greg wickenkamp is a lifelong Iowan.

More than 250 people from throughout Iowa gathered in Iowa City on August 23 to help save state history. Attendees demanded the state reverse its decision to close the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) archives in Iowa City.

Rally-goers also called on state officials to reverse their decision discontinuing the only peer-reviewed state history journal, The Annals of Iowa. Without inviting adequate public comment, and after refusing to cover the basic costs of maintaining the historical archives, state officials unilaterally pushed to end these public serving institutions. Since the Iowa City rally, more than 6,000 people have signed a petition to reverse the state’s decision.

greg wickenkamp is a lifelong Iowan.

Community members from across the state took part in the national Teach Truth Day of Action on Saturday, June 8. The gathering responded to a national call from the Zinn Education Project and other nonprofit organizations, with more than 160 cities across the United States participating. Educators and social workers organized the event, with help from local nonprofits like the Antelope Lending Library, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, Corridor Community Action Network, Great Plains Action Society, and the Human Restoration Project. Organizers and attendees advocated for public access to a robust and critical education—something conservative lawmakers have recently sought to ban in Iowa and across the country.

Once a leader in education, Iowa now faces teacher shortages, shuttering of districts and gutted libraries, and reduced access to crucial support services for children in poverty or with disabilities. Iowa’s GOP has been a nationwide leader in effectively banning books and critical histories, criminalizing LGBTQ+ youth, and funneling public money to private, unaccountable religious schools. This has earned the Reynolds’ administration kudos from anti-democratic moneyed networks and anti-student extremist groups.

The June 8 event took place at the historic College Green Park, blocks away from where John Brown and his band were once chased out of town by those advocating law and order. Brown and his raid on Harper’s Ferry would be a major catalyst for the Civil War and the end of slavery. In addition to training for the raid in West Branch, Iowa, he returned to Iowa many times, carefully navigating the divided political landscape.