Saturday, January 6, 2024

Story City Winter Dinner & Presentation - Postponed to January 25, 2024

 

Updated - Now January 25

 

We hope you can join us at Fairview Lodge on Thursday, January 25. A free-will donation soup and chili dinner will be provided, including mild and spicy chili, cheeseburger chowder, minestrone, baked potato soup, bread, and desserts. 


Following the meal will be a presentation by Jennifer Kovarik, Collection Manager at the Vesterheim Museum:

A Dream of Milk and Honey: Sharing Immigration Stories Through Animation
. Learn how Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum used objects and stories in its collection as the basis for an international partnership to create a stop-motion animated film made by students on both sides of the Atlantic. The film project, which included partners in the United States, Norway, and Italy, was part of a larger program to promote conversations about and encourage empathy for enduring opportunities and challenges of immigration world-wide. Over 200 students used 19th century Norwegian immigration stories, objects, and historic photographs from the collections of Vesterheim Museum and cultural organizations in Fredrikstad, Norway, to inspire the film’s storyline, characters, and scenery and to build empathy for contemporary immigrants and migrants in the U.S. and Europe. Learn about the risks and rewards of navigating this collaboration on two different continents in both physical and digital spaces and enjoy viewing the 25-minute film.

Dinner will be served from 5:30-6:15pm with the presentation immediately following.


Wednesday, November 1, 2023

New Slater Exhibit -Stories of Our Vietnam Veterans

 

The Slater Area Historical Association invites you to the opening reception for Stories of Our Vietnam Veterans.  Join us Sunday, November 12, 2023 at 2 p.m.  Learn more about the exhibit.

Friday, September 15, 2023

Story City Historical Society Fall Dinner - September 21, 2023

 

Join us at Fairview Lodge on Thursday, September 21 as we learn more about DNA and genealogical research! Dana Kelly, the executive director of the Norwegian American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library, will be presenting at the Story City Historical Society’s Fall Dinner. A free-will donation Norwegian themed dinner will be served, including meatballs, mashed potatoes, and desserts. Dinner will be served from 5:30-6:30 with the presentation immediately following.

DNA can be a powerful tool for genealogy, but it isn’t intuitive to use the way more traditional genealogy sources can be. During this presentation we will explore using DNA to confirm your traditional research methods led you to the right people and show how DNA can be used to discover previously unknown ancestors.

Dana Kelly serves NAGC as the Executive Director. She oversees the daily operation of the center and is active in outreach activities and educational programming. An avid genealogist, her first experience with the center was as a member researching her family 20 years ago. Dana’s passion for family history led her to a Scandinavian Studies degree from UW-Madison where she learned to speak, read and write Norwegian. She has served on the board of directors for the Koshkonong Prairie Historical Society since 2009 and is a member of several Norwegian cultural and genealogical organizations including Sons of Norway, Vesterheim, Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study, Dane County Area Genealogical Society, and International Society of Online Genetic Genealogists.

--
Kate Feil
Director
Story City Historical Society

Thursday, January 5, 2023

Story City's Winter Soup Supper and Story County Ghost Towns Presentation - January 24th

 


Join us at Fairview Lodge on Tuesday, January 24th for the Historical Society's Winter Dinner and Presentation. A free-will donation soup and chili dinner will be provided, including spicy chili, broccoli & cheese soup, minestrone, baked potato soup, chicken noodle, ham & veggie soup, Norwegian flat bread, and desserts.

Following the meal will be a presentation by Dave Baker of The 29th State:
Bloomington. Ontario. New Albany. Palestine. They are among the names still somewhat familiar to many residents of Story County, but not everyone necessarily knows their significance. These places were among the more than a dozen communities that were founded, thrived, and ultimately faded into obscurity over the last one hundred and seventy five years. Ghost towns often conjure up images of the old west: abandoned buildings, empty mines, and dirt roads. In Iowa--a land of snow, rain, tornados, and derechos, ghost towns are usually only noted in memory, the physical evidence long eradicated. Dave Baker, essayist and historian for The 29th State has spent more than a decade studying both the extant cities and ghost towns of Iowa and seeking to find why some towns disappeared while others did not. With humor, historical insight, and a variety of interesting sources Dave will bring Story City a presentation of Story County ghost towns along with the tales that bring these former villages to life. Additionally Dave seeks to define what a community is, how we can build community in the 21st century, and how we might use our local history to build a better future.

Dinner will be served from 5:30-6:30pm
Welcome and announcements 6:30pm
Presentation 6:35pm

--
Kate Feil
Director
Story City Historical Society
619 Grand Ave, P.O. Box 104
Story City, IA 50248
515-460-1749

Saturday, March 12, 2022

Story City's Downtown Business District Historical Project

 We have discovered over 900 businesses in the 2 blocks of downtown Story City from the late 1800s to current! The first address that will be made live on our website is 602 Broad St. Which housed the Pioneer Store for many years and most recently Norsemen Realty and Reliance State Bank. We will be posting new addresses at least once a week. Click the link to learn more about all of the businesses at 602 Broad: 
http://www.storycityhistory.org/602-broad-st.html

See all the locations as they are added starting here:  http://www.storycityhistory.org/downtown-business-project.html 

Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Ames History Museum Presentation June 8th 2021

 



A Passion for Prairies - The Life and Legacy of Ada Hayden
Tuesday, June 8 at 7:00 pm
Virtual via Zoom - register here
Free & open to the public

Presented by Deb Lewis, Curator of the Ada Hayden Herbarium at Iowa State University

In 1934, Dr. Ada Hayden was appointed curator of the Herbarium at Iowa State, a position she held until her death in 1950. She collected more than 40,000 specimens for the collection. In 1987, the ISU Herbarium was officially named in Hayden's honor. Lewis, who has been curator of the Herbarium for more than 35 years, will share about Hayden's life, conservation work, and work with the Herbarium, which now contains more than 660,000 specimens.

This history talk is presented in conjunction with Ames History Museum's exhibit, "A Woman's Place is Everywhere: Groundbreaking Women in Ames History," which tells the story of local women who stepped out of their expected roles and made an impact in the community. Supported by the Ames Convention & Visitors Bureau Community Grant Program.