Event Details
The Iowa History Institute is a 2-day immersive professional development workshop designed to give K-12 teachers behind-the-scenes access to artifacts at the State Historical Museum of Iowa in Des Moines. This workshop is the first in a three-part series exploring Iowa History across three eras.
- Part I: Iowa to the Civil War (13,000 BCE to 1870 CE) – June 2026
- Part II: Iowa from the Gilded Age to World War I (1870 to 1929) – Summer 2027
- Part III: Iowa from the Great Depression to the Modern Era (1930 to 2020) – Summer 2028
Every participant will receive a free copy of Jeff Bremer’s book, A New History of Iowa, which aligns with the three-part series to provide background information and context. Attending the first workshop is not a commitment to the series and attendance at the first workshop is not required to attend later workshops.
In Part I, you’ll investigate Iowa history from 13,000 BCE to 1870. Learn about the Indigenous communities that first lived on the land, the arrival of settlers and the formation of the Iowa Territory, early statehood, and life in Iowa during and after the Civil War. Our workshop format allows you to explore an early Iowa history subject that is most relevant to your classroom.
- Learn from local scholars and museum experts about how to bring Iowa history to your students through engaging, hands-on primary source investigations.
- Visit the Research Center to do a first-hand investigation of landmark Iowa history documents, maps, photographs, diaries, letters, and military reports from the Civil War era.
- Take a tour of the collections storage area to see objects not currently on exhibit at the museum, including Civil War era battle flags and materials from Iowa’s earliest days.
- Experience how place, geography, and maps can provide new insights into the complexity of early Iowa history and help students make connections to today.
- Explore topics and subjects that matter the most to you, from civics, to science, to the arts, and more!
- Engage in best practice pedagogies to bring inquiry, primary source analysis, and historical thinking skills into your classroom.
Workshop Agenda:
Wednesday, June 10, 2026
Time | Description |
8:00 – 8:30 | Welcome, Introductions, & Overview |
8:30 – 10:00 | Session I – Iowa History 101 with Professor Jeff Bremer Jeff Bremer, author of A New History of Iowa, will provide context for Iowa’s early history. |
10:00 – 10:15 | Break |
10:15 – 11:45 | Session II – Native Iowa: Iowa to 1833 Through an immersive guided tour of the exhibits and interactive archaeology activities, learn about the first inhabitants of the land that would become Iowa. |
11:45 – 12:45 | Lunch Lunch is on your own. There are restaurants near the museum, and a refrigerator and microwave on-site. |
12:45 – 2:30 | Session III – Iowa Territory: 1833 to 1846 Engage in interactive activities with photographs, maps, and genealogical records. |
2:30 – 2:45 | Break |
2:45 – 3:45 | Session IV – Iowa Statehood: 1846 to 1857 Learn about how to use historical thinking skills to teach about Iowa’s state constitution and Meskwaki Nation’s resistance to removal and land purchase in Tama County. |
3:45 – 4:00 | Debrief & Depart |
Thursday, June 11, 2026
Time | Description |
8:00 – 8:15 | Welcome Back & Overview |
8:15 – 9:30 | Session I – History Mystery Work on historical observation skills while investigating objects from Iowa’s past. |
9:30 – 9:45 | Break |
9:45 – 11:45 | Session II – Iowa Civil War Artifacts in the Research Center Do hands-on history in the Research Center investigating artifacts from the Civil War era. |
11:45 – 12:45 | Lunch Lunch is on your own. There are restaurants near the museum, and a refrigerator and microwave on-site. |
12:45 – 2:45 | Session III - Collections Storage Tour & Activity Investigate museum objects in Collections Storage with museum experts. |
2:45 – 3:00 | Break |
3:00 – 3:45 | Session IV - Curriculum Artifact & Vignette You’ll have time to work on how to bring a curriculum artifact into your classroom to engage students in best-practice inquiry, primary source analysis, and historical thinking. |
3:45 – 4:00 | Debrief & Depart |
Required Text
- Provided for each participant: Bremer, Jeff. A New History of Iowa. University Press of Kansas, 2023.
Outcomes and Objectives
- To improve knowledge of Iowa history.
- To integrate inquiry, primary sources, object-based learning, and historical thinking skills into instruction.
- To develop a lesson vignette with an artifact that helps students build a critical understanding of Iowa history.
Evaluation
- Using what is learned during the workshop, participants will select an artifact and develop a lesson vignette. The artifact should act as a stimulus for students and anchor their learning. The vignette will explain how students will interact with the artifact, what disciplinary concepts and thinking will be developed, how teaching challenges will be confronted, and how the lesson will contribute to building a critical understanding of Iowa history. The vignette must be completed and turned in by June 28, 2026 at 11:59 PM.
Course Requirements:
- Credit seekers must complete the pre-workshop reading, attend the in-person workshop, actively participate in class, and complete a vignette that demonstrates their understanding of object-based and place-based learning strategies.
Instructor & Contact Information:
- Rachel Hansen, rachel.hansen@iowa.gov, State Historical Society of Iowa
Registration Details
Participants must register by June 5, 2026. Registration is required to attend.