Iowa History Book Club

To commemorate Iowa’s 175th year of statehood, the State Historical Society of Iowa invites you to take a deep dive into some of the best books about Iowa’s fascinating history. Join Andrew Klumpp, editor of The Annals of Iowa, and a guest author every three months for a lively, online discussion about each book.

You can find the books at your local library, purchase them from our local partners, Beaverdale Books in Des Moines (mention this book club) or the University of Iowa Press. Be sure to register for each event in advance and feel free to bring your questions, which you can submit in advance or during the live event. We hope you’ll join us!

March 11 at 7 p.m.
“Iowa: The Middle Land” by Dorothy Schwieder
Hosted by Andrew Klumpp with Sara Egge from Centre College
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This engrossing history of the Hawkeye State reveals a place of fascinating grassroots politics, economic troubles and triumphs, surprising cultural diversity and unsung natural beauty. Above all, this is the history of the people of Iowa and the lives they’ve led—the accomplishments of both ordinary and not-so-ordinary Iowans.

June 10 at 7 p.m.
“Equal Before the Law: How Iowa Led Americans to Marriage Equality” by Marc Hansen and Tom Witosky
Hosted by Andrew Klumpp with author and journalist Tom Witosky
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In 2009, Iowa became just the third state in the nation to permit same-sex couples to wed. The Iowa Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in the middle of the Midwest catalyzed a rapid shift in law and public opinion that continues today. Through in-depth reporting and compelling writing, “Equal Before the Law” tells the stories behind this critical step toward marriage equality and explains why no one should have been surprised by the Iowa court’s decision. Iowans have a long history of leadership in civil rights.

Sept. 9 at 7 p.m.
“The Sacred Cause of Union: Iowa and the Civil War” by Thomas R. Baker
Hosted by Andrew Klumpp with author Thomas Baker
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This sweeping book highlights Iowa’s role in reuniting the United States when the battle over slavery tore it asunder. This first-ever survey of the state’s Civil War history interweaves economics, politics, army recruitment, battlefield performance and government administration by spotlighting six Iowans from very different walks of life. Together, their lives and letters show how war transformed Iowa—and how Iowa transformed the nation.

Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.
“On Behalf of the Family Farm: Iowa Women’s Farm Activism since 1945” by Jenny Barker-Devine
Hosted by Andrew Klumpp with author Jenny Barker-Devine from Illinois College
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When technology, depopulation, and rapid economic changes dramatically altered rural life over the last 80 years, Midwestern women met these challenges with their own feminine vision of farm life. This book spotlights four national farm organizations in Iowa – the Farm Bureau, the Farmers Union, the National Farm Organization and a group called the Porkettes – to show how an agrarian strain of feminism offered an alternative to, but not necessarily a rejection of, broader themes of second-wave feminism across the country. In a time when farm women had to find new ways to preserve and improve their way of life, many asserted their roles as agricultural producers and combined cherished rural traditions with female empowerment, cooperation and collaboration.