Welcome to Teaching Iowa History Online Collections Database!
Teaching Iowa History is a project of the Iowa Museum Association in partnership with the University of Northern Iowa, Simpson College, Iowa Geographic Alliance, Graceland University, Iowa Public Television, Iowa Department of Education, University of Iowa Museum Studies, and others. Teaching Iowa History Online Collections Database contains objects from many Iowa museum and historical society collections. These primary sources may be used in the creation of primary source based instructional materials for grades K-12.
Education is a core activity for all museums. Teaching Iowa History uses the collections held in trust for the public by Iowa's museums, historical societies, archives, and other collecting organizations, in support of the development of instructional resources for grades K-12.
All instructional resources created will fulfill the requirements of specific Social Studies Standards. Suggested links between primary sources and standards may be explored by clicking on the standard links below.
- SS K.14: Environment
- SS 1.23: Cultural Makeup
- SS 2.24: Natural Resources
- SS 3.27: Immigration and Migration
- SS 3.28: Cultural Contributions
- SS 4.25: Technological Change
- SS 4.26: Changes to Agriculture
- SS 5.26: Civil Rights
- SS 6.23: Compare Iowa to the World
- SS 7.27: Iowa Role in Global Issues Today
- SS 8.25: Iowa Government
- SS-Gov.9-12.27: Unique Iowa Systems
- SS-Econ.9-12.24: Iowa Economy Impact Upon
- SS-Geo.9-12.24: Iowans Influence Iowa Environment
- SS-Gov.9-12.28: Iowa Issues and Policy
- SS-WH.9-12.26: Iowans Influence World History
- SS-US.9-12.23: Iowans Influence US History
Instructional resources created through Teaching Iowa History are under the supervision of Chad Christopher, University of Northern Iowa and Dr. Chad Timm, Simpson College.
Additional project information is available at IowaMuseums.org.
Iowa History Era Tags
- First Iowans (10,000 BCE-1673)
- Native Americans & Europeans (1674-1802)
- Territorial Iowa (1803-1846)
- Statehood and the Civil War Era (1847-1868)
- Statewide Settlement (1869-1896)
- Prosperity to the Depression (1897-1939)
- World War II to an Urban State (1940-1963)
- Expansion, Confrontation & the Farm Crisis (1964-1990)
- Iowa in a Global World (1991 - present)
Tips for Searching
Keyword Search
The Keyword Search button allows you to perform a general search across multiple fields for any catalog records online. Keyword searches use OR as the default connector between words (e.g. a search for Alexander Clark will return records associated with Alexander OR Clark). If you want to find records where both keywords are found, type in AND between the two words. To search for a specific phrase, be sure to put the phrase within quotes (e.g. "Amana Heritage Society"). You can also use the asterisk (*) as a wildcard (e.g. a search for histor* would come up with records containing history, histories, historical, etc.). Searches are not case sensitive.
Advanced Search
The Advanced Search button can help you be more specific with your search. You can search for a word or phrase within a particular search category or use multiple categories to further narrow down your search results. For example, searching White in the People field will bring up any records associated with a member of the White family, without having to sift through black & white photographs. You can also search People and Creator records through Advanced Search. Phrase searching with quotes and use of wildcards (*) are available in Advanced Search.
Catalog Searches (Archives / Libraries / Objects)
The catalog buttons can also help narrow down your search, by only searching with a selected catalog. The Teaching Iowa History Project database currently uses only two catalogs: Objects and Libraries. We plan to include the Archives catalog in the future.
The Objects catalog contains primary sources related to Iowa history, such as photographs, artifacts, and documents. The Libraries catalog contains secondary resources concerning Iowa history, such as books and journal articles. If you only want to search for primary sources, click the Objects button and type in your keyword(s) or phrase. You can also browse records within that catalog without performing a search. Phrase searching, wildcards (*) as well as AND/OR statements are available when performing catalog searches.