| Contact:
Jeff Morgan, Jeff.Morgan@iowa.gov,
(515) 281-3858
(DES
MOINES) – The State Historical Society
of Iowa will celebrate its sesquicentennial at 5 p.m.,
August 13th at the Clear Lake Public Library, 200
North Fourth Street in Clear Lake.
SHSI launched its year-long statewide sesquicentennial
celebration in February at the Old Capitol Building,
where the Iowa Legislature created the State Historical
Society as the organization to preserve and protect
the history of Iowa. SHSI is planning similar celebrations
throughout the state during the year.
In addition, the Clear Lake Historical Society will
launch a membership campaign this month. Clear Lake
residents can expect to receive CLHS membership info
in telephone bills this month. More information about
CLHS will be available on a web site the group expects
to launch later this year.
For 150 years, the SHSI has had a dual mission of
preservation and education. As a trustee of Iowa's
historical legacy, the Society identifies, records,
collects, preserves, manages, and provides access
to Iowa's historical resources. As an advocate of
understanding Iowa's past, the Society educates Iowans
of all ages, conducts and stimulates research, disseminates
information, and encourages and supports historical
preservation and education efforts of others throughout
the state.
On January 30, 1857, Iowa’s pioneer lawmakers
had the foresight to establish an institution dedicated
to preserving the history of our state. When the constitution
for the organization was adopted on February 7, the
State Historical Society of Iowa became the permanent
home of the state’s treasures. The Society has
grown and changed tremendously in the last 150 years
but it continues to support humanities scholars with
rich historical collections, publications, exhibits,
and public programming. Connecting generations and
celebrating Iowa’s cultural heritage is its
mission as it reach out to citizens and communities
across the state.
Notable individuals have been associated with the
State Historical Society of Iowa such as Benjamin
F. Shambaugh, who launched The Iowa Journal of History
and Politics and our popular journal, The Palimpsest
(now called Iowa Heritage Illustrated). Located on
the third floor of Schaeffer Hall in Iowa City from
1900 until 1957, when the Centennial Building was
built at 402 Iowa Avenue, the State Historical Society
of Iowa has always been closely affiliated with The
University of Iowa. Shambaugh and his cohorts like
Ruth Gallaher, Jacob Swisher, and Mildred Throne set
high standards for research and scholarship, and were
among the first generation of public historians in
the nation.
The Department of History and Archives was established
in Des Moines at the end of the 19th century, where
under the leadership of Edgar R. Harlan and Jack Musgrove,
a major historical museum and research collections
were developed. The growth of the historic preservation
movement in the late 1960s led to the creation of
the Office of Historic Preservation, formerly housed
at Old Brick before moving to Des Moines in the mid-1980s.
All three historical organizations were merged in
1974 and all became known as the State Historical
Society of Iowa under the administrative unit of the
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.
Today, the modern State Historical Society of Iowa
is a complex organization serving a much broader constituency
than originally envisioned by the founders who thought
of the Society as more of a curio cabinet. Visit www.iowahistory.org
to learn more about the Society and the myriad programs
and services it offers to the public.
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