Josiah Bushnell Grinnell and the Iowa Underground Railroad“Preacher,” “congressman,” “negro-stealer”: Josiah Bushnell Grinnell was called all of those things during his life. He was called a negro-stealer because he participated in the Iowa Underground Railroad. J.B. Grinnell and other Grinnell residents helped at least 37 fugitive slaves who passed through their town before the Civil […]

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 […]

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 […]

At the Waterloo Public Library, a storyteller and discussion leader meet with families to read and talk about award-winning children’s books. Invigorating and inspiring children to think analytically, develop a lifelong interest in learning and reading, and create connections between storybooks and real-life situations.Originally created by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities in 1991, Prime Time […]

Unconditional Surrender: A Visit with Ulysses S. Grant: A performance runs 60-70 minutes, and features period music, photographs and cartoons as Grant reviews his life—an informative, humorous and touching portrayal of the victorious General whose strategy and tenacity won the Civil War, the President who struggled to rebuild his nation after the war and the husband […]

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 […]

At the Waterloo Public Library, a storyteller and discussion leader meet with families to read and talk about award-winning children’s books. Invigorating and inspiring children to think analytically, develop a lifelong interest in learning and reading, and create connections between storybooks and real-life situations.Originally created by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities in 1991, Prime Time […]

Debra Marquart is available to read from her creative work (poetry, fiction, memoir) and to perform music alone, or with her band, The Bone People. A singer-songwriter, Marquart fuses poetry, music, and storytelling in her performances. The topics in Marquart’s five books and ongoing research projects range widely to include the following: agriculture and rural […]

Off the Map: Stories of Abandoned and Disappearing Towns Around IowaThousands of towns and communities were established during Iowa’s pioneer and railroad era. In some instances, they were small towns built around the time of the height of a coal industry that just could not thrive while others supplemented the needs of the countless farmers, […]

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 […]