Your Grampa and Gramma’s FarmFarming in the late 1800s and early 1900s represents a lifestyle of hard work, inventions, prosperity and depression. This presentation focuses on a typical farmer, Joshua Secrest, who developed a successful livestock farm. It also reviews the dramatic development of ingenious farm machinery and tools that enabled growth and prosperity. Secrest […]
AI and the Human FutureThis presentation focuses on the big moral and political issues surrounding artificial intelligence. What exactly is AI? Can it make our lives and our communities better, or is it going to take all our jobs and kill us off? Can AI respect privacy, or is privacy a thing of the past? […]
Adventures Along the Historic Lincoln Highway in IowaNothing 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 on […]
From the Battlefront to the Homefront: Iowa Broadcasters Go To WarThe bravery of American military members has been well-documented, often due to the unique reporting done by Iowa-based broadcasters on the scene. This presentation includes segments from a documentary by the same name, featuring vintage broadcasts and interviews with the journalists who covered conflicts from […]
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 […]
Iowa’s Ethnic Heritage, or “Who Do You Think We Are?”Enjoy the unfolding and changing adventure of Iowa’s immigration history. Beginning with the Ioway, one of 17 distinctive indigenous tribal groups, we’ll trace chronologically who we are as Iowans. From Spanish explorers and French trappers, traders and priests; to the dominant English, Germans and Irish; to Scandinavians, Dutch […]
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 […]
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 […]
Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our TimeThomas Dean is trained as a Land Ethic Leader through the Aldo Leopold Foundation, a program with the goal to both introduce Leopold’s land ethic to a wider audience and also to deepen understanding and engagement through dialogue about the meaning and value of conservation. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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