Traveling Exhibits

The State Historical Museum of Iowa, the state’s flagship museum, offers free traveling exhibitions to Iowa communities to fulfill the mission of connecting Iowans to the people, places and points of pride that define our state. Multiple exhibits are currently traveling the state. Check out the calendar to see when they’ll be near your community.

Mobile Museum - Iowa History 101: People and Places

Iowa History 101: People and Places is a museum exhibit in a custom-built, Iowa-made Winnebago. From 2021 through 2023, the mobile museum will travel the highways and backroads of the state.

The 300 square foot exhibit focuses on Iowa’s people and places, shares stories of Iowa’s past, and showcases 56 artifacts from the museum’s collection. Iowa History 101: People and Places covers 13,000 years of Iowa history and takes visitors on a journey from the earliest people to call this land home to today and showcases the unique people and places that make Iowa Iowa.

After a successful three-year tour from 2017-2019, Iowa History 101 will again visit all 99 Iowa counties, thanks to on-going generous support from presenting sponsor EMC Insurance Companies. Additional support is provided by: Casey’s General Stores, Winnebago Industries, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, and Mike Wolfe.

We are now accepting booking requests for 2021, 2022 and 2023, with preference to visits in counties that have not already been visited by the mobile museum.

Traveling Exhibit - World War I Honor Roll

The World War I Honor Roll features the more than 4,000 names and corresponding photos the State Historical Society collected from Iowa families who lost loved ones during the war. The society sent out an initial call, in 1920, and then again in 2017, to shore up the official records during the war’s 100th anniversary. The display is the result of that research – and a tribute to a generation of Iowans who sacrificed their lives to the cause of freedom.

We are now accepting booking requests for 2020 and 2021, with preference to venues that can host the display for at least four weeks and provide a space at least 15’x15’ with at least 9’ ceilings. Contact Andrew Harrington to request.