Public Event

Iowa History Month Kick-Off Event

Event Date & Time
Saturday, March 1, 2025
10:00 am to 3:00 pm
Event Location
State Historical Museum of Iowa

600 E Locust St
Des Moines, IA 50319

Event Details

Help the State Historical Society kick-off Iowa History Month with a day full of programs for all ages at the State Historical Museum of Iowa. Explore the museum exhibits, participate in a museum collection tour and watch short films from the SHSI Library and Archives collections. Check out the full schedule below.

Program Schedule
Program TimeProgram Description
10:30 a.m. Family Museum Collection Tour
11 a.m.

Archives Short Film Showcase #1

  • 50 years ago at KCRG TV Cedar Rapids - Snapshot of everyday life in Iowa through the reporters and camera operators of KCRG TV in 1975. (15 minutes)
  • First National Bank Robbery, Mason City, March 13, 1934  by freelance filmmaker H.C. Kunkleman.  By chance he was outside shooting footage of the bank when one of the John Dillinger gang’s six members told him to stop filming during their bank robbery.  At the tail end of the heist, Kunkleman pulled out his camera and proceeded to take newsreel pictures, capturing the aftermath on film which was screened that night for the first time for audiences in Mason City. (8 minutes)
12 p.m.

Archives Short Film Showcase #2

  • "Stone City, A Story of a Community", 1976 by filmmaker Clay Bauske.  The documentary is a look at Stone City in Jones County, Iowa, which is known for its limestone quarries and architecture. It also has a history of art and is home to the Grant Wood Scenic Byway. (29 minutes)
1 p.m.

Archives Short Film Showcase #3

  • Iowa Conservation Commission films preservation project. Currently underway is a film preservation project to save 86 ICC films which is funded via a grant from the Council of Libraries and Information Resources Recordings at Risk program.  The project is scheduled to be completed in June 2025 and for Iowa History Month we will be screening two programs created by ICC for their 1954-1956 Shop Talk series which was originally broadcast on network TV in Iowa.  The Game Warden (spring, 1954) and Birth of a Lake (December 1954). (34 minutes)
2 p.m.Museum Collection Tour

This program is offered as a part of Iowa History Month. Find and explore more programs occurring throughout the month of March to learn more about Iowa's past.