One never knows when the inspiration for an unforgettable road trip might happen. But you will most likely experience many of those unignorable “let’s go right now” moments while you read Iowa Supper Clubs, released in August 2020 from The History Press. Megan Bannister adds the historical flavor to these iconic Midwest restaurants with her debut […]
Iowa history
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Your Village: A history of Rusty the Giant Sloth
Have a question about what’s going on in your community? Ask Little Village. Submit your questions through the Your Village feature on our homepage, or email us at editor@littlevillagemag.com. Why isn’t Rusty the Giant Sloth the official state fossil? —ME, Iowa City, via the Your Village feature on LV’s homepage The short answer is Iowa […]
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Why is Iowa first?
It’s a question that’s been asked with increasing frequency over the past four decades: Why does Iowa go first in the presidential nominating process? Is it because the state is a unique repository of American values? Or because Iowans are remarkable judges of character? As flattering as those explanations may be, neither is correct. The reason Iowa
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A Midwestern Magic Kingdom: 45 years of Adventureland
Adventureland is hard to miss. Driving down Highway 80 through Altoona, the 235-foot-tall Space Shot rises far above the trees, a beacon to Midwesterners looking for cheap thrills and funnel cakes. With over 100 rides, shows and attractions, Adventureland is the largest amusement park in Iowa.
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Remembering Varnum v. Brien, the case that brought marriage equality to Iowa
How a divorce helped kick-start marriage equality in Iowa By Paul Brennan The path to marriage equality in Iowa started with a divorce. Kimberly Brown and Jennifer Perez traveled from their home in western Iowa to Vermont in 2002 to be joined in a civil union, a substitute for traditional civic marriages Vermont created for […]
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How a divorce helped kick-start marriage equality in Iowa
The path to marriage equality in Iowa started with a divorce. Kimberly Brown and Jennifer Perez traveled from their home in western Iowa to Vermont in 2002 to be joined in a civil union, a substitute for traditional civic marriages Vermont created for same-sex couples in 2000.
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‘The Iowa Lawyer’: Five female attorneys from Iowa who made history
Arabella Mansfield was born Belle Aurelia Babb just outside of Burlington, Iowa in 1846. By the age of 23, Mansfield would become the nation’s first woman to be admitted to practice law, clearing a path for generations of women — including four of Iowa’s foremost orators, teachers, attorneys and civil rights activists — to take up the practice in the 150 years since.
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‘Bright Radical Star’: When John Brown came to Iowa
Halfway to Springdale, Iowa — a town about 15 miles east of Iowa City — on a snow-laden December evening in 1857, Owen Brown decided to journal. “Very cold night,” he wrote, “prairie wolves howl nobly.” He recounted the “hot discussion” had on the road that day: about the Bible, war, racial prejudice and abolition […]
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Christmas in the Amana Colonies
A thick sheet of slush lines 220th Trail, the road that runs through the Amana Colonies. It’s Dec. 13th, 2017, close enough to Christmas that I’m excited, but not too excited, for the seven inches of snow now filling my boots. Naturally, I’ve lost my parents on our annual Prelude to Christmas trip; luckily, I […]
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Uncovering Iowa’s German legacy of language, gymnastics and beer
German Iowa and Global Midwest Symposium CSPS Hall — Wednesday, Oct. 5 through Saturday, Oct. 8, view full schedule As administrators at the University of Iowa continue their efforts this semester to curb the consumption of alcohol in Iowa City, they may not realize they are participating in debates that are as old as the […]
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100 years later, new audiences discover legendary outsider
In 1981, then-junior high history teacher Michael Zahs lucked into a treasure trove of relics from a Washington, Iowa basement. He took a chance on what might have been so many boxes of junk, because of their source — they had originally been owned by W. Frank Brinton, a man who had been known locally […]
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Next Stop: Britt, home of the annual Hobo Convention
In the Northwestern corner of the state, in Britt, Iowa, an annual summer festival just celebrated it’s 111th birthday. It celebrated the core values that are not just universal to summer, or to we as Iowans, but to us as Americans: our rights and our liberties, however we choose them. The 111th-Annual Hobo Convention celebrates a freedom that few will know outside of its tightly knit culture and the curious who hover close to its campfires.
