Museums Historical Society
Iowa

Browse Museums

Altoona Area Historical Society
Altoona, Iowa

History, Historical Society

Clinton County Historical Society and Museums
Clinton, Iowa

General, History, Historical Society

The purpose of the museum is to preserve and promote the history of Clinton County by interpreting historical artifacts for its residents and interested persons.

Des Moines County Historical Society: Garret-Phelps House
Burlington, Iowa

General, History, Historic House, Historical Society

Sitting proudly at the top of Snake Alley, the Garrett-Phelps House Museum in historic Burlington, Iowa, sheltered three generations of one family for over 100 years.

Dows Welcome Center
Dows, Iowa

Historic House, Historical Society, Specialized

Built in 1896, the depot was the first one built in Wright County and operated as a working depot until 1980. Passengers rode the trains to nearby towns and many commercial products were shipped by rail such as poultry, farm products, and coal. The Dows Historical Society raised enough money to purchase and restore the depot in 1988, and today it is known as The Dows Depot Welcome Center. It has been placed on the National Register of Historical Places.

Greater Shenandoah Historical Society Museum
Shenandoah, Iowa

Archaeology, Historical Society, Military, Science

A museum to preserve the history of Shenandoah and southwest Iowa featuring the Morman settlement of Manti, and old time radio days with Earl May of KMA and Henry Field of KFNF.

Jackson County Historical Society Museum
Maquoketa, Iowa

Historical Society

A local history museum, machine shed of antique agricultural equipment, period rooms, natural history, country school and programs.

Kellogg Historical Society
Kellogg, Iowa

Historical Society

A seven building complex preserving and promoting Kellogg's heritage.

Marshall County Museum
Marshalltown, Iowa

History, Historic House, Historical Society, Library

The Historical Society was formed in 1908 to provide a public link to Marshall County's past. It exists to collect, store, and preserve artifacts and documents that were used or manufactured in Marshall County. The Historical Society Museum building associated with the Society was opened to the public in 1987 at the current location in Marshalltown, Iowa. The museum displays the Society's collections that illustrate and interpret Marshall County's natural and human history. The Central Iowa Genealogical Society has it's home base in our museum library.

Mennonite Historical Society of Iowa
Kalona, Iowa

Church, History, Historical Society

N/A

Oelwein Area Historical Society Museum
Oelwein, Iowa

Historical Society

A museum preserving a piece of history from the Oelwein and surrounding area

Bremer County Historical Society Museum
Waverly, Iowa

Culture, History, Historic House, Historical Society

Please note new phone #. We now have a land line at our museum. We are not there every day during off season, but we check for messages every week or two.

Delaware County Historical Society
Hopkinton, Iowa

Historical Society

N/A

Des Moines County Historical Society: Heritage Center Museum
Burlington, Iowa

General, History, Historical Society

A museum featuring the history of Des Moines County, as well as a heritage center.

Franklin County Historical Society
Hampton, Iowa

Historical Society

N/A

Hawkeye Log Cabin
Burlington, Iowa

General, History, Historic House, Historical Society, Park

The Hawkeye Log Cabin Museum local high on the bluff overlooking the Mississippi River.

Kalona Historical Society
Kalona, Iowa

Historical Society

N/A

Louisa County Historical Society
Wapello, Iowa

Historical Society

N/A

McCallum Museum and Brunson Heritage Home
Sibley, Iowa

History, Historic House, Historical Society

Mission is to protech Osceola County History. Major projects: 1) looking for Osceola County memorabilia, 2) Sibley High School memorabilia, 3) build an exhibit case to house WWII uniforms and memorabilia.

North Lee County Historical Society
Fort Madison, Iowa

Culture, General, History, Historical Society, Military

The Historic Center housed at the Santa Fe Railway Depot Complex is proud to boast a number of important regional, local, and railroad artifacts. Outside the depot sits a circa 1954 caboose, completely restored including brakemen seats, Conductor's desk, and folding seat/beds, of course the traditional cast iron stove remains in the old caboose, allowing visitors to picture the caboose crew warming their hands, coffee and cooking supper in the traditional way. The caboose was donated to the Historic Society by the Santa Fe Railway, now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad and was permanently placed on the depot property by volunteers. Also included on the site is a diesel utility car utilized by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad.

Old Bradford Pioneer Village
Nashua, Iowa

Children's, Culture, General, History, Historic House, Historical Society, Military, Park

The Old Bradford Pioneer Village Museum has 13 buildings on its walking tour, including an original Great Western Depot and a Chicago Northwestern caboose. Dr. Pitts' medical office, two authentic log homes, General Store, Laundry, Blacksmith Shop, Agriculture Bldg, Heritage Bldg, Cottage, Jail, one room schoolhouse and toy shop. The Cottage is the only original building to the grounds. It was the home of the caretaker of the Little Brown Church, which sits adjacent to the museum property. All of the buildings are bursting with the tools and utensils of the 1800s and early 1900s.

MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Georgia Association of Museums 2025 Conference

February 5 - 7, 2025

Milledgeville, Georgia

Georgia Association of Museums 2025 Conference

Wednesday, February 5 - Friday, February 7, 2025

Ina Dillard Russell Library Georgia College & State University

Milledgeville, Georgia

Hosted by: Georgia Association of Museums

The Whole Story Is The Meanin

“For the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction.”― Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Pros

Join us in Milledgeville, Georgia, for the annual Georgia Association of Museums conference as we explore the profound wisdom of Milledgeville author Flannery O'Connor’s words. In a world where narratives intersect and perspectives diverge, this theme invites proposals that delve into the essence of storytelling within museums and cultural institutions. Our work in the museum field requires us to look at stories from as many angles and perspectives as possible so that we might do our best to tell the “whole story.

Through thought-provoking discussions, interactive workshops, and engaging presentations, we will uncover the layers of meaning embedded within every artifact, exhibition, and historical account. Just as O’Connor masterfully crafted narratives that resonate with universal truths, museums hold the power to illuminate the whole story behind many objects, artworks, and cultural phenomena

We will examine how museums can embrace inclusivity, diversity, and authenticity in their storytelling practices. By acknowledging multiple perspectives and amplifying marginalized voices, we can enrich our understanding of the past and present, fostering empathy and connection within our communities.

Small Museum Association 41st Annual Conference 2025

February 17 - 19, 2025

Gaithersburg, Maryland

Small Museum Association 41st Annual Conference 2025

Monday, February 17 - Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center

Gaithersburg, Maryland

Hosted by: Small Museum Association

The annual SMA conference attracts more than 300 museum professionals, board members, and volunteers from a wide variety of small museums. They attend sessions on topics ranging from collections and education to staffing and board issues.

We offer a large Museum Resource Hall and plenty of informal networking opportunities for you to talk with (and get ideas from!) other small museum professionals and volunteers

Theme for 2025: Make It Happen!!!

Is there an exhibit, program, or fundraiser that you've been talking about doing for years? Do you feel stuck because of procrastination, lack of board support, or insufficient funds? It's time to take action

At SMA 2025, small museum professionals will share their tips and tricks of how they made it happen!

2025 California Association of Museums Conference

February 18 - 22, 2025

San Fransico, California

2025 California Association of Museums Conference

Tuesday, February 18 - Saturday, February 22, 2025

San Fransico, California

Hosted by: California Association of Museums

CAM is hard at work planning for the 2025 conference, set to take place from February 18–22, 2025 in San Francisco. We look forward to highlighting best practices and innovative ideas from California's museum community

The California Association of Museums is excited to continue offering in-person programming for 2025. We will not be requiring proof of COVID vaccination/s, but highly encourage vaccination and boosters. For the health and safety of our colleagues, masks are also encouraged (but not required). Capacity and spaces will be thoughtfully considered in the planning of this event.

For more information, please email programs@calmuseums.org.

Virginia Association of Museum's 2025 Annual Conference!

March 15 - 18, 2025

Blacksburg, Virginia

Virginia Association of Museum's 2025 Annual Conference!

Saturday, March 15 - Tuesday, March 18, 2025

The Inn at Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Virginia

Hosted by: Virginia Association of Museums

2025 Conference Theme: Looking Back to the Future For the past several years, many museums have been deeply involved in planning programs and events to observe the 250th birthday of the United States of America. While this is certainly an occasion to celebrate, this anniversary also forces us as a society to reckon with ongoing inequities and challenges within the US that go back to its inception. As museums ask their audiences to look to the past to understand the present and shape a better future, perhaps now is a good moment in time for Virginia’s museum community to take pause and look back at its own history. We are excited to see you in Blacksburg in March 2025 as we take a moment in our hectic schedules to take pause and visit our diverse pasts. Let’s uncover and share our histories to build a more resilient Virginia museum community.

2025 Am Assoc for State and Local History Annual Conference

September 10 - 13, 2025

Cincinnati, Ohio

2025 Am Assoc for State and Local History Annual Conference

Wednesday, September 10 - Saturday, September 13, 2025

TBD

Cincinnati, Ohio

Hosted by: American Association for State and Local History

The 2025 AASLH Annual Conference, in partnership with Ohio Local History Alliance, will take place as the history field makes the final preparations to kickoff off the 250th commemoration of the founding of the United States.

The 2025 conference theme, inspired by AASLH’s Making History at 250: The Field Guide for Semiquincentennial, is an opportunity to broadly explore one of the guide’s themes, The American Experiment. For many in the American colonies in 1776, independence from Britain represented a “leap into the dark” into an unknown future

We are excited for you to join us in Cincinnati as we encourage discussion about our democracy and civic institutions and how they can help strengthen understanding, inspire action, and reveal ways that all of us can participate in and shape the ongoing American experiment.

For more information, please call 615-320-3203 or email info@aaslh.org.

view all conferences
RECENT UPDATES

Museums

03/07 Pointe Coupee Parish Museum

New Roads, Louisiana

03/07 Uintah County Heritage Museum

Vernal, Utah

Museum Vendors

03/07 Digiscura

Encino, California

Museum Associations

03/07 Public Lands Alliance

Washington, District of Columbia

03/07 Oregon Museums Association

Portland, Oregon

03/07 Virginia Association of Museums

Richmond, Virginia

03/07 American Association for State and Local History

Nashville, Tennessee

03/07 Small Museum Association

Dover, Delaware