Iowa City Historical Society Library shouldn’t be closed

For more than 60 years, thousands of students have used the archives at the State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa City to advance their interest in our state’s history.

I know, because I was one of them, and this opportunity launched me on a long and successful career in historic preservation.

I’ve also used these collections during my professional career, and I know they’re a rich resource, especially in the history of Eastern Iowa.

But in June, the Iowa Department of Administrative Services announced that it will close the Iowa City Historical Society Library next year. A week later, the department informed the society’s board of trustees, made up of people with an expertise and interest in our state’s history.

The plan faces several problems.

First, the State Historical Society’s Des Moines facility has little available space to house the Iowa City collection. The historical society administrator said they have room for 40% of the materials in Iowa City — leaving 60% of our history to dispersal or destruction. The state hasn’t released plans for the closure, so we don’t yet know how bad the problem is.

Second, administrators must rapidly decide what is saved and what isn’t. I worked for the State Historical Society for more than 10 years, so I know firsthand that this agency has been chronically underfunded for decades. That means that much of what is preserved in Iowa City is unprocessed and uncatalogued. Its significance hasn’t been evaluated, but the depleted staff will have just a year to decide what stays and what goes. To make things worse, four archives and library staff members have been laid off.

Yet another problem: In the future, who will want to donate their historical materials to the society, knowing it may not preserve them? This means we could lose even more of our state’s history.

On top of all of this, next year the State Historical Society will stop publishing The Annals of Iowa, the state’s premier journal for Iowa history.

If this alarms you, please attend a rally to support the State Historical Society of Iowa at the Iowa City Public Library from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 23. There will be music and talks by historians and other concerned citizens on this collection’s importance and why decisions about its future must respect our state’s history and be made with transparency. You can find more information by searching the web for Save Iowa History 2025.

Paula Mohr, Keosauqua