, “Whitetail” traces that history. It’s a story with broad appeal to farmers, hunters, motorists […]

Savor Iowa’s Culinary History Savor Iowa’s amazing food heritage! Iowa’s delectable cuisine is quintessentially Midwestern, grounded in its rich farming heritage and spiced with diverse ethnic influences. From the chili-and-cinnamon-rolls phenomenon to Maid-Rites to the moveable feast known as RAGBRAI, discover the remarkable stories behind Iowa classics and savor a smorgasbord of other unique Iowa […]

Kelsey BigelowKelsey Bigelow is a poet and speaker based in Des Moines. She spends her time working as a mental health poet, sharing this therapeutic tool with audiences of all ages across the world. She is the author of three poetry books and a spoken word album and is published in many journals. As a […]