Iowa Heritage Digital Collections

See an example from each of our digital collections.

Historian Darlene Clark Hine said: "There is an urgent need to discover and collect more primary source materials pertaining to the lives and experiences of ordinary middle western Black women in both rural and urban communities." Although Hine and her colleagues centered their efforts on African-American women in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan -- states which traditionally have had more sizable black populations than Iowa -- the history of African-American women in this state is no less important. Indeed, Iowa's African women share a collective history that is both precious and powerful but all too seldom explored. --Kathryn M. Neal, from Giving Our History a Home: The African-American Women in Iowa Project.

The Amana Heritage Society is dedicated to collecting, preserving, and interpreting the history of the Amana Colonies. This collection is a sample of the smany historic and current photographs of people, places, and events relating to the history of the Amana Colonies.

The Historical Bookbinding Model Collection is a resource used in book studies courses at the University of Iowa. These models represent and demonstrate the structures and characteristic mobility of books across time and cultures. The collection is housed in the Preservation department of the University of Iowa Libraries. The collection can be accessed by maker, education function, structure name, culture context, production context and century of prevalence. The search terms used are provided in a thesaurus.

Coe College is a private, four-year co-educational liberal arts college that was founded in 1851 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "Coe College Student Humor" is a digital compilation of resources housed in the collections of Stewart Memorial Library's George T. Henry College Archives. At present, the Student Humor compilation focuses on a series of student-produced broadsides announcing the arrival of Flunk Day, a campus skip day that has been an annual occurrence since 1911. Much to the dismay of college officials, broadsides announcing that first event were clandestinely distributed at a chapel service, and the bulk of the student body subsequently abandoned campus for a day of leisure. Although a number of the Flunk Day broadsides are no longer extant, those that survive illustrate the changing nature of undergraduate humor. The last known Flunk Day broadside dates from the mid-1970s.

Des Moines University-Osteopathic Medical Center is a freestanding medical university founded in 1898 as the Dr. S.S. Still College of Osteopathy in Des Moines, Iowa. Today the university includes three colleges: the College of Osteopathic Medicine; the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery; and the College of Health Sciences. This collection is a digital sample of the most popular images from the resources housed in the Kendall Reed Rare Book Room. They show the university's three campuses, early leadership, and student life.

In 1910, perhaps 100 fans witnessed the first Drake Relays. This event grew from a dirt track on the outskirts of a fledgling Des Moines to become one of the premier track and field competitions in the country. This collection showcases the history of the Drake Relays through hundreds of images, documents and articles.

Pulitzer Prize winner Jay Norwood 'Ding' Darling created editorial cartoons for the Des Moines Register throughout the first half of the 20th century. Cowles Library's extensive collection of Ding Darling artist proofs has been digitized and is presented here online.

Take a glimpse of Des Moines, Iowa as it entered the 20th century. The Historic Des Moines Collection features photographs of homes, parks and public places taken between 1904 and 1914. The collection is made up of about 200 images taken from sources held in the Cowles Library Special Collections. Each image has been researched, described and indexed. Current images are linked for structures that still stand. Use the Search/Browse page to view images by address, business name, or subject. Accompanying the collection is the article From the Real to the Ideal; Images of Des Moines in the Progressive Era.

The intentional slugging of Drake halfback Johnny Bright at a game at Oklahoma A&M in 1951 caused repercussions in the intercollegiate athletics world and brought changes in rules and equipment. This collection presents the Pulitzer prize winning Des Moines Register photographs, oral histories from witnesses, and various documents that have been digitized.

The sinking of the Titanic brought a personal loss to the students and staff at Drake University. An "A" student, Tomlin learned in 1910 that his father was ill and traveled to London to care for him. In the spring of 1912, Tomlin booked passage on the "RMS Titanic" in order to return to his studies at Drake.

Born in Indianola, Iowa on August 6, 1890, Emma Verona Calhoun Johnston was not only the oldest living American; she was also a graduate of Drake University. View this collection of images and documents that celebrate the life of this 1913 graduate.

Four Mounds Foundation was founded in 1987 as a non-profit organization as a means for managing and stewarding a generous gift of property willed of the City of Dubuque from the estate of Elizabeth Adams Burden upon her passing in 1982. The Burdens had a vision for the 54 acres of scenic river view property - that it be preserved for the public good and utilized for educational purposes. The foundation exists to perpetuate that vision through preservation of the estate and operation of its vocational at-risk youth program.

Grinnell Public Library maintains a small, but rich, archive containing many photographs of its earlier days. The Billy Robinson collection presents a glimpse into the Grinnell aviation industry during the 1910's. Robinson designed and developed one of the first air-cooled radial engines, which he successfully flew, flying from Des Moines to Kentland , Indiana in 1914, thus setting an American record for a nonstop flight. Robinson was killed in a 1916 plane crash while attempting to set an altitude record.

Spaulding Manufacturing Company of Grinnell, Iowa H.W. Spaulding began making carriages and spring wagons in Grinnell, Iowa in 1876. In 1909 the Spaulding Manufacturing Company added automobilies to its production line. Spaulding automobiles were known for their quality construction from rugged materials. Automobile production ceased at the Spaulding factory in 1916 when it could no longer compete with the cheaper Ford automobile.

During World War II the State Historical Society of Iowa staff collected, sorted, and filed about 800,000 Iowa newspaper clippings documenting Iowa's war efforts both at home and on foreign soil. More than 30 topics are covered by the clippings, including business and labor, casualties, education and training, farming and food, production and rationing, public health, life and activities, women's military activities, prisoners of war, and warships. The original clippings are closed to the public due to their deteriorating condition. Several of the topics are now available through ILL or purchase. A portion is being digitized and added to the IHDC.

Irving Weber began writing articles on the history of the city in 1973 for the Iowa City Press Citizen. These articles collectively became the 8 volumes known as "Irving Weber's Iowa City." Part recollection, part research each article conveys a part of the city's story from its founding until the mid 1990s. There are 482 articles in the 8 volumes, many with photographs. Weber brought the history of Iowa City to life with insight, friendly wit and a sharp detailed memory.

The Iowa County Histories document the early history of Iowa and provide biographical sketches of its citizens. Descriptions of the events that shaped the towns, early settlement, territorial history, local government, economic development, and surveys and statistics provide some of the background. These electronic versions are full-text searchable through the Acrobat search option and navigable via the bookmarks tab to the left of the page images.

Michael Harker has been a fine arts photographer since 1973. In 1993 he began a series of photographs of barns in Iowa. In the course of researching this subject he discovered that close to a thousand Iowa barns were being destroyed each year due to various causes, and he decided to embark on a serious documentary of the barns. His collection of seventy-six master silver gelatin photographs were taken in various locations in Iowa between 1993 and 2001. The Special Collections Department at Iowa State University was founded in 1969, and collects papers, records, rare books, and other items that relate to Iowa State University, agriculture and rural life, and science and technology.

The Historical Department of the Mason City Public Library has an impressive photographic collection of over 100,000 images, dating back to the earliest days of Mason City. The collection consists of both photographic negatives and prints. A significant part of the collection comes from three local photographers: Walter Burton Wright, Safford Lock, and Elwin Musser.

The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library is the foremost American institution collecting, preserving and interpreting Czech and Slovak history and culture. This digital collection presents a cache of 40 letters written in Czech by John Pospishil, a Czech immigrant to Iowa. Pospishil was a soldier in the American Civil War from 1862 to 1865 in the 22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry. His letters were addressed to his father back home in Banner Valley, Linn County, Iowa. Scholars are being sought to help provide a typed Czech-language transcript and an English-language translation, which will be added to the digital collection as they become available.

Fr. Catich, son of a Croatian immigrant, orphaned at age 11, supported himself as a sign painter before he entered St. Ambrose, graduating in 1934. After earning a master's degree at the University of Iowa and becoming an ordained priest in Rome, he returned to St. Ambrose to teach in 1938. During his 40-year teaching career at the university, Fr. Edward M. Catich not only founded the university's art department, but also almost single-handedly elevated it to international status through his definitive contributions to calligraphy and revolutionary art theories. Catich advocated making the medium the message with the use of everyday materials to create this more "accessible" art.

During the mid-1800's photography became a popular hobby and natural tool for scientists. Samuel Calvin, Professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Iowa (1873-1911) and State Geologist, took more than 5,000 photographs, which he used to illustrate specific geological features for class instruction, public lectures, and publications. In addition to geological landscapes and features, Calvin and his colleagues documented mines, quarries, mills, and other buildings. The collection, held by the University of Iowa Department of Geoscience, also contains portraits of Calvin's family, colleagues, and classes in the field.

At the beginning of the twentieth century many Iowa communities sought and received funding from the Carnegie Corporation, resulting in the building of 101 public libraries. The Carnegie Libraries in Iowa Project (CLIP), a partnership between the University of Iowa's School of Library and Information Science and Iowa's librarians, is charting changes in Iowa's Carnegie libraries through digital images, documents and statistical data.

Included in this collection are annual surveys from the late 19th century, published by the Iowa Geological Survey as well as shorter technical papers related specifically to coal in Iowa. These materials are full-text searchable.

On May 15, 1950, Evelyn Birkby took her weekly Shenandoah Evening Sentinel "Up a Country Lane" column on the air with KMA radio station, changing its name to "Down a Country Lane." The radio program was a forum to share her observations about her own experiences and those of her neighbors. The program was broadcast over KMA until 1952. Birkby took a hiatus until 1955, when she began working for Kitchen-Klatter as a writer and broadcaster. The Evelyn Birkby Collection of Radio Homemaker Materials date from 1927 to 1999 and measure 3 linear feet. The bulk of these papers are in the form of publications.

Latinos began arriving in Iowa as early as the 1880s. They built homes and communities near the railroad yards where they worked. Later they followed the harvests to work in the rich agricultural fields as migrant laborers. More recently they have found employment in Iowa's packinghouses and service sector industries. Today Iowa is home to Latinos and Latinas from many countries whose work reflects a wide range of occupations and professions. The Mujeres Latinas project of the Iowa Women's Archives has been established to collect and preserve materials including photographs, letters and oral histories to document the lives and contributions of Latinas and their families to Iowa history.

Until this time, of the two most widely used early Iowa atlases, the 1875 Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa has been the most readily available in digital format. With this in mind, the University of Iowa Libraries Map Collection has undertaken and completed the digitization of the 202 maps and photographic plates comprising the 1904 Huebinger Atlas of the State of Iowa, complete with zoom and pan capability. Subsequent additions to this collection include early Iowa county landownership atlases.

The University of Iowa Historic Sheet Music Collection gathers together all sorts of music that creates a snapshot of the music Eastern Iowans played and sang in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A significant portion of the collection was originally housed at the Cedar Rapids Public Library and then dispersed to area colleges and universities upon its withdrawal from that library. The collection is somewhat generic in its scope although it preserves images of music that were popular for the day. Not only is the music of interest, but the cover art work and photographs, along with advertisements, provide a picture of society, fashion, and important moments in history. There are also a number of songs about Iowa, including Way Down in Iowa, the Iowa Corn Song and I'm From Iowa (That Beautiful Iowa Song).

Led by the staff of the Old Capitol Museum on the University of Iowa Pentacrest, this project seeks to connect Iowa 4th through 6th graders with state history by inviting them to record their thoughts on life in Iowa today, just as many young settlers did 150 years ago in diary entries now housed in Special Collections at the UI Libraries Iowa Women's Archives and State Historical Society of Iowa. This digital component of the project makes the diaries available to those students unable to attend the exhibit or to prepare visitors for their experience at the museum.

The Iowa City Town and Campus Scenes Collection contains work by the two photographers who were primary in capturing the history of the Iowa City area for over a century. Samuel Calvin, Professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Iowa (1873-1911) exhibited important geological features both in and outside of Iowa with his glass plate camera, but his photographs of Iowa City and the University of Iowa campus show its history in beautiful detail. Frederick Wallace Kent followed as lecturer and instructor in photography at the University beginning in 1923, and later founded the University Photo Service in 1947. Kent captured not only university life such as sports and graduation in detail, but also photographed commercial and residential buildings off-campus in Iowa City, both from the ground and above. Together, these two photograph collections are an invaluable pictoral piece of Iowa City history.

The John P. Vander Maas Railroadiana Collection, held by the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections Department, includes hundreds of thousands of items related to the American railroad industry. For over 30 years, John P. Vander Maas collected the timetables, train orders, menus, tickets, passes, postcards, business forms and other ephemera from multiple railroads across the country. Vander Maas also collected hundreds of images of locomotives and equipment and depots for multiple railways across the country. This digital collection represents Vander Maas' collection of railroad depot photographs from the state of Iowa, held in scrapbooks where images are organized by state, county and town. The photographs document extant and long-abandoned depots in images dating from the late 1800's into the 1980's. The bulk of the photographs date from approximately 1950 to 1980. A valuable resource for both railroad aficionados and scholars, the Vander Maas collection is one of the most impressive gatherings of railroad source material in the country.

Iowa has long recognized the importance of music education in its public school curricula. Most former high school band members will recall practicing for marching band in the hot summer sun and the rewards of a job well done when hearing the applause of the audience after a concert band performance. Included in this performance from 1965 of the Grundy Center High School Band, conducted by Mr. Charles Lehr, are pieces that feature the trumpet and woodwind sections of the band.

The School of Music at the University of Northern Iowa is recognized as one of the finest college music programs in the Midwest. Offering programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, the School of Music offers many ensemble performance opportunities for students including marching and symphonic bands, numerous choral ensembles, orchestra, and jazz ensembles. The jazz studies program has been recognized at the national and international level for the quality of its graduates and for the many outstanding performances and recordings of the jazz band. This audio collection showcases the artistry of the UNI jazz band in recordings made in the 1980's, 1990's, and today.

The Beta Nu Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national music fraternity, began sponsoring an annual jazz concert at UNI in February 1951. The first show consisted of several musicians gathered in the student union, called the Commons, and jamming. By 1953, the show, called "Dimensions in Jazz", had gained such popularity that two shows were scheduled. Performing at the concerts were jazz band ensembles and choruses. The clips of music in this collection are from recordings made of number of those lively concerts.

With music and lyrics written by long time Des Moines area musician Bob Cook, the album "We Love Iowa" was published in 1979 as a promotional album for an area Savings & Loan Association. The eleven songs on the album, from the signature tune "We Love Iowa&" to "Are You Goin' to the Fair", evoke the loyalty and love that Iowans have for the Hawkeye state.