Ames - Making Sense of the American Civil War - Series Begins January 8, 2012

The Ames Public Library has a series of presentations and other events in Making Sense of the American Civil War.  These begin January 8 with Point/Counterpoint:  Was the Civil War Necessary? 

Then a five-part reading and discussion series Let's Talk About It begins January 23.  You can sign up for this series and borrow copies of the readings at the Library.

Included in the presentations is one that is part of the Ames Historical Society 2012 Lecture Series.  This will be February 28 at the Ames City Auditorium on Iowa in the Civil War.

Further details at the Library or on the poster.

Slater - Winter Newsletter Published

The Slater Area Historical Association has published the latest edition of their newsletter.  It includes highlights of their recent activities and notices of upcoming ones.  See it to learn about their exhibits and opportunities to participate.  It can be found here.

Slater - Growing Up in a Small Town, Slater, Iowa, First Volume Now Available

The Slater Area Historical Association now has the first volume of your stories from their exhibit "Growing Up in a Small Town, Slater, Iowa" available for sale for $1.00.  The exhibit is still available and you are encouraged to share your stories for future volumes!

Story City - Christmas On The Home Front (1944) - December 10, 2011

The Story City Historical Society will have a large variety of artifacts from the period of Christmas 1944 on display on Saturday, December 10, 2011 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Bartlett House Museum.  In addition, you can share your own experiences during World War 2 at the oral history station.  Tell us what life was like in Story City during the period.

Admission is free with a small donation encouraged.

Ames - Story County World War II Veterans Index Online

The Ames Historical Society had their World War II Veterans Index online in time for Veterans Day.  This contains nearly 5300 service personnel from all branches, both from Ames and throughout Story County, Iowa.  There are thousands of scanned articles, photos, and other materials available online.

Preparing this information for online availability was aided with a grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa.  Learn more about the creation of this material during WW II and its history in this Ames Tribune article.  The Ames Historical Society.also describes how it came to be available online.

As an example of the range of information that may be found, see the entry for Ralph L. Miller.

Note that the Ames Historical Society welcomes additions to the project.