Information and photos of evolution of music in Iowa Schools from 1870-1950 from the Collections of the Iowa Rural Schools Museum of Odebolt

Information and photos of historical school documents and Iowa books in Iowa Schools from 1870-1950 from the Collections of the Iowa Rural Schools Museum of Odebolt

Information and photos of school awards in Iowa Schools from 1870-1950 from the Collections of the Iowa Rural Schools Museum of Odebolt

Discover the people, places, events, and ideas of Iowa history. Explore hundreds of articles, images, videos and websites. Create your own story of Iowa as you go to unexpected places and search the past and present. Travel down side trails and uncover artifacts as you explore your Iowa pathway.

What is a goldfinch, you ask? Of course it is a beautiful bird, but it is was also an Iowa history magazine for young people. Published quarterly by the State Historical Society of Iowa from 1975 to 2000, each issue had a theme (such as immigrants) and included articles, games, and fiction. The University of Iowa Libraries has digitized all of these back issues and visitors can scroll through all of them from this site. Visitors might do well to start by looking at the issues titled "Health in Iowa" and "Traveling Entertainment." Educators might consider these works as a model for teaching young people about history as each issues is well-curated and contains a mix of visual materials and thoughtful text.

The Iowa Digital Library features more than a million digital objects created from the holdings of the University of Iowa Libraries and its campus partners. Included are illuminated manuscripts, historic maps, fine art, historic newspapers, scholarly works, and more. Digital collections are coordinated by the Digital Scholarship & Publishing Studio.

This module provides in-depth details and stories of Iowa's highly successful Iowa (Common) Rural School System (1858-1966) and how it anchored the huge farm settlement (1870-1900) and helped shape the character of Iowa. While there are still people today who have fond childhood memories of attending one-room schools in the mid-1900's, most are unaware that 12,623 one-room schools were built mostly during the Victorian Age (1870-1900) or that they were linked together as part of a legislated state-wide system of rural schools that provided easy access for all children within a 2-mile walk from home. Willow Tree School in Richland Township, Sac County, Iowa serves as a representative of a one-room school during the time that the Iowa Rural School System operated. We invite you to get to know the individuals associated with Willow Tree and let them take you to another time and place!

We are committed to preserving and promoting the state’s history and encouraging a public conversation about the story of Iowa. Our mission is to advance the understanding and appreciation of Iowa history among the state’s students, scholars and general public. We have established a number of programs designed to heighten public awareness and interest in Iowa history, expand educational opportunities in Iowa history, and make this history more widely available.

This site is committed to maintaining and nurturing the history of Iowa and its story. They have numerous programs to increase public interest and understanding of Iowa history. Their goal is to create more educational opportunities and make Iowa’s history more available for the public.

Learn more about how immigrants settled Iowa by developing farms and built schools on the tall grass prairie in Iowa. Through video, primary sources, activities and text learn more about:
A) Preparation for Settlement of Iowa's Treeless Tall Grass Prairie
B) Promotion of Large Scale Prairie Settlement of 3/4 of Iowa

Learn more about how immigrants settled Iowa by developing farms and built schools on the tall grass prairie in Iowa. Through video, primary sources, activities and text learn more about:
(Continued from part 1)
C) Transformation of Prairie to Farms, Towns and Building One Room Schools
D) Operation and Success of the Iowa Rural School System Over Time
E) Challenges and the end of the Iowa Rural School System

Iowa History Online provides online support for teachers of Iowa history at the elementary and secondary levels. Included are Iowa history benchmarks, scope and sequence models, curriculum guides, Iowa literature, Iowa history textbooks, field trips, primary source materials and a listing of contact persons for assistance in teaching Iowa history.

The purpose of this website is to provide teachers across Iowa quality resources for Iowa history. Within this website there are tabs to assist teachers on State Requirements, Benchmarks, National Standards, Scope and Sequences, Curriculum Guides, Literature, Textbooks, Primary Source Materials and Field Trips.

Learn about how Iowa was settled and how their educational system was created.

Friends of IAGenWeb provides financial support for the IAGenWeb Project. If you like what you see here, please visit the Friends Website and find out how you too can participate.

This websites provides on-line publications pertaining to Iowa’s History. Some of these may include Biographies, County Records, Diaries, Newspapers and many more.

This is an online resource pertaining to Iowa culture and history from 1987-2013. This project is done by Drake University.

The Iowa Women’s Archives holds more than 1100 manuscript collections that chronicle the lives and work of Iowa women, their families, and their communities. These personal papers and organizational records date from the nineteenth century to the present. Together with oral histories, they document the activities of Iowa women throughout the state and beyond its borders. The Iowa Women’s Archives is open to the public.

This Instructional Guide is one of a set of three components provided for each chapter included in the “Video Chapters of Iowa History Series.” This Guide is for use by local groups, historians, students and teachers to learn about the history of Iowa’s rural settlement and one-room schools. The other two components are the video, Iowa’s Unsung Prairie Transformation to Farms and One Room Schools 1870-1900 and a digital library with pictures of artifacts, photos and primary sources. 

Teaching and Learning Iowa History represents a unique way for community members, teachers, and university students to join in the same learning experience with similar goals and curiosities. Whoever you are, we're glad you're here!