Presented in partnership with Ames Public Library and Ames History Museum.
RELATED READING
2025 Book Lists:
Previous Book Lists:
Women & Athletics
Architecture and Iowa History
Iowa's Ethnic Heritage
Churches & History
The Jack Trice Connection
Behind the Beat
Ames: The View from the Dinkey
Iowa Underground Railroad
1920s Building Boom
Public Schools Meet the Next Century
Iowa's African American History
Streamliners Across Iowa
Ames and Campustown
First Ladies
Foundations for One Community
Upcoming History Events
Topic — Ames Oddities: A Pictorial Tour
Speaker — Kathy Svec, museum volunteer, with help from Sharon Wirth, Bob Bourne, and Alex Fejfar
Ames Public Library connects you to the world of ideas through diverse and inclusive resources and programs. We welcome proposals via our website for programs at www.amespubliclibrary.org/programproposal and exhibits at https://www.amespubliclibrary.org/exhibit-proposal.
Topic — The Disappearance of German-Americans
Speaker — Dr. Jeremy Best
Ames Public Library connects you to the world of ideas through diverse and inclusive resources and programs. We welcome proposals via our website for programs at www.amespubliclibrary.org/programproposal and exhibits at https://www.amespubliclibrary.org/exhibit-proposal.
Experience the precursor to cinema and moving pictures! Historian Mike Zahs and librarian Elizabeth Riordan will present a free, live Magic Lantern show at the Library.
Ames Public Library connects you to the world of ideas through diverse and inclusive resources and programs. We welcome proposals via our website for programs at www.amespubliclibrary.org/programproposal and exhibits at https://www.amespubliclibrary.org/exhibit-proposal.
Run into a brick wall? Not sure where to start researching your roots?
Stop by this meetup of local genealogists to get help with research, software and writing your family story.
Ames Public Library connects you to the world of ideas through diverse and inclusive resources and programs. We welcome proposals via our website for programs at www.amespubliclibrary.org/programproposal and exhibits at https://www.amespubliclibrary.org/exhibit-proposal.
From 1863 through 1865, African Americans fought on the side of the Union Army in regiments known as the United States Colored Troops (USCT). Among their ranks were ancestors of Iowa State Representative Ross Wilburn.
Ames Public Library connects you to the world of ideas through diverse and inclusive resources and programs. We welcome proposals via our website for programs at www.amespubliclibrary.org/programproposal and exhibits at https://www.amespubliclibrary.org/exhibit-proposal.
Recorded 2025 Lectures
The Making of the Ames Bicentennial and Iowa Signature Quilts
Adventures Along the Historic Lincoln Highway
Recorded 2024 Lectures
Pioneer Tilden to National Leader Forker
Earliest Churches in Ames
Roosevelt Schools to Roosevelt Condos
Recorded 2023 Lectures
Jack Trice: More Than a Football Player
The Trice Connection
Bread for My Enemies
Notable Women in Ames History
RECORDED 2022 LECTURES
Author Talk: Wilhelm's Way
Public Schools
The 1920s Building Boom
Behind the Beat
A Ride on the Dinkey
Iowa Underground Railroad
RECORDED 2021 LECTURES
Prohibition in Iowa
Secessionitus in West Ames
Streamliners Across Iowa
First Ladies
Ames History Museum Mural Project
RECORDED 2020 LECTURES
Iowa Almanac
The Story County Courthouse Fight
Leading the Charge for the 19th Amendment
Foundations for One Community