All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. (No registration required.)

April–October 2016

Mobile Museum exhibit travels the state

April 6

Obermann Conversation: Doing Global History Locally Obermann Center for Advanced Studies — Watch the video

August 18

5:00–7:00 p.m., Old Capitol Museum — Exhibit opening and gallery talk with curators Taylor Finch, Elizabeth Heineman, Glenn Penny and Glenn Ehrstine.  Light refreshments will be provided.

August 27

9:30–10:30 a.m., Iowa City Genealogical Society, LDS Library, 2730 Bradford Drive — Glenn Ehrstine, “German-Iowan Newspapers and the News of the Day, 1860-1930” 

September 8

5:00–7:00 p.m., Old Capitol Museum — Opening reception, “German Iowa and the Global Midwest” exhibit

September 9, 16, 23, 30: Fridays, 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Senior College course on “A Century of German Immigration to Iowa, 1848–1948”
Registration fee: $30/person (by September 2)

September 24

German Iowa from Town to Town workshop for historians, educators, and community organizers statewide

September 25

6:00–8:00 p.m., Motley Cow Cafe, Iowa City — The Beer Caves of Iowa City presentation with historical archeologist Marlin Ingalls

October 5

12:00–1:00 p.m., Congregational Church, 30 N. Clinton St., Iowa City — Lecture by H. Glenn Penny, UI Department of History: “German Iowa and the Global Midwest: How to Do Global History Locally” — Register here

3:30–4:30 p.m., Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St. — Lecture by Frank Trommler, University of Pennsylvania: “Cultural Diplomacy and Military Aggression in the Third Reich”

7:00–8:00 p.m., Meeting Room A, Iowa City Public Library, 123 S. Linn St. — Author Michelle Hoover reads from her novel Bottomland, which tells the story of the German-Iowan Hess family as they negotiate anti-German sentiment following World War I.

October 6

7:30 p.m., Recital Hall, Voxman Music Building, 93 E. Burlington St. — Historic 1898 Davenport Sängerfest Concert, with Kantorei/University Choir Männerchor and the UI Chamber Orchestra

October 6–8

UI campus and downtown Iowa City — Obermann Humanities Symposium: German Iowa & the Global Midwest, an international scholarly conference bringing together experts on German immigration and German-American life in the Midwest

October 7

McCaskey Lyceum, Saemann Student Center, Wartburg College — Lecture: “The German Harmonica and African-American Blues Culture” with guest Herbert Quelle, the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Chicago. For more information, e-mail daniel.walther@wartburg.edu.

October 11

12:00–1:00 p.m., John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center, 1200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines — Hawkeye Lunch and Learn Lecture, Glenn Ehrstine, “German Iowans and the Politics of Brewing”

October 20

12:00–1:00 p.m., Iowa Memorial Union, Iowa Theater, 125 North Madison St. — Hawkeye Lunch and Learn Lecture, Glenn Ehrstine, “German Iowans and the Politics of Brewing” (watch the video)

October 27

5:00 p.m., Senate Chamber, Old Capitol — Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Lecturer Professor Maiken Umbach, University of Nottingham, public lecture: “The Nazis and ‘public history,’ in Germany and beyond”

October 28–30

All day, University of Iowa — “Doing Global History Locally”: UI International Programs Conference

November 10

5:30 p.m., 2520D University Capitol Centre — Opera Studies Forum lecture by Prof. James Martin, Cornell College: “Wagner’s Parsifal‘s American Religious Provocations: From Immoral to Christian”

November 12 and 13

6:30 p.m. (Nov. 12); 5:00 p.m. (Nov. 13), Senate Chamber, Old Capitol Museum — “Here I’m Hank”: A German Immigrant’s Story, a new play by Janet Schlapkohl, performed by You Write It Theater

November 13

4:00-6:00 p.m., 175 Curtin Hall, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee — Panel on German-American History featuring Prof. Glenn Penny, UI History: “The German Midwest and Native Americans, 1881-1883”

November 17

6:00–8:00 p.m., Supreme Court, Old Capitol Museum — The History of Downtown Iowa City Talk with local historian Marybeth Slonneger 

November 30

6:00–7:30 p.m., Old Town Hall, 407 5th Street, Coralville — Iowa City Historic Foodies monthly meeting; German food theme

December 1

5:30–7:30 p.m., Senate Chamber, Old Capitol Museum — Screening of Ken Burns’s Prohibition Series, Part 1 of 3, A Nation of Drunkards

December 8

5:30–7:30 p.m., Senate Chamber, Old Capitol Museum — Screening of Ken Burns’s Prohibition Series, Part 2 of 3, A Nation of Scofflaws

December 10

11:00 a.m., Senate Chamber, Old Capitol Museum — Eulenspiegel puppet show with Monica Leo: “Little Red Riding Hood,” with workshop following performance

4:00 p.m., Senate Chamber, Old Capitol Museum — Eulenspiegel puppet show with Monica Leo: “Finding Home” (geared toward an adult audience)

December 15

5:30–7:30 p.m., Senate Chamber, Old Capitol Museum — Screening of Ken Burns’s Prohibition Series, Part 3 of 3, A Nation of Hypocrites

2017

January 8

1:00-2:00 p.m., German American Heritage Center, Davenport — Glenn Ehrstine, “German-Iowan Newspapers and the News of the Day”

3:00-4:00 p.m., German American Heritage Center, Davenport — Glenn Ehrstine, “German Iowans and the Politics of Brewing

 March 6-11

Ackley Soda Fountain, Ackley- Traveling Exhibit and Food Tastings.

March 15

5:30 p.m., Ames Public Library Gallery, Ames-Traveling Exhibit Reception

March 16

6:00 p.m., Cedar Rapids Public Library, Cedar Rapids- Traveling Exhibit Reception and Presentation

March 22

7:00 p.m., Torrent Brewing Company, Ames- Dr. Lawrence McDonnell, “From Germans to Americans: Ethnicity, Class, and the Experience of Battle in the Civil War.”

March 27

7:00 p.m., Ames Public Library Auditorium, Ames- Dr. Jeremy Best, “The Disappearance of German Iowans.”

March 29

1:00-4:00 p.m., Ames Public Library Auditorium, Ames- Scharlott Goettsch Blevins, “Finding Your German Ancestors.”

April 1

2:00-4:00 p.m., Ames Public Library Auditorium, Ames- Second Chair Brass, Dr. Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, Margaret Junkan, “Germany: A Celebration of Food and Music.”

April 7

State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines- Traveling Exhibit Reception and History Alive!: World War I.

April 18

7:00 p.m., Ames Public Library Auditorium, Ames- Dr. Kierra Crago-Schneider, “Waiting with Packed Suitcases: European Jewish Refugees, 1938-1957.”

April 24

7:00 p.m., Ames Public Library Auditorium, Ames- “Iowa News During the Holocaust: A History Unfolded Project.”

April 29

Amana Heritage Museum, Amana- Jon Childers, Traveling Exhibit Opening and Presentations

May 6

Amana Heritage Museum, Amana- Maifest Parade and Presentations

Spring 2017

German Iowa & the Global Midwest exhibition travels the state