Unit 14: The Modern Era

How To Use This Page

On this page, you will find a curated collection of videos, resources, guides, and opportunities for exploration that are tied specifically to Iowa in the Modern Era (1990-2020). Educators and lifelong learners can use the compelling and supporting questions to guide their learning and focus their exploration on the major topics. The lectures, videos, featured content, and readings can be completed at each learner's own pace and will provide necessary knowledge and background to craft and deliver Iowa History lessons in a K-12 classroom.

Compelling and Supporting Questions

Compelling and supporting questions are designed for each unit and the materials below will provide content and context for teachers, students, and lifelong learners.

Compelling Question

How do our lives today compare to Iowans of the past?

Supporting Questions

1. How has Iowa’s climate and environment continued to shape how people live in the state?
2. What has changed and remained the same for immigrants and agriculture in Iowa?
3. How has the Meskwaki Nation both embraced the future and maintained its distinct history?
4. What role has Iowa played in shaping national and presidential politics?
5. What rights did the Americans with Disabilities Act secure for people in the disability community?
6. How has Iowa and its leaders continued to contribute as a global leader?

Overview

During the most recent past, Iowa has faced economic and environmental challenges as well as opportunities, growth, and continued political realignment. After the Farm Crisis of the 1980s, rural Iowa faced increasing challenges and new industries continued to grow in smaller communities. Renewable fuels, such as ethanol, led to the establishment of new production facilities in small towns across the state and incentives led to the development of vast wind farms with turbines rising above crop fields. Meatpacking and large animal production farms also continued to grow in rural Iowa. As these industries grew, many communities also experienced changing demographics as a new wave of migration and immigration affected towns like Storm Lake, Columbus Junction, and West Liberty. At the same time that agricultural technologies allowed for increased yield on Iowa farms, Meskwaki Food Sovereignty Initiatives also grew in popularity as the Meskwaki community worked to maintain traditional foodways. 

Politically, Iowa remained competitive between the two major parties during the 1990s and 2000s and has recently become more reliably Republican, resembling a longer-standing historical affinity for the GOP. Senator Tom Harkin played a major role in the establishment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 that significantly expanded accessibility to Americans with disabilities. After leaving politics in 1998, Terry Branstad returned as governor in 2011 and in 2017 left to serve as the U.S. Ambassador to China, where he helped navigate the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. During this era, Iowa also elected its first female senator (Joni Ernst, 2014), first female governor (Kim Reynolds, 2018), and first female U.S. House Representatives (Abby Finkenaur and Cindy Axne, 2018). Throughout this period, Iowa has played a major role in the presidential election process, with the Iowa precinct caucusing serving as the first presidential contest in the nation beginning in 1976, a position of prominence that continues in the GOP but ended with the Democratic Party in 2020.

Life in Iowa continues to be affected by and in many ways defined by Iowans’ relationship with the land. Iowans have persevered through major disasters in the modern period, including major flooding in 1993, 2008, 2010, and 2024 and severe weather events like the 2020 derecho and 2024 tornados. Major themes like immigration, adapting to the climate, shifting political alignment, and economic change and resilience continue to shape Iowa as they have throughout much of Iowa’s history.

Think Like a Historian

In this video, historian and ethnographer Kristy Nabhan-Warren discusses historical thinking skills like sourcing. 

In this video, accessibility consultant for the Historical Society Bettina Dolinsek discusses historical thinking skills like continuity, change over time, and taking informed action. 

Major Topics of Study

When learning about the Modern Era of Iowa's history, some of the key areas to cover might include:

• Industrial Changes in Iowa (meatpacking, manufacturing, renewable fuels)
• Meskwaki Food Sovereignty Initiatives
• The Iowa Presidential Caucuses
• New Migration Movements to Iowa
• Flooding and Natural Disasters (1993 Floods, 2020 Derecho)
• Americans with Disabilities Act

Notable Iowans

Exemplary and significant people in Iowa history from this time period could include many of the below figures. Wherever possible, links to Iowa's digital biography provide opportunities for further exploration.

State Historical Society Objects, Documents, and Photos

Objects, documents, and photographs from the State Historical Society of Iowa are excellent catalysts for further inquiry in the classroom or for independent lifelong learners. 

Video Resources

If you are looking for longer, more detailed discussions or lectures related to the themes discussed in this unit, the following resources provide further context and information.

Further Reading

This curated collection of readings allow teachers, students, and lifelong learners to explored a curated collection of primary sources, articles, books, and essays that supplement and provide depth to the topics covered in this unit.