Old Capitol Museum, The University of Iowa

About

A history and humanities museum located in Iowa's Old Capitol building, the iconic heart of the University of Iowa campus.

Description

For more than 150 years, Old Capitol has represented the pioneering spirit of Iowa and The University of Iowa. The last capitol of the Iowa territory, it served as Iowa's first state capitol from 1846 to 1857. When the state government moved to Des Moines in 1857, Old Capitol served as the University's first building and the founding place of many departments.

In 1976, Old Capitol became a National Historic Landmark and public museum. After fours years of recovery from a devastating fire in 2001 that destroyed the building's dome and cupola, Old Capitol Museum reopened in May 2006 as a vital cultural and educational resource for more than 30,000 visitors, researchers, and schoolchildren each year.

The Old Capitol Museum houses a gift shop, an educational Discovery Center where kids can learn about early Iowans with computer inter-actives, the Hanson Family Humanities Gallery, and the Keyes' Gallery for Arts, Humanities, and Sciences. The galleries house changing exhibits year round that explore a wide variety of themes. Throughout the year, the Museum also hosts a variety of lectures, films, workshops, and other educational programs related to its rotating exhibits and Iowa history.

"The Old Capitol Museum seeks to educate the university, local, and national communities on the continuing significance of the humanities, as an invigorated and distinguished building that serves as a center of culture and civic discourse for the State of Iowa, through public outreach initiatives, educational programming, exhibitions, and academic scholarship.Old Capitol Museum has been in operation since 1976, when the building reopened after a major renovation. It is the only National Historic Landmark in Iowa City. Throughout its long history, the building has served as a seat of the territorial and state governments, a university building serving numerous schools and colleges, administrative offices, and finally a museum."