Contents: African American Museum of Iowa | Des Moines Public Library | Fort Des Moines Museum | Grinnell College | Grout Museum District | Nodaway Valley Historical Museum | State Historical Society of Iowa | Iowa State University

African American Museum of Iowa

Related material(s) can be found through the AAMI online collections site or by pasting this link into your browser https://blackiowa.pastperfectonline.com/.

African American Museum of Iowa contributed material from four archival collections and three archival newspaper collections:

Newspapers Hard copies of African American newspapers from Iowa, including The Iowa Bystander (1955, 1968, 1971, 1975-1980), Waterloo Star (1956), Waterloo Defender (1972-1974), and Waterloo Progress (1958).

Sepia Record was a Black magazine published by Davenport activists Charles and Ann Toney. Only two volumes were ever published.

Robert Patten Collection Robert Patten was an African American printery owner and activist in Des Moines. Patten saved a copy of nearly everything he produced in his print shop near Center Street in Des Moines preserving valuable information on a number of African American clubs and businesses.

Viola Gibson collection-Christ Sanctified Holy Church Series Viola Gibson was an activist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from 1940-1989 known for reinstating the NAACP in the city in the 1940s. Gibson was also a minister in the Christ Sanctified Holy Church in Cedar Rapids.

H. Robert Wilson Collection - United Grand Hall Lodge of Iowa (PHA) series contains documents relating to the incorporation of the Lodge as well as its operations including reports, meeting minutes, correspondence, programs, and events.

Part of the collection also contains a subseries related to S. Joe Brown and Mrs. (Sue) S. Joe Brown including a booklet of the History of Central Association of Colored Women written by Sue Brown in 1940.

Des Moines Public Library

Des Moines Public Library contributed materials from two major collections:

Iowa Oral History Project: This collection gathered oral histories from Iowans of all walks of life, regarding topics important to daily life in the state or significant historical events. Interviews were captured by library staff and volunteers from the late 1970s to early 2000s. Oral histories included in this project include: Judge Glanton, the first black judge in Iowa; Rev. John Isom, who was involved in the Selma, Alabama protests; and James Mitchell and James M. Morris, who were involved in the Fort Des Moines Black Officers training program.

Newspapers: Des Moines Public Library’s largest contribution is the archives of the Iowa Bystander, the first black newspaper west of the Mississippi. Founded in 1894 in Des Moines, the newspaper was one of the leading black papers in the country. It became a digital only newspaper in 2015. The DMPL archive includes materials from 1894 to 2012 in both microfilm and print formats.

Fort Des Moines Museum and Education Center

The Fort Des Moines Museum contributed a variety of materials from their collections including photographs, reports, posters, and artifacts. To find out more about the Fort Des Moines Museum and Education Center, please visit their website.

Grinnell College

Grinnell College contributed material from its archival collection The Black Experience at Grinnell College. This is a collection of oral histories of Black Grinnell alumni collected by Stuart Yeager, class of 1982. The focus of the interviews is broad, but the central theme is the experiences of Black students at Grinnell over the course of nearly 50 years.

Additional material related to Edith Renfrow Smith and the Black experience at Grinnell can be found through the Grinnell College Libraries’ ArchivesSpace Public Interface.

Grout Museum District

The Grout Museum District contributed disparate materials covering aspects of African American life in Waterloo from the 1920s to the present. Included are newspapers and documents, political materials, and objects. Subjects covered range from domestic life to politics and protests, with special emphasis on the George Floyd Protests of 2020.

Iowa State University

Search all Iowa State University’s Special Collections and University Archives with CARDinal: Cyclone Archival Research Database, or click on the links to specific collection descriptions below:

• Black Student Alliance records, RS 22/3/5
• Black Cultural Center records, RS 7/5/4
• Hoodies and Hijabs Solidarity March records., RS 0/12/3
• Office of Multicultural Student Affairs records, RS 7/5
• September 29th Movement records, RS 22/3/3
• Iowa State University. Student Organizations – Multicultural Organizations records, RS 22/3
• Center for American Intercultural Studies records, RS 13/37
• Frederick D. Patterson papers, RS 21/7/19
• George Washington Carver collection, RS 21/7/2
• Jack Trice papers, RS 21/7/23

Iowa State University contributed material from two archival collections and microfilmed newspapers:

Dorothy Schwieder papers Dorothy Schwieder was a professor of history at Iowa State from 1966-2001. Featured in this portal are materials from her research into Buxton, Iowa, a historical coal mining company town that was a racially-integrated community with a majority-African American population, the majority of which are transcripts of oral history interviews conducted in the early 1980s with former residents of Buxton.

Verda Louise Williams papers Verda L. Williams was a Communication Specialist in ISU’s Extension Communication Services from 1981-1997. Featured in this portal is content related to the documentary Black Des Moines: Voices Seldom Heard, produced in 1985, including raw interviews and video footage, correspondence, and other related text documents.

Newspapers Microfilmed copies of early African American newspapers from Iowa, including The Weekly Avalanche (1893), Iowa Baptist Standard (1897), Waterloo Defender (1966-1979), and Waterloo Post (1952-1953).

Nodaway Valley Historical Museum

To find out more about the Nodaway Valley Historical Museum’s collections, visit their website.

State Historical Society of Iowa

The State Historical Society of Iowa is the official repository for the state of Iowa and strives to represent the stories of all Iowans. With a dual mission of preservation and education, the society maintains a museum, research center and seven historic sites. The society preserves and provides access to Iowa’s historical resources through a variety of statewide programs, exhibitions and projects. Contributions to the grant focused on providing access to the Iowa Bystander newspaper, highlighting material from the Robert Patten Collection and summary information about religious leaders and organizations that are mentioned in the Patten Collection material.

Related material can be found by searching the State Historical Society of Iowa’s online catalog.