Mobile Museum

The State Historical Society of Iowa's mobile museum, a large bus or RV for traveling exhibitions

After two successful statewide tours from 2017-2023, the Mobile Museum hit the road again in summer 2024! Over the next three years, the Mobile Museum will travel to all of Iowa’s 99 counties with a new exhibit, Civics in Action. 

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About the Mobile Museum

Housed in a 38-foot custom-built Winnebago, visitors to this exhibit will discover more about the governmental history of the United States and Iowa, and the importance of civics in our communities. The exhibition will also feature the Iowa caucuses, civic stories throughout Iowa’s history, and Iowans of action. More than 50 historic artifacts from the State Historical Museum’s collection will be on view for visitors to explore.

Iowa History 101: Civics in Action is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by Casey’s General Stores.

National Endowment for the Humanities logo

This exhibition has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition, do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Request a Visit

If you’re interested in hosting the mobile museum, please fill out the visit request form but first consider these questions.

Tell us about yourself:

  • What is your name?
  • What is your organization?
  • What is your e-mail address?
  • What is your telephone number?
  • What is your preferred date? Is this an annual event?

Tell us details about the suggested venue:

  • Will you be able to provide a 20' x 40' hard, level parking surface?
  • Are there low-hanging tree branches or other vertical hazards around the proposed parking surface?
    The mobile museum needs 14' of vertical clearance.
  • Is there a standard electrical outlet within 100' of the suggested venue?
    Please check the outlet. A quick way to do this is by plugging in your mobile phone charger and seeing if you could charge your mobile phone from the outlet. Exterior outlets sometimes do not work as expected.
  • Is there a 30-amp or 50-amp electrical outlet within 50' of the suggested venue?
    Access to a 30-amp or 50-amp electrical outlet is not required to host the mobile museum, but it can frequently make the set-up much smoother.
  • Are there neighbors close by?
    If there is not an electrical outlet nearby (or the nearby outlet does not work as expected) the mobile museum will need to operate on generator power. The generator must run 24/7 and does make the surrounding area sound like a truck stop parking lot.
  • Can the mobile museum be delivered a few days before the event or picked up a few days after the event?

Tell us about the location of the suggested venue:

  • What is the address?
  • What county is this located in?
  • Are mapping (i.e.: Google Maps, Mapquest or Apple Maps) applications able to locate this address?
  • Are there any low-clearance bridges or overpasses (clearance of 14' or less) in the general vicinity?

What type of visit is this? 

  • Community Visit
  • School Visit

If this is a Community Visit:

  • Are you able to provide volunteers to open/close/staff the mobile museum?
  • How many visitors do you anticipate will visit the mobile museum?
  • Do you have any additional community partners?

If this is a School Visit:

  •  Name of School District, Name of School Building and Location of School Building
  • What grade levels will be visiting the mobile museum?
  • How many total students do you expect to visit the mobile museum?
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Make the Most of Your Visit

The State Historical Museum of Iowa is excited to bring the mobile museum to your community. They will take care of sending a press release to your local media and creating a Facebook event to promote the mobile museum’s appearance.

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Questions?

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