Classic museums and educational attractions in Iowa provide exciting field trip opportunities and engaging experiences for students
Originally Published through a partnership with Student Travel Pro: https://studenttravel.pro/stem/educational-museums-and-attractions-in-iowa/
A hotspot for hands-on agricultural experiences, Iowa is also an ideal destination for cultural and historical opportunities. From centers focusing primarily on unique architectural styles to locales significant to America’s history, Iowa offers a rich artistic heritage exhibited in the state’s extensive array of museums and educational attractions. Part Two of our Educational Adventures in Iowa series presents a variety of potential destinations for students and provides a comprehensive guide to historical sites and traditional museums in Iowa.
TRADITIONAL MUSEUMS IN IOWA
Old Capitol Museum (Iowa City, IA)
A national historic landmark and a prime example of the cultural opportunities offered by traditional museums in Iowa, the Old Capitol Museum, located on the grounds of the University of Iowa, hosts a perpetually rotating roster of exhibits, all of which impart a strong sense of Iowa’s rich history. The museum’s instantly recognizable architectural facade provides only a glimpse of the wonders awaiting students. Events arranged by the university and the Iowa City community ensure that visitors leave the museum with a firm grasp of the Midwest’s history, culture, or art. Programs for students include scavenger hunts for the University of Iowa’s mascot, a hawk named Herky; game nights; roundtables with guest lecturers; classical music performances; and reading activities for children.
Grout Museum (Waterloo, IA)
An entire district dedicated to the arts, the Grout Museum is not a single but a series of traditional museums in Iowa. The five sites include the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum, the Grout Museum of History and Science, the Carl A. and Peggy J. Bluedorn Science Imaginarium, the Rensselaer Russell House Museum, and the Snowden House. Each destination offers unique exhibits. For example, the Grout Museum of History and Science showcases a perpetually revolving collection of local flora and fauna. At the same time, the Rensselaer Russell House Museum stands as one of Iowa’s finest examples of Italian architecture.
Guided tours of the complete district are open to students ages two and up and cover subjects ranging from the role of women in the Civil War to blacksmithing, immigration, and Victorian opulence. Planetariums, historical exhibits dedicated to Ancient Greece and Egypt, science experiments, and log cabins abound in the Grout Museum District. Equally prevalent are opportunities for discussion, which present in the form of intensive explorations of class dynamics and labor, the Industrial Revolution, the solar system, and more.
Sawmill Museum (Clinton, IA)
As a scion of Midwestern culture, Iowa is home to various traditional museums that are invariably tinged with the state’s agricultural spirit. None of the many historical sites in Iowa are as directly intertwined with the ethos of agrarian production as the Sawmill Museum. This interpretive center seeks to garner appreciation for the overlooked part that sawmills play in human history. At the Sawmill Museum, students can gain exposure to vintage technologies such as the circular sawmill and the Ford Model T, which grant insight into the pre- and post-industrialized past. Visitors may follow logs from Wisconsin forests to Clinton, hear animatronic lumber barons discuss the lives of sawmill workers in early America, and raise questions related to the local environment at educational speaking events.
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum (West Branch, IA)
Explore the life and achievements of America’s 31st president at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum. Exhibits, events, and gallery selections emphasize history, politics, and social studies through the distinctive timeline of one prominent American figure. Guided tours of the Hoover Museum and National Historic Site for grades K-12 allow for student-oriented engagement with a series of permanent exhibits, including those dedicated to Hoover’s role in the Great Depression and his 50+ years in the public eye. Though the museum’s educational programs differ slightly based on modality (homeschool, virtual, or in-person tour), each resource fosters a comprehensive understanding of an individual’s influence on American politics.
National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library (Cedar Rapids, IA)
Iowa attractions are remarkable for the broad cultural experiences they give rise to. The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, an affiliate of the Smithsonian, is no exception. There are no other traditional museums in Iowa that reflect the state’s rich cultural history better than the National Czech & Slovak Museum. The dual museum and library hosts exhibits that detail facets of Czech and Slovak culture and the immigrant experience in America, both in contemporary society and the past. Displays dedicated to architectural monuments in the Czech Republic, Moravian folk art and its influence on modern fashion, and exposes compiled by photojournalists on the current plight of Ukrainians fleeing to Slovakia coalesce into an exhaustive understanding of central European history. Educational opportunities at the Czech & Slovak Museum are not confined strictly to exhibits; the museum also designs entirely customizable and enlightening curricula for on-site and in-school learning.
EDUCATIONAL ATTRACTIONS IN IOWA FOR STUDENT GROUPS
Iowa State Capitol (Des Moines, IA)
Iowa’s government and politics are represented in shining splendor by the Iowa State Capitol, which serves as the seat of Iowa’s legislative body. Free self-guided and formal tours make the capitol building a particularly accessible Iowa attraction, not to mention the site’s inherent historical value. The grandiose State Law Library’s Victorian design and collection of more than 100,000 legal resources will undoubtedly appeal to law, art, and architecture students. The library is also situated between the House of Representatives and the Senate, granting students an insider’s look at both chambers. In addition to the library, the Iowa State Capitol contains exhibits in the Rotunda Hall, dedicated to Iowa’s singular role in American democracy.
Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center (Sioux City, IA)
The Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center is sure to capture the minds of aspiring young adventurers and collegiate historians alike. With a self-proclaimed mission to preserve and perpetuate the legacy of American adventure, the Lewis & Clark Center imparts a sense of the historical importance of Lewis and Clark’s voyage across the Missouri River. Extremely detailed models, hand-painted murals, and informative graphic panels lead students from Thomas Jefferson’s early injunction to locate an economically lucrative water route to Lewis and Clark’s final return to St. Louis. The center focuses not only on Lewis and Clark’s expedition but on its historical context and its consequences for Indigenous peoples, global trade, and the environment.
Wells Blue Bunny Visitor Center & Ice Cream Parlor (LeMars, IA)
LeMars, Iowa, lives up to its title as the Ice Cream Capital of the World, producing more ice cream than anywhere else in the world. In addition to serving as a testament to LeMars’s monopoly on ice cream output, the Wells Blue Bunny Visitor Center & Ice Cream Parlor, like many other Iowa attractions listed here, blends an interactive experience with local history. After sampling every ice cream flavor the parlor offers, students can learn about the evolution of Blue Bunny ice cream from concept to desert staple and unearth the intriguing role of ice cream in history. Take in a movie on LeMars’s history, follow ice cream from farm to spoon, or race freezer robots to deliver products for shipping at the Wells Blue Bunny Visitor Center, a sweet (pun 100% intended) conclusion to a fun-filled day of touring Iowa museums.