https://www.icfrc.org/program-information/refugees-and-immigrants-how-their-stories-inform-public-policy

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 […]

Cartoons & Conservation: A Visit with Ding DarlingIn 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 […]

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, […]

Over 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 popularity. Audiences will learn about some of Iowa’s […]

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 […]

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 […]

Where’s Floppy? Celebrating an Iowa Television Icon(new in 2021)For 30 years, from 1957-1987, Duane Ellett and his puppet Floppy delighted audiences of all ages on WHO-TV in Des Moines and at the Iowa State Fair. Children would call out “Where’s Floppy?”—and ventriloquist Ellett would bring his alter ego to life. From cartoons to riddles (“Why […]

Map of my Kingdom and VangMary Swander will provide the cultural and historical contexts surrounding her plays Map of my Kingdom, a drama about farmland transition, and Vang, a drama about recent immigrant farmers. Swander will detail how she wrote both dramas and she why was compelled to take on these contemporary agricultural issues. Land access is a pressing problem for […]

Research consultant, Beth Cody, author of the book, Gardens of the Past, will share her findings on the influences behind Laura Musser McColm's decision to have a Japanese-style garden installed in 1930.  Topics include: Japanese Gardens at World's Fairs, landscape designers who created early Japanese-style gardens in the Midwest, and the fate of many Japanese-style […]

Inspired by the world premier of A Thousand Acres, this series of photographic exhibits, art shows, discussions, plays, book clubs and site-specific events will explore the themes and connections presented by the novel: patriarchy, the passing of land through family and the ties that bind us.Please visit dmmo.org/acres for more information, updates and events.