Meeting Public Comments

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SSB 3033

A bill for an act relating to the department of administrative services’ historical resource research center in Iowa City.(See SF 2293.)

Agenda

Subcommittee members: Koelker-CH, Reichman, Staed

Date: Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Time: 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Location: Senate Lounge

Comments Submitted:

The purpose of comments is to provide information to members of the subcommittee.

Names and comments are public records. Remaining information is considered a confidential record.

01-18-2026

David Baker [The 29th State]

My name is Dave Baker. I am an Iowa historian, writer, and public speaker who works with Iowa communities, libraries, genealogists, and researchers across the state every year. SSB 3033 is a bad bill. It exists for one reason only: to retroactively justify the haphazard and uninformed decision to close the State Historical Society research center in Iowa City.For more than a century, Iowa law has required a staffed research center in both Des Moines and Iowa City. That requirement recognized that historical research depends on physical access, professional staff, and stable preservation. This bill removes that obligation.The current solution being offered limited box retrieval by appointment through the University of Iowa is not a research center. It is not equivalent access. Anyone who has actually conducted historical research knows this. Serious research requires extended access, knowledgeable archivists, and the ability to consult multiple collections in real time. Three boxes a month is not access. This bill does not save money. It does not expand services. It does not modernize anything. It simply lowers the standard so the state does not have to admit it violated existing law when the Centennial Building was closed.I have worked in Iowa history long enough to know that once access is reduced, it never comes back. SSB 3033 sets a dangerous precedent by allowing administrative convenience to override statutory responsibility and public trust.I urge the subcommittee to reject this terrible bill. If the Legislature believes Iowa no longer deserves a research center in Iowa City, that debate should happen openly and honestly not through code changes designed to clean up after the fact.Iowas history belongs to the people of this state. This bill moves it further out of reach.Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Dave BakerThe 29th State

01-18-2026

Tereasa Lenius

Years ago, after attending a talk by the late Doug Jones, I started doing research into the history of parts of northeastern Iowa. What I discovered is that through all my many years of public educationincluding classes on Iowa history I was only taught sanitized parts of that story. In the beginning, I was shocked. Now, I understand that it was a purposeful effort to indoctrinate me into a myth of the greatness of the American story. The facts of the past are complicated. The Iowa legislature wants to paint the closing of the building in Iowa City as a purely financial one. It is not. It is a purposeful decision to prevent the people of Iowa from accessing the facts. If we cant find the documentation of that history, they hope we will just accept whatever truth they dispense to us, or worse, that we wont care. The stories of all of the people who lived before us deserve to be told. Stop being afraid of the past and fund its preservation. Thank you.

01-18-2026

Bruce Lear

The origin story of Iowa with all of its complexity is remarkable. That story is told through precious documents.The Iowa City Historic Research Center houses a large number of these documents. Unless the decision to close this valuable resource is reconsidered, these documents will disappear and so will part of Iowa's rich history. History is bipartisan. It's not about red or blue. It's about Iowa's heritage. Students, scholars and the general public needs ready access. The Iowa City Center provides that access.The poet Maya Angelou said, "History despite its wrenching pain cannot be unlived,but if faced with courage,need not be lived again." Let's keep history available so we can continue to learn from it so we won't be as tempted to repeat the mistakes of the past.

01-18-2026

Joan Zwagerman

Iowans deserve to know and tell their story in its totality, with all of its highs and lows. In order to shed light on our deeds and misdeeds, we need access to the documents and artifacts that tell that story. Having access is key, and the closure of the Iowa City site and the diminution of its collections is anathema to providing access. Please do not pass SSB 3033. Thank you.

01-18-2026

Genevieve Nelson

Im amazed at the radical and destructive Senate bills proposed to control information to the public. The SF 496 forced our public library to be moved and relocated out the AA school district building. Now removal of the Iowa Historical Society. Im a Republican voter and these kinds of proposals are disappointing and making impact on my view of the Republican Party that wants public resources of information removed. This is backward thinking.

01-18-2026

Danielle Oakes

Don't close the Iowa City building! It's vital in keeping Iowa history alive. If closed, the artifacts will be damaged in storage and not accessible enough to the Iowa people. We must remember our history for many reasons, including so we aren't doomed to repeat past mistakes.

01-18-2026

M Carol Sensor

I have used the research library in Iowa City many times. It has proved over and over again to be an essential research library. It need to remain open and the collection protected and even expanded. Why in the world would we change the law to eliminate a valuable resource? DO NOT eliminate this valuable research library!

01-18-2026

Tyler Reinig

As someone actively engaged in Iowa family history and local historical research, I know firsthand how essential the Iowa City State Historical Research Library is. Many records housed there exist nowhere else.Permanently closing this facility threatens the preservation of Iowas historical memory and limits access for future generations. These collections are a public trust. Please oppose any legislation that allows the Iowa City Research Library to be closed.

01-18-2026

Dale Schoening

Our history is important and needs to be preserved. Closing the facility in Iowa City puts materials related to our state's proud history at risk, and makes them less available to researchers. I also don't believe closing the facility would save that much money. Some things are worth the use of our taxpayer dollars. This is one of them.

01-18-2026

Christopher Overly-McDowell

Historical documents and artifacts housed by public institutions are vital to society as a whole. Researchers and family historians alike use these resources extensively. They should be protected and offered at all monetary costs without censorship or gatekeeping.

01-18-2026

Craig Stillman

I do not support the proposed bill to abolish and limit access to Iowas history. This bill sets a dangerous precedence and will open the door to future, ignorant and conflated bills. I believe that this bill does not serve the general population of Iowa citizens fairly. I do not believe that it saves enoughtaxpayer dollars to make it worthy of passing . I do not believe that it asks us the people what we would like to have for resources in the name of history. Please do not pass this bill. Please bring back full access to our history. I do not believe the work that it will take to find a way to give us access to our history will cost us that much money and I believe that a large percentile of our population would support it. In fact, why dont you ask the general population instead of trying to sneak this behind the General populations back?

01-18-2026

Jacki Rand

Dear Committee Members,As a professor of history, I have enjoyed a long relationship with the Iowa Historical Society, beginning in 1998 when I took a position as Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa. The department was then a jewel in the crown of the flagship institution with a particularly strong profile in U.S. history. Many nationallyknown colleagues, including myself, used the archives for our undergraduate courses; our graduates students relied on the archives for research related to Iowa history. My star graduate student, Eric Steven Zimmer, author of the prizewinning book, Red Earth Nation: A History of the Meskwaki Settlement, conducted deep research in the archives, and in other regional and national collections, for his work. Mary Bennett was an invaluable advisor and introduced him to the Meskwaki community. Eric's book, published by the University of Oklahoma Press, has led him into a noteworthy career in public history. This is but one example of many that demonstrates the invaluable resource the Iowa Historical Society provides graduate and undergraduate students, in addition to the high school students I have observed during my visits. This does not even begin to touch on the rich public programming the IHS regularly offered to the citizens of Iowa who care deeply about the state's history. Please save this institution and its collection for future students, scholars, and citizens who, through their work and collective memory, enrich the state's culture.Dr. Jacki Thompson RandAssociate ProfessorHistory and American Indian StudiesUniversity of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign

01-18-2026

Steve Wendl [- Select -]

I am retired after working 31 years at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. The late Dick Snavely and I founded the prison museum in 2002, which is still going strong. However, our work would have been much harder without the services and assistance of the nearby State Historical Library in Iowa City. I know Dick and Mary Bennett worked closely and frequently to help get the project off the ground. The museum attracts visitors from around the world. It may never have come to pass without the library in Iowa City.I also worked at the city library in Anamosa for nine years. In my opinion, closing libraries is akin to burning books. It's something that should be avoided at all costs, because it decreases access to knowledge and sends the message that this government doesn't care about the promotion of history and the furtherance of knowledge and discovery. I'm not sure that's the signal your committee should be sending.I thought Iowa bragged about their surplus. How is closing the Iowa City library going to make any measurable difference in your budget? Although I'm not completely cynical, I've seen enough maneuverings of GOP government to wonder if this isn't just another way to stick it to the Dems in blue Iowa City? Take away something that they value, just because you can?Please, keep the library in Iowa City. Do the right thing.

01-18-2026

Kimberly Jensen

I was a graduate student in history at the University of Iowa from 1988 to 1993. Being able to access the collections of the State Historical Society of Iowa helped to make me a historian and empowered my research, publications and my teaching. I have been a professor at Western Oregon University since 1993 and have taught thousands of students how to utilize primary source documents in state collections, to analyze and interpret our shared past, because of the foundation I received at statelevel archival research at SHSI. My colleagues and I who learned research skills with the incomparable collections at SHSI are now mentoring students in Iowa and across the globe. Please keep and support this jewel in Iowa City.

01-18-2026

William Green

I served as the State Archaeologist of Iowa from 1988 through 2001. For much of that time, our headquarters was across the street from the State Historical Society's building in Iowa City. My staff and I made frequent almost daily use of the SHSI Iowa City facility. Our constant visits to the Centennial Building continued even after my office moved a mile away. The SHSI resources in Iowa City were and are truly indispensable to the mission of the State Archaeologist and to everyone who values knowledge about Iowa's history. The resources in Des Moines are important as well, but the Iowa City research center holds innumerable archives and other materials that are not duplicated anywhere else and cannot be supplied remotely. As SHSI and DOA readily admit, capacity does not and will not exist in Des Moines to house, care for, or provide access to the material from Iowa City. Finally, even after I left as State Archaeologist, I continued doing research on Iowa history and archaeology, using SHSIIowa City resources, most recently for my book "This Is the Route of My Forefathers: The 1837 Ioway Map," just published by the University of Iowa Press. Please keep the SHSI Iowa City center open so that it continues to serve the people of Iowa.

01-18-2026

Chelsea Gregerson

Do not close the research library!! We see you trying to actively erase our history. To hide what you dont want future generations to see. It wont work and instead you will be remembered by history for trying to erase it.

01-18-2026

Nathan Eichenberger

As Winston Churchill famously reminded us, Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.By closing the Iowa City research center, we are effectively removing the 'textbook' for thousands of Iowans. We cannot learn from a history that is locked away in a distant warehouse or discarded due to lack of space. I urge you to keep these resources accessible so that future generations of Iowans are not doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. We are the temporary stewards of these records. If we allow this center to close, we are making a permanent, irreversible decision for future Iowans who will no longer have local access to their own story.

01-18-2026

John McNeill

Having grown up for the first 30 years of my life in Iowa and having strong roots in eastern Iowa especially in Iowa City (1980'91), I feel it is a priority to keep the Centennial Building and the State Historical Society of Iowa open and functioning. This needs to happen in order to safeguard our historic and proud past and to keep documenting it as it happens! To my knowledge there has been nothing done so far to house the information and the artifacts from the building and the society and I as well as many many others would hate to see all of that lost or divided up. Please take our future into account when considering the fate of our past.Thank you.

01-18-2026

Susan Frye

To our public officials: I received my bachelor and law degrees from the University of Iowa, and have been involved in historic and agricultural preservation most of my adult life. The Iowa City Research Library must be cared for and preserved, not fragmented. Please respect this institution and do not support legislation that would surely lead to its demise. Sincerely, Susan Frye, Iowan.

01-18-2026

Leslie Schwalm [Professor Emeritus, U of Iowa]

I am a historian. I have spent hours upon hours working in the archives this bill threatens. This research and the skilled librarians and archivists at Iowa City allowed me to publish several prizewinning articles and a book that uncovered the rich history of Black communities in 19th century Iowa. But even more importantly, for 30 years I taught Iowa students how to research Iowa history in these archives. Mary Bennett welcomed my classes into the archives and we joined other researchers in working in the irreplaceable materials in Iowa City. City directories, letters, diaries, photographsand the valuable newspapersdrew my students into great interest and appreciation for Iowa history. This bill will steal that experience from future generations. Please preserve the IC SHS.

01-18-2026

Leslie Schwalm [Professor Emeritus, U of Iowa]

01-18-2026

Sally Ortgies

I serve on the board of the West Des Moines Historical Society and also research Iowa history. It is important to me to keep places like the research center in Iowa City open. The records there need to be maintained and preserved. I am against the closure.

01-18-2026

Marilyn Yoder

It would be a travesty to close this vital resource in Eastern Iowa. I have spent hours upon hours inside this building researching and finding valuable information for my research. Many, many others rely on this valued resource center for their research. To lose this would be horrible for all Iowans, and especially those who use it regularly. The notion that there is a funding shortfall is laughable. If it was a priority (of our Legislature) to preserve our history, then funding wouldn't be a problem. Just do it. Do the right thing and fund it.

01-18-2026

Kelly Plumber [Iowa Musicians Project]

Writing as a cofounder of a historical project that started in the IC SHS building, that thrived because of it's location, the staff, it's availability to folks particularly interested in the subject and it's history. We received MANY donations based on those factors mentioned, and I daresay, we would have received far fewer, if any, if the donors had thought the archives would be moved, or warehoused away from public consumption. Like most everything in that building, access is paramount, and the care of those materials/archives must be taken... moving them for any reason is an ill considered risk, and moving them to a warehouse or similar facility is taking a huge chance with fragile materials. The building is NOT under funding jeopardy...the budget accounts for it yearly. The collections are NOT mirrored in Des Moines... I know of several collections that are unique to the building and lawfully should NOT be moved... doing so risks further lawsuits and that saves Iowans no money, certainly. In addition it leaves if this goes further to a misguided conclusion, a empty building in Iowa city, considerably less access to any of the collection, and a much greater chance of damage to those collections in transit. This ill considered move has already cost several top flight researchers/archivists their jobs.. they are yet another asset that won't be easily or quickly replaced as is. Please vote against a bill to close this valuable facility. Kelly Plumber 3rd of 4 generations of Iowa musicians, archivist for the Iowa Musicians Project

01-18-2026

Deb Nicklay [Mitchell County Historical Society]

Preserving our history is more important than it has ever been the hard documents and artifacts are the only true and honest representation of our stories. Please don't let them be lost.

01-18-2026

Paul Hendrickson

Madams and Sirs: I write from Pennsylvania. Please do not close the Iowa City branch of the SHSI. Generations have depended on it to understand the culture of Iowa, and beyond Iowa; to understand something about their own souls. Me? In 2019 I published a book with Penguin Random House in New York (Knopf publishers) about Frank Lloyd Wright. Over and over I made trips to Iowa City to seep deeply into the architect's paternal Iowa roots. It was a critical part of the book. It is inconceivable to me that I could have finished the project at all without the material in the Iowa City archives. The help I received there from the entire staff was exemplary, and none more than the handson help I received from Mary Bennettshe is one of the finest curators of a collection I have been privileged to know. I am aware of critical funding issues. But to my mind, the closing of the Iowa City branch would be shortsighted thinking of the most egregious order. A shortterm fiscal gain would result in so much loss of both precious archive materials as well as of the human element: reference specialists who have devoted their careers to THIS particular collection.Please take the wider view. Please save this institution for all the generations of Iowans to come.

01-18-2026

Stephanie Snow

Iowa history is a source of pride. All aspects of our history are important. It is imperative to preserve our connections to the past to continue to strengthen our identities as Iowans. The Iowa State Historical Society is essential to that experience by providing materials and documents for citizens to explore. Preserve the institution and preserve our heritage as Iowans.

01-18-2026

Dan Campion

I respectfully submit that maintaining the historical records of Iowa is a public good; that sustaining the State Historical Society of Iowa research center in Iowa City is central to supporting that public good; and that a failure to continue support for that center would be a terrible and irremediable misjudgment of the importance of our shared heritage as Iowans.Although I am not a professional historian, I have used the research center and have found it an indispensable resource. Having grown up in Chicago, I have used the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Newberry Library, the Chicago Historical Society, and various other collections there. When I moved to Iowa City in 1978 I was heartened that at the SHSI in Iowa City I could still enjoy the pleasures and edifications of historical research.I urge, again with respect, that the Iowa City research center be maintained for future generations to be able to enjoy making discoveries in a wonderful collection. We owe it to the Iowans who made our state's history to preserve, protect, and defend the heritage they bestowed on us. We owe it to ourselves to continue to use and to learn from the center's resources. And we owe it to our children and grandchildren to be good stewards of Iowa's history so that those who came before us, and we ourselves, are faithfully remembered and able to share, after we are gone, our activities and the insights we learned from them.

01-18-2026

Kandy Maharas

My Uncle donated a painting of the Mayflower Nite Club where he and a brother and sister worked as teens for their parents who were owners. My Great Uncle Harry Kobes was the artist. I visited the painting twice since I live in CO. I am more than dismayed that this painting has an uncertain future. While visiting Isaw many Family Historys on the bookshelves. I had no idea these could be preserved by the State Historical Society! For Eastern Iowa families Iowa City is the perfect location. William Peterson was right to promote this building being built. 900 + people visiting this space seems plenty to me. With promotion to other citizens I'm sure this could add other visits. I remember this building being built and think were William Petersen alive he would be shouting from the rafters about maintaining this facility!!!

01-18-2026

Mary Jo Hangartner

As a 43 year public educator in the state of Iowa, I have taught the value of quality, verifiable research as a debate coach and teacher of writing, both in Des Moines and rural NE Iowa. I have assisted students with History Fair projects, in which primary resources were of utmost importance if not an absolute requirement. I have overseen photography projects for students in grades 712; our projects asked students to interview local residents and document their stories with photographs of littleknown landmarks. When these projects, exhibited at various museums and community centers throughout NE Iowa, were brought to Mary Bennetts attention, she encouraged us to share as much of that as possible with SHSI. I cannot begin to count the number of times that a student or group of students has uncovered something about our state in their research that few others ever knewa document or photograph that has connected them to their own family or communitys history. The research facility in Iowa City is a place where that can happen, without having to go through a third party to possibly make such a discovery. Why deny students of Iowa such an opportunity?

01-18-2026

Thomas Carsner

My greatgreatgrandfather is John Henry Peters, a delegate from Delaware County to the 1857 Iowa Constitutional Convention at Old Capitol in Iowa City. I used the SHSI Library, starting in the 1980s, in Iowa City to perform research about him. I added to their collection from family photographs and newspaper clippings. I received much from the Library's resourcesenough to write my Master's Thesis about him. I was able to trace his movement from Connecticut to Illinois and then his arrival in Iowa as a surveyor for the railroad in 1853. He led a company through most of the Civil War and returned to Manchester where he lived until 1921.This is my family's personal story about Iowa history, but is repeated thousands of times across the years and across our state. The Iowa City resource research center cares for its collection with the highest archival standards. Its location allows University of Iowa students and faculty to continue to add resources to the collection of Iowa history in a way no other location would do.I encourage the Iowa Legislature to keep the Iowa City center open to allow for the uninterrupted retention and expansion of items of Iowa history.

01-18-2026

Florence Boos [University of Iowa]

There is a reason Iowa needs a historical society in Iowa City and Johnson County, since its collections are unique and often represent the eastern half of the state. The Historical Society has always been a premier research location, with its superlative Civil War records and other valuable materials and fine nineteenth and twentiethcentury collections. As a literature professor who has used its collections for personal research, I am very sorry that the building's contents have been appropriated; what is needed is for these to be restored and compared with the catalogues to be sure nothing has been lost, and for the building to be properly maintained, or another one close by of the same size or larger found. It's simply not true that we can't afford to maintain our proper history with the needed updates and staffit's a matter of priorities, and once lost or widely dispersed, these collections will be forever and tragically gone. Neither is it convenient for everyone to travel to Des Moines, and they don't have the space for everything; moreover recataloguing and such will itself be expensive and require more staff. Our ancestors passed down these records to us, and we owe it to Iowans of the future to preserve their history in the best way possible.

01-18-2026

John Brown [None]

This bill should be passed. I was appointed by Governor Culver to the Board of Trustees of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) in 2009 and served until 2024 under five 3year appointments made by 3 different governors. Once I joined the SHSI Board in 2009, I decided to visit and evaluate all the state historical sites, museums and libraries. It immediately became apparent to me that the Iowa City library should be closed. It is an expensive redundant facility. It creates additional costs, which are in part paid by taxpayer funds and in part by decreased service levels at both historical libraries. Also, almost all states just have one historical library. I then talked to a former director of the Department of Cultural Affairs, who told me that each newly appointed Director soon realized that the Iowa City historical library should be closed, then started that process, and the staff there used their local contacts to help stop the effort, then there was a new Governor, and a new Director, and the process started over. This went on for 40 years.The Iowa City historical library is at 402 Iowa Avenue, on the northeast corner of downtown. Most Iowa City residents are unaware of it and have never visited the building. The Iowa City historical library is an aging building. Significant repairs will be required in the next few years. The heating and air conditioning costs of the building are also very high. This premier Iowa City real estate could be sold or conveyed to the University of Iowa. That real estate was conveyed to the state by the University in the 1950s with a deed that included a clause that the real estate would revert to the University if it was no longer used as a historical library.In conclusion, the state needs to consolidate its 2 historical libraries, and the logical place for the combined collection is Des Moines.

01-18-2026

Kathleen Wandro

I respectfully urge the Iowa Senate subcommittee to oppose SSB3033, which would eliminate the Iowa City Historical Society building.First, this proposal would permanently remove an irreplaceable public asset. The Iowa City Historical Society building is not excess property; it is a repository of our shared civic memory, housing archives, artifacts, and educational programming that serve residents, students, and researchers. Once this building is eliminated or sold, that public history is lost forever.Second, SSB3033 undermines local control and community stewardship. The Historical Society building exists because of sustained local investment and engagement. A topdown decision by the Department of Administrative Services to dispose of a locally valued historic property disregards the community that maintains, uses, and benefits from it, without demonstrating a compelling statewide need.Finally, the bill fails a basic test of fiscal responsibility. There has been no transparent costbenefit analysis showing that eliminating this building will produce meaningful savings for taxpayers. Adaptive reuse, shared space arrangements, or targeted operational efficiencies would achieve fiscal goals while preserving public value. Eliminating a functioning cultural institution is a blunt and unnecessary approach.For these reasons, I strongly oppose SSB3033 and urge the subcommittee to reject it in favor of solutions that respect Iowas history, local decisionmaking, and responsible stewardship of public assets.

01-18-2026

Patricia Benson

As a resident of Iowa City & the state of Iowa I believe preservation of historical artifacts & documents is vital for purposes of education & for use by future generations. Many documents and photos stored in Iowa City's historical society would be permanently lost if the building were closed. This facility needs to remain open & accessible in Iowa City.

01-18-2026

David McCartney

Keep the Iowa City SHSI research center open and fully staffed. Not doing so is a violation of the sacred trust between donor and institution. As a retired archivist, I understand the importance of developing longstanding donorrepository relationships. The state breaks its promise when it makes a rash decision that damages, perhaps irreparably, those relationships.

01-18-2026

Patricia Benson

01-18-2026

Patricia Benson

01-18-2026

Marian Wilson Kimber

As a music history professor at the University of Iowa, I have used the collection of the State Historical Society for at least fifteen years. Without it, the books and articles I've written that tell the story of music in Iowa and elsewhere would not have been possible. Students in my classes have also used the collection. What has been most disturbing to me is the haste and the unprofessional way in which the closure of the building has been handled. Archivists ethics say that any collection going to be shut down must be professionally assessed. There has not been enough time for this to happen. Its been made clear that there isnt room for the entire collection in the State Historical Building in Des Moines and that lots of it will be discarded. This would be a tragic and horrifying loss. The resources at the SHSI are not readily available on the internet or anywhere else. To discard the collection is to destroy Iowa's heritage. Please retain the collection and adequately fund its upkeep and the upkeep of the building in Iowa. Over eight thousand people have signed a petition in support of retaining it.

01-19-2026

Mary Doud

I am appalled that legislators, of all people, would not understand the importance of preserving historical materials. History, in all its forms, has made us who we are, and we must learn from it, appreciate it, and carry it into the future for all citizens. Please do not endanger the future of Iowa's historical records. Do not move this bill forward.

01-19-2026

Elizabeth Heineman

In 201617, I headed up a project (with 2 of my colleagues at The University of Iowa) on German Iowa and the Global Midwest. The project involved dozens of students in research at the State Historical Society of Iowa, and resulted in an exhibit that traveled to over 40 communities across the state schools, libraries, county museums, etc. It brought attention to Iowa nationally and internationally, with conferences and collaborations, and resulted in an online resource (https://germansiniowa.lib.uiowa.edu/).None of this could have been possible if students, faculty, and community members hadnt had access to the tremendous resources at SHSI. It is incomprehensible to me why the State would want to lessen Iowans access to their history and such rich cultural programming, and take away the lab for the student historians who will fan out across Iowa as K12 teachers, museum professionals, and so on.SHSI must remain open and fully functional in Iowa City, as the law requires. Changing the law is no solution.

01-19-2026

Janet Schlapkohl [Playwright Historian]

I have spent years researching in this center. Students of mine have had the opportunity to examine the materials, and learn local history. The unique and diverse collection means the most to those whose history it reflects. Breaking it apart and making it inaccessible is the same as burning books. It is absolutely destroying history.

01-19-2026

Dan Daly

We cannot be fully aware of where we are without knowing where we've been. Our children, grandchildren, and generations to come deserve all the access to our heritage that we have known. You are called upon to restore, preserve, and expand Iowans ability to learn about their history. Restore and protect hours and funding for the staff of the historical society offices in Iowa City. Protect our past for the good of our future.

01-19-2026

Roger Duffey

I have written hundreds of Iowa history stories.They are followed by thousands of people including Teachers, Scholars & Professors from Iowa & all over the USA. I wrote Native American Village Timelines & stories, used for research by State Archaeologists, Native Americans & Historians in Iowa & the all over the USA . I write about the early settlers all the way up to our National Heros of recent times. I teach history & how to research to historians, teachers, professors, museums & history centers. I have donated material to the State Historical society in Iowa City & the Iowa City facility has been one of my best sources for information. Please save our history and keep the Centennial Building collections intact & open for research. Thank You.

01-19-2026

Hannah Doerge [N/A]

As a taxpayer, I would much rather my money be used to preserve Iowa History than give rich people more tax breaks. The closure of this building was illegal and brazen, and this bill is just a poor attempt to make it "OK" after the fact. Stand up for Iowans and protect our history and our access to it.

01-19-2026

Linda Griffith Smith [Madison County Historic Preservation Commission]

Please consider your next steps carefully rather than passing this bill on as it is written. There are better solutions than changing the current law so that shuttering the building and carting items away in panel vans can be justified. 1. The announcement to close the facility appeared to be strictly a monetary decision with little regard for the collection how the donors wishes would be honored, how the disposition of materials would proceed (Des Moines research center vs. local history organizations vs. disposal), and how the collection would be stored and accessed in the future. 2. The educational and emotional toll has people upset at several levels: the general disrespect of the materials, convenience of an eastern Iowa location, sentimental ties to their own research at that location, and ongoing collection access. 3. If the building closure and the annual $800,000 savings has been deemed necessary to keep Iowa afloat in the future, then please address the collection concerns. Create a transparent method, involving public volunteer experts, that will a) assure that collection items are thoroughly assessed to determine future disposition, which will lead to b) more accurate knowledge of Des Moines storage needs, that will result in c) the same access as is now provided at the Des Moines facility or their current collection.

01-19-2026

Nick Lindaman [Hawk City Productions ]

My company has produced 5 documentaries, 2 of which, relied extensively on the State Historical Society in Iowa City, and their staff. Those productions brought money into the state and allowed us to hire more employees, therefore creating jobs.We would not have been successful without the SHS staff, who directed us to relevant materials and instructed us on how to use them in conjuction to tell a more detailed story. We had help, not only locating a book with a chapter about Nicholas Oakes, the original owner and builder of 1142 E Court St (the Grant Wood House) but they also advised us to look through the city directory of that era to see that many of the local residents were employed by Nicholas Oakes in various capacities. This is just one example of how a human with an extensive knowledge of the materials is essential to help the public access and utilize the materials.Without the Iowa City staff, we would have been going in without any idea of what to look for or where to start. With a collection of that size, it could have taken weeks or months to dig in that deep. Instead, we were able to locate relevant materials very quickly.We have been in business since 2009 and I believe a lot of our success was based on that first documentary, which would not have been achieved without the Iowa City SHS and their staff.

01-19-2026

Miriam Kashia [Unitarian Universalist Society ]

Why on earth would we want to destroy/dismantle the history which created who we are and what we do and stand for? Is it about $$$ ? Once gone, it cannot be recovered. This bill is thoughtless and discounts the importance of understanding who we are and how we got here. There is no pricetag on the value of the records at the historical resource & research center in Iowa City.

01-19-2026

Barbara Helmick

I moved back to Iowa 3 years ago and have enjoyed programs presented at the Historical Society. After living away from Iowa for most of my adult life, it is a joy to be near the Historical Society and reintegrate myself into our state's history. My family has a story about a relative that shared a horse with another elected Representative coming to the capitol, then in Iowa City, for the legislative sessions. I looked forward to researching this. Please keep this important treasure in Iowa City.

01-19-2026

Kay Irelan [FHP Iowa City]

As a Board Member of Friends of Historic Preservation in Iowa City, I am against BILL SSB 3033, which will strike the requirement that the Iowa Department of Administrative Services maintain a research center in Iowa City. For 168 years, SHSI & Iowa City have been committed to an educational alliance. Now, supposedly due to budgetary limitations, in spite of reports that the state's budget surplus for 2026 is projected to be $1.6 billion, this bill will take SHSI out of Iowa City.There is not room in the Des Moines facility for all these materials, which if moved to other archives or libraries, will no longer be available as a statewide resource. And shipping fragile materials back and forth between DM and IC will be costly and risk damage to irreplaceable items.

01-19-2026

Diane Duncan-Goldsmith

As you know The Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS) has introduced a bill inthe Iowa Senate (SSB 3033), which strikes the requirement that the department maintain such a research center in Iowa City. This bill is the nail in the coffin for changing current law which required DAS to maintain historical resource centers in both Des Moines and Iowa City. Current legislation has provided generations of Iowans and educators with critical access to thestate's historical legacy since 1857. Considerations: Closing the Iowa City Historical Society building risks the preservation of public assets and local history while permanently erasing an irreplaceable public asset which serves to safeguard Iowa Citys civic memory, archives, and educational programming. Once sold or repurposed, this history cannot be recovered and is lost to future generations.This bill will negatively affect local control and community impact. For some reason, DAS has decided a change in current law which overrides local stewardship and community investment without demonstrating any public benefit is a good idea. Decisions about historic properties should remain with the communities which fund, use, and value them.Finally there is no transparent costbenefit analysis showing that eliminating the Iowa City location saves taxpayers any money. Adaptive reuse, shared services, or targeted efficiencies would preserve public value while meeting budget goals. All this can be achieved without dismantling a functioning cultural institution.Instead, H.F. 2025 should be supported which states research centers in both Iowa City and Des Moines should be adequately staffed and maintained and open to the public. Thank you for your consideration in opposing a bill which risks the loss of valuable Iowa history.

01-19-2026

Linda McGuire

I have used the IC location many times to assist with research related to the history of Iowa City. Each time I have been there there are others doing research. The availability of the staff on hand to assist is priceless. They are knowledgeable, helpful, and pleasant. There have been NO reasons given for closing this center that outweigh the center being open.

01-19-2026

Emerson Cram

Iowans should enjoy more access to historical documents, not less. Engaging with primary documents provides the kind of critical thinking that you cannot get in other ways. As someone working with community members on an Iowa history of state poor farms, the closure of the research center has disrupted research and made it harder to share information with those who are interested. It is not wasteful to value access to Iowa history.

01-19-2026

Joe Artz

Senators KoelkerCH, Reichman, and Staed: Others have commented on the major objections to this bill. My concern is this. SSB 3033 makes only one change to the existing bill: striking all references to the existing Iowa City research center contained in Section 8A.707(2b). No consideration is given to 1a, which requires creation of policy to achieve SHSIs goals. According to media reports, public access to the collections now will be handled like interlibrary loan requests to UI librarys Special Collections. That office has its own collections to manage. Is it adequately staffed to provide such access? How/when will special collections be able to search Des Moines catalog to the materials from Iowa City materials formerly cataloged within the UI libraries system. These and other issues have not been worked out and yet the materials were to be accessible on January 1st. Youre considering passing a bill that may prove impossible to implement.

01-19-2026

Christy Rickers

The research library in Iowa City should stay open. It is highly inconvenient to have only one location to do research. And there is not enough room in Des Moines for all of the materials stored in Iowa City. This state needs to be a better caretaker of OUR history.

01-19-2026

Julia Skinner

I've relied upon SHSI Iowa City's resources countless times in my research: And still rely upon them from afar even after leaving the state. The resources are greater than the sum of their parts in part because they have been organized in specific ways by expert staff at SHSI Iowa City. To undo that work by moving them and reorganizing them makes Iowa history harder to research and makes the stories of Iowans disappear. It's critical to save this resource asis, to reopen the Iowa City branch (with the same expert staff), and continue to preserve history.

01-19-2026

Marybeth Slonneger

About 30 years ago, I began using the SHSI library in Iowa City to do research in areas that resulted in 7 books about the growth of our city, county, its architecture, a beloved local venue, our first artist/photographer, and the presence of the Black community and church in our city. None of this would have happened if I had had to travel to Des Moines to access all the multiple historical materials needed in this research about Johnson County. Nor would I have been able to work with a huge trove of historic photographs and glassplate negatives housed on Iowa Avenue. I, in turn, purchased 3 Isaac Wetherby paintings that I donated to the library, stipulating that they were to remain in Iowa City, along with a large treasure of Wetherby family items donated by very generous Wetherby descendants with the understanding that these pieces would remain in Iowa City. I also donated money for the restoration of the earliest painting done in Iowa City; gave a signed book of Antonin Dvorak's family, and other items. I stress that the gifts were given with the conviction that they would all remain here for the benefit of our community, as promised over 175 years ago, when the historical society was assigned this role. At a time of intellectual peril to our nation, when public education is declining, I suggest that it is imperative that these historical resources remain available to our distinct community with its own history and challenges.

01-19-2026

Landon Storrs

I respectfully urge your committee to OPPOSE SSB 3033. Keeping the Iowa City research center open is vital for many reasonseducational, legal, historical, civic. Students and faculty from the University of Iowa and other eastern Iowa schools and colleges rely on its collections for research that develops skills and produces new knowledge about Iowa's rich history. Moving the collections to Des Moineseven IF there were sufficient storage space and staffing, which is not currently the casewould reduce access to these materials and destroy the longstanding synergy between the University of Iowa Libraries, SHSI, and the nearby Hoover Presidential Library. That synergy has been a boon to Iowa students and citizens and also a magnet for nonIowan researchers. The proposed savings from the consolidation is small compared to the value of keeping these materials intact and accessible in the context that donors intended. This proposal appears to reflect the current political moment, which will passbut the closure's consequences would be permanent.

01-19-2026

Cherie Haury-Artz

I have used the research library in Iowa City many times. I know firsthand how essential the Iowa City State Historical Research Library is. Many records housed there exist nowhere else. It has proved over and over again to be an essential research library. Many records housed there exist nowhere else. It needs to remain open and the collection protected. Why would we change the law to eliminate a valuable resource? Permanently closing this facility threatens the preservation of Iowas historical memory and limits access for future generations. These collections are a public trust, please DO NOT eliminate this valuable research library!.

01-19-2026

Gaylen Wobeter

Closing the Iowa City Historical Center is wrong on so many fronts. I am a citizen interested in history of our state, and having access to this resource is vital. My Iowa heritage goes back at least four generations and preserving and sharing our information and resources is important for us to understand the past and move forward in the future. Please do the right thing and keep this building open and the treasured documents available to all.

01-19-2026

Ken Duffey

I think that the SHS should remain in Iowa City. The earliest history of the state of Iowa was made in eastern Iowa. Being able to connect the literature and collections with the place they come from is extremely valuable. Many of descendants of the people of earlier times who still have oral histories and artifacts that link to the earliest recorded history of the state and before that even. Being able to do research and and make connections in the same place where the history was made is of the greatest value.

01-19-2026

Regina Snell

I am proud to live in Iowa City, home of the old capitol building. It has been preserved, and is open to the public. I have toured it many times. It must remain open to the public for historical purposes. Our historical research library must remain open to the public as well. If we close it, it will never reopen. The artifacts that will be put into storage will be lost to degradation of time and storage conditions. Most importantly,they won't be accessible to the public.

01-19-2026

Nancy Jennings

I was born and raised in Iowa. I have researched often at the building in Iowa City. Over the years I have donated many things: photographs, books, family history, and historical objects. I was told they would be cared for and preserved and made available to other researchers. Now I hear that it being closed and things may be sold or tossed, or moved with no effort made to ensure they can ever be made available. Once our history is gone, it can not be retrieved. And I was told I could NOT reclaim, what I had donated. How very sad for all researchers now and in the future.

01-19-2026

James Beranek [Private Iowa Citizen]

To the Subcommittee:I am reaching out as a concerned Iowan to urge that the Subcommittee oppose SSB 3033. This bill would strike the provision in the Iowa Code that the state must maintain a research center of the State Historical Society (SHSI) in Iowa City.I volunteered as a photoarchivist at SHSI in Iowa City for 30 years, processing collections to make them available to researchers. The photos in the collections are priceless in their scope and historical value. I know firsthand. I worked with them for almost half my life.The photographs number in the tens of thousands, dating from the 1860s up to the present. They are catalogued and stored in Iowa City for easy retrieval and use by researchers. To uproot and move this massive collection to some unknown destination would be a travesty.The Des Moines research center has neither the space nor the staff to handle this enormous number of photographs. The danger is that they will be stored in some remote location and rarely, if ever, be available to researchers.The Iowa City facility traces its origin back to the founding of the State Historical Society in 1857. The photographs, manuscripts and books were collected over generations with the expectation that they would remain there, as their donors had anticipated. Please oppose this bill and support a companion bill, now in the House, that would mandate that the state reopen and adequately staff the Iowa City research center.Thank you.

01-19-2026

Karin Schminke

As a native Iowan, i grew up on a farm in Benton County and spent the first 30 years of my life in the state. I heard about the work of the Society and I took both mom and dad there to do family research in the 1970s. They both loved it. The historian showed dad pictures from the Societys Richart collection. Turns out that was the old Pastor of the Lutheran church in Atkins when my dad attended as a child, and he was a great early photographer! Dad identified dozens of people in those photos that day to the delight of both my parents. (And of course they were recorded for history.)Years later my sister and I used books from the collection that allowed us to trace the our mothers family all the way back to first settlers. A history no one in the extended family knew. We would not have been able to do this research without this collection and the help of a capable historian and researcher in that facility. As a student at the University I also used the photo collection to help me in several design projects dealing with historical buildings. And now all that will be lost unless the State Historical Society faculty in Iowa City can be saved. Please keep this invaluable resource so future generations can understand their past, such as I have been able too.

01-19-2026

Susan Enzle [N. N. Club]

I am writing to oppose SSB 3033 that would eliminate the requirement that the Department of Administrative Services maintain a research center in Iowa City. I am the current President of the N.N. Club, a womens book club that has existed since 1886, which will celebrate its 140th birthday next month. Several years ago, we deposited our records with the SHSI Iowa City where they were easily accessible to our historian, members, and any other interested party. I know that we would not have entrusted our materials to the State of Iowa if we knew that they would become much less accessible to us and require a long drive to Des Moines to see them or a long wait to have them shipped to us for review.Like other donor organizations we were surprised when former DAS Director Adam Steen abruptly announced in June of last year that the SHSI Iowa City would be closed and all materials moved to Des Moines. To my knowledge there had been no prior call for public input or for input from those most affected by that decision. As you are aware, his decision violated Iowa law that requires ISHS locations in both Iowa City and Des Moines. Further exploration has revealed that there is no evidence that the current staff and facilities in Des Moines are adequate to the challenges of storing historical archives per professional guidelines along with making easy access to the public, historians, researchers, and donor organizations such as ours possible.

01-19-2026

Anne Thomas

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.How do we learn from the past? We study, we read, we explore the places and review the events that embrace our past. Too many of our locations for research are being closed or limited. I refer to libraries, historical societies, museums and more. Do not close the Iowa City branch of the Iowa State Historical Society. It is a proud and historical part of our past, as Iowans. It allows us to access information and provides an avenue to gain knowledge of who we are as Iowans and how we got here. The Des Moines location is far less accessible to those of us who live more than an hour or two away. The Iowa City location provides accessible information. I have spent many hours at the Iowa City State Historical Society building, learning and building a greater understanding of my history and the history all around me. To shut down this institution would be a disgrace and dishonor to all Iowans. It limits not only me but the generations who follow me. If Iowa is to embrace the future, we need to sometimes look to the past to see the possibilities. Do not close that avenue. Do not close the Iowa City location.

01-19-2026

William Thomson [Armadillo Arts]

The State Historical Society of Iowa Library has been an essential source for information and its photographic resources have been indispensable and incredibly important. The SHSI Library contains original documents and images dating back to the foundation of Iowa and before. To shutter it and place this living and breathing archive in storage would be a travesty and a betrayal of the best values of Iowans. History is a living thing; the infinitesimally small budget required to maintain its availability is far outweighed by the remarkable value of its contents to museums, scholars, genealogists and writers who are able to comb its collections. To lose it now is not just a betrayal of a compact with the people of Iowa, but it symbolizes an attempt to put aside history and truth itself in a dark hole, hoping it will be forgotten. Nothing is so compelling as eyewitness testimony from centuries past. One can build a barrier, like a fortress against the sea, but the facts, like the sea, will, in the end, turn stone into sand, and seep through any crack to find level with Truth.The State does itself no service by smothering these living treasures of history and culture, and reveals itself to be dismissive of knowledge itself, to its ultimate degradation and failure. A culture stands or falls on the character of the things it reveres; its museums, libraries and cultural monuments are symbols to the people of what a civilization values most. To kill culture is to commit intellectual suicide. Let us not shutter and conceal our history but let us give our citizens its birthright in the preservation of its collective self.Will ThomsonMuseum professional for 50 yearsIowa City, Iowa

01-19-2026

Tony Wobeter [Iowa City Genealogy Society]

To Concerned Iowans to Retain the Current Location of the Historical Resource Center in Iowa CityThe Historical Resource Center in Iowa City HAS and IS a very valuable resource for Genealogist like myselfwho have found the information so valuable for it provided me with the resources from which I was able to research my Czech Ancestry who came and settled in Iowa in 1863. Without access to this CENTER it wouldhave impossible to trace my Heritage to the Present. PLEASE do not remove this Historical Center from IowaCity and allow it's presence to continue to assist others in Johnson County to have this same access for their own historical Genealogical research! Sincerely,Tony Wobeter

01-19-2026

Shelton Stromquist [Professor Emeritus of History, University of Iowa]

As a professor of history at the University of Iowa (now retired from teaching), I have taught thousands of Iowa students and introduced many of them to the invaluable records readily accessible at the State Historical Society in Iowa City. This is a unique, multifaceted collection for which the librarians and archivists at that facility have been knowledgeable and experienced guides to the collections they know intimately. SHSIIC is a bargain. The costs to operate and maintain it are low compared to the costs of relocating and reorganizing the collections in a new location with inexperienced personnel unfamiliar with the collections. University student interns, workstudy students, and community volunteers, make this a uniquely costeffective operation, saving Iowa taxpayers considerable money. Why undermine a good thing? Digitization of historical records is no panaceait is costly, generates often imperfect reproductions, is difficult to use in conjunction with other records, lacking context, and denying users the opportunity to engage the records in their original formwhether civil war letters, diaries of farm wives, colorful and detailed Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, local union minutes or original newspapers that give the full flavor of life in Iowa communities. Don't make these records less accessible by moving them out of the Iowa City facility with its long and distinguished record of collecting and caring for them. If we want university students to stay in Iowa, we need to be able to continue to engage them directly with Iowa's rich history as future teachers or community members who will have a lifetime appreciation of their home state.

01-19-2026

Laura Elsinger

We most strongly urge you to vote NO on the SSB 3033 bill in the Iowa Senate tomorrow (Tuesday, January 20) which strikes the requirement that the department maintain such a research center in Iowa City. The State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa City has provided generations of Iowans and educators with critical access to the state's historical legacy since 1857. The current law wisely ensures all of the precious and irreplaceable historical records are not housed in a single facility where one terrible destructive event would wipe out the states historical record entirely. This material is the heritage of the people of Iowa. It is your responsibility to ensure it remains for the generations.Laura Elsinger and Chris Schoen

01-19-2026

Craig Mosher

I write as a member of the West Branch Friends Conservative congregation. The historical records of our church and of the Quaker Scattergood School in West Branch are housed in the Iowa City building where we use them for research on a regular basis. Moving these records to an uncertain location (and uncertain availability) in Des Moines is a threat to preserving our heritage. Please do NOT approve SSB 3033 that would close the facility. Having these records accessible to the public in eastern Iowa including the many other organizations and institutions that have entrusted their historical records to the state is critical to maintaining our ability to preservice our history.

01-19-2026

Susan Futrell

Dear Senate Committee members, I strongly urge you to oppose SSB 3033 and the closing of the State Historical Society of Iowa Library in Iowa City. Support the original intent of the law that maintains a State Historical Library facility in both Iowa City and Des Moines. The preservation of our states history should not be turned into a partisan issue. The SHSI Library is used by families, volunteers, history buffs, community groups, local history museums, as well as students and scholars. It is a beloved repository for documents and mementoes of all facets of community life in the history of our state. As a lifelong Iowan, writer, researcher and someone who values history, I have used both the Library in Iowa City and the facility in Des Moines, as well as many other collections and libraries around the state. Each collection has unique materials and depth. It has never been a problem to have materials in more than one location.The facility in Des Moines does not have the capacity to house and maintain these collections. Experts familiar with the Library in Iowa City estimate that there is room in Des Moines for only 40% of the materials housed there. Aside from a small number of items that may be duplicated in both collections, the remaining 60% would have to be deaccessioned and either given to another archive somewhere, or destroyed. Even if some materials are moved to other archives or libraries, they will no longer be available as a statewide resource. Why would we give up what has taken many years to collect and catalog here? These collections are far to valuable to Iowans to be treated in this way. I am also concerned that the agreement between UI Libraries and the State Historical Society to offer interlibrary loan access to the SHSI Library collections will mislead the public into thinking this removes the need for an Iowa City library. It does not. Loan of materials would first require that they are maintained, and that they are stored and catalogued for access. Due to a decade of funding cuts, there is a backlog in cataloging and listing archives online. Shipping of fragile materials and large, centuriesold reference books back and forth between DM and IC is not a realistic way to care for or use these materials. It will be costly, risks damage to irreplaceable items, and make them unavailable to other users while out on loan. I am confident the librarians at UI are knowledgeable and responsible. But this proposal does not reflect any real understanding of how the archives are used by actual Iowans. On a recent visit to the Library, I was able to look through over 20 boxes, each containing dozens of files, in just a few hours. A librarian retrieved the boxes a few at a time, refiled them when I was done, and brought out more as I requested them. Archival research takes sifting through many sources, often with no way to know what is there until you look for it. The current collection is wellorganized and the librarians are knowledgeable and familiar with the materials. But not everything is cataloged online, and even the best listings provide just a brief summary of contents. Many boxes turned out not to contain what I needed, while others were filled with useful papers I did not know to request in advance because their contents are not listed in detail online.The library that morning was busy, with many people using books, files, maps and microfilm to access a wide array of materials. Several groups researching genealogy were able to look through a shelf of old, fragile County directories to find family listings. Those led them to other county and state volumes, which they were able to find, use for an hour and have quickly returned to the shelf for others. With help from the librarian, one visitor was unrolling a set of fragile maps to research a story for a local history museum. Two women brought their nephew from southeast Iowa to view an important artifact that their family had proudly donated to the library years ago. The research that was happening on just that one morning, using the proposed loan" system, would have required hundreds of items to be removed from the collection, shipped, stored at UI for a period of time, packed, unpacked and handled multiple times, then reshipped back to DM. They would have been exposed to damage, and unavailable to other users for days or weeks at a time. Its a terrible way to treat materials that belong to all Iowans and have been painstakingly collected, organized and carefully maintained for over 150 years. This is not a realistic or responsible solution to the loss of access the closing of this library would mean for Iowans. These valuable, irreplaceable materials belong to all the people of Iowa. To dismantle the amazing collection housed at the IC Library is a tragic mistake that it will be impossible to undo. I urge you to oppose SSB 3033 and other efforts to close the State Historical Library in Iowa City. This is not a partisan issue, or a concern just for scholars or Eastern Iowans. It is about preserving and having access to our history for all Iowans for generations to come.

01-19-2026

Gena Mackamul

It is important to keep the Iowa City Historical research center. I have used the research center for genealogy researching and historical research and would like to continue. They have many resources for our northeast part of the state and it is much easier for us to get to than Des Moines. I wish our state would treasure our historic resources more.

01-19-2026

Jean Mayne

Until all the history books can be fully scanned, be fully searchable and be secured on a server in perpetuity, we need in person opportunities to access them. In the same way that our teachers worry that kids will lose the skills they need to critically analyze articles posted on the web, I worry that we will lose the ability to access the right information if the physical books/documents are no longer available. No one wins when history is destroyed or hidden. Eliminating the Iowa City historical research center would effectively wipe out 180 years of Iowa history. This is this history belongs to our kids and grandkids as much as it is the history of our parents and grandparents. Please do not let this bill move forward.

01-19-2026

Paula Vaughan

The State Historical Society of Iowa is an important resource for all Iowans and needs to be readily accessible. Preserving the Iowa City location provides access to historical context and unique materials for Iowans, especially for those in the eastern part of the state. Many organizations as well as Indigenous peoples rely on the society to preserve documents and artifacts of the past. Information of the past provides important building blocks for future generations.

01-19-2026

William Gerhard

It would be shortsighted to move the State Historical Society from Iowa City to Des Moines.Iowa City and it close relationship to the University of Iowa is where the facility needs to be and has been since 1857. There are more graduate and PHD degrees in history and the liberal arts confered at the University of Iowa than any other university or college in the state.It defies common sense to move it. The bureaucrat that thoght moving the facility was a good idea, should resign or be fired. He/she has no place in state government.

01-19-2026

Julie Glade

I'm respectfully asking you to not pass SSB 3033. The State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa City is essential to maintaining the availability of priceless historical collections to Iowa citizens. UI students and faculty, along with Iowa citizens across the state, will be severely affected, and the damage and loss of historical records would be irreparable. This is OUR history, and it needs to be preserved.

01-19-2026

Connie Mutel

Dear Committee Members: I have written several wellreceived books on Iowa's natural features, including a book on Iowa's natural history, The Emerald Horizon: The History of Nature in Iowa (University of Iowa Press, 2008). This book outlines the history of how Iowa changed from a prairie to agricultural landscape. The book encourages the restoration of healthy hydrology and biodiversity in the landscape, for the betterment of human health, agricultural production, and ecological resilience. Writing that book required 8 years of field work and historical research. Much of the latter was done in the reading room of the Iowa City State Historial Society. Having the original state histories, early landscape photographs and sketches, and pioneer writings on the shelves, where I could pull them down and peruse them, was invaluable to my book writing. I'm not exaggerating when I say that my book would not exist, if it were not for the easy availability of those records. The Emerald Horizon has become the definitive natural history of Iowa. It is used as a text and training tool for teachers and restoration personnel across the state. I daresay that it is on the shelves of most Iowans who love nature. With our current environmental problems, we all need to find ways to do our part to restore our environmental health. The Emerald Horizon helps Iowans discover some of those ways. It's my contribution to the betterment of the state that I love.I entreat you to keep the SHS in Iowa City open so that our historic records are available to others who will write the next chapters about Iowa, chapters that I trust will lead us to a brighter, healthier future. Thank you for your attention. Connie Mutel

01-19-2026

Sarah Eikleberry

Im writing to oppose the closure of the SHSI located in Iowa City. The professional staff have helped steward a love of public history through their presentation and programming efforts. Additionally, many residents from the eastern portion of the state donated their materials with the understanding that they would be housed in Iowa City. This site is a cultural gem and has helped many historians, amateur and professional, complete projects that have contributed to important and vibrant works of public memory that honor and reveal the rich historic landscape of this region.

01-19-2026

Maureen Owens

As a lifelong Iowan and proud alumna of the University of Iowa Department of History, I strongly urge the subcommittee to preserve the Iowa City State Historical Society. As a student, I benefited from having an accessible and robust archive beyond those on campus where I could learn how to research and how to be a better historian. As an Iowan. I want to see my states history and stories preserved. For the sake of the history housed in the SHS in Iowa City and for the sake of the generations students and scholars to come, I implore the subcommittee to not support legislation that would close this institution.

01-19-2026

Ashley Maempa

I am a History PhD student at the University of Iowa, and I TA for courses in American history. Our students are extremely behind on media literacy, critical thinking skills, and argumentative writing. Archives are excellent remedies for these problems: they allow us to analyze sources on their own, without being told what to think about them, while assessing their quality and reliability. To make a compelling and unique historical argument requires careful independent reasoning we need to sort out what is historically significant from the noise, we need to synthesize huge amounts of information, and we need to accurately contextualize the material in front of us. Our department uses the State Historical Society of Iowas branch at Iowa City to teach students these skills, enabling them to become better citizens and to think for themselves.State historical societies are also important for the public. Many archives are unfortunately inaccessible, requiring people to pay hourly research fees or to have an academic affiliation. At SHSI, any Iowan can walk in and find out what did life look like in my hometown fifty, one hundred years ago? Or Where were my greatgrandparents born, and what was their life like? Any Iowan can access trained staff that will guide them through their research, free of charge. Losing this center means that at least 60% of SHSI collections will be moved to places with less accessibility or even thrown out entirely. Think having to locate and visit three different archives to find relevant records about your family, some of which may not be listed and are significantly more difficult to even find, as opposed to being able to easily look at descriptions of collections online and retrieve them from a location near you. As a public archive, SHSI has the specific and unique mandate to serve Iowans and to preserve Iowa history a public good that its legislature ought to support in full. I urge you to oppose this measure.

01-19-2026

Randall Aitchison

I respectfully urge your committee to OPPOSE SSB 3033, and maintain the State Historical Society Research Archives in Iowa City for our current and future citizens and historians. The redistribution to other locations risks the access, loss, and misplacement of these valuable documents. What will history say about us if access to these archives is mismanaged and materials disappear?

01-20-2026

Jim Hess

When I returned to Iowa in the fall of 2024 after years of working elsewhere, I began to learn of the extent of my family's presence in Eastern Iowa over 150 years and began researching our history. I was planning to work with the Iowa City location of the state historical society when its closing was announced.Iowa City is the state's center of historical scholarship, research, and education, an effort that will suffer if the Iowa City research center is closed. But Iowa City is also closer than Des Moines to many of the major population centers Cedar Rapids/Marion, Davenport/Bettendorf, Cedar Falls/Waterloo, Dubuque, and Iowa City/Coralville/North Liberty. It serves not just scholars and students, but ordinary citizens like me.Fiscal watchdogs have pointed to the costs of maintaining the facility. This is missing the larger picture. Before moving out of state, I had a small business in Iowa City. Before spending money, I asked how it would benefit my business, and whether it was more efficient than the alternatives. Before closing the Iowa City research center, I hope our representatives will ask themselves, what are the benefits that will be lost, can they be replaced by the Des Moines location, and at what cost?

01-20-2026

Mary Simmons

Iowa City has been a beacon of educational priority in the statesince the founding of its oldest and largest University here in 1857, not one year after Iowa became a state. Ten years later,in this rich context, the State Historical Society was founded.From that time to this, theseinstitutions have been vital collaborative and visionary pioneers in the creation of adynamic landscape to exploredeep into the past, and into the future. The Historical Society in this location not only houses archives and artifacts, but is itself living heritage. As are the extraordinary stewards of the collections here, with deep knowledge, experience and insights, gleened not only fromthe collections themselves, butfrom personal often intimate ongoing conversations with donors and friends of IHS often over many years. None of this can be safely or effectively transplanted. Rather, the holdings that were removed should be returned, the building revitalised to staff specifications, the conservation lab fired up, and student interns from the university welcomed for an eye opening semester ofmystery and mastery. They might find an article by an ancestor in an old Palimpsest!Please generously support and fund this historic legacy.

01-20-2026

Sonja Spear

Dear Chairwoman Koelker and Committee Members Reichman and Stead, as an Iowa transplant, I knew nothing about the state when I moved here more than a decade ago. I have come to appreciate its rich and varied history because of the work of many scholars, both professional and nonprofessional. That work depends on access to archives. An archive is an amazing thing. You can come into it with one idea and walk out with a new one, usually a more complicated one as you encounter new facts. If we don't know our past, how do we understand our present? How do we know ourselves? Please don't throw all that away to save a few bucks in the short term. Keep the archive open and in Iowa City, where it is most accessible to scholars and students.

01-20-2026

Lisa Muccigrosso

To the Committee: I urge you to oppose SSB 3033. I moved to Iowa in 2022 to work in the field of cultural heritage preservation. In that capacity I have had the privilege to consult with the Office of the Secretary of State about the proper care of key historical documents. To close the SHSI in Iowa City directly contravenes the state law that mandates a library in both Iowa City and Des Moines, and SSB 3033 is a hamfisted attempt to overturn that mandate after the fact. The actions of the State Archivist were rash and illconsidered, taken in service to the bottom line. I urge instead that we address the needs of the collections, the people they serve, and the law that provides for their placement in accordance with archival standards and best practices. The state of Iowa deserves no less than careful consideration of our historical record and the communities whose stories they tell.

01-20-2026

Sharon DeGraw [Empyrean Press]

The State of Iowa can afford to fund the Iowa City branch of the State Historical Society until 2030 to give historians and educators time to come up with an alternative plan for the collection. Iowa City is an early capital city and the location of a major research university. It hurts Iowa City, the University of Iowa, and the state to close the facility. Please vote no on the bill to close the Iowa City branch of SHSI.

01-20-2026

Isabelle Kelly

I am a current grad student pursuing my masters in Library & Information Science at the University of Iowa, and received my BA in English & Creative writing from the University of Iowa as well. It is vital to accurately preserve history at a time when those in power are actively trying to rewrite it, not shut down and defund institutions dedicated to doing so.

01-20-2026

Trudy Peterson

The University of Iowa is now the only university in the State that offers a Ph.D. in history; eliminating its proximity to the collections in the Historical Society would be a blow to that unique and important history department. As an Iowan (Palo Alto County), and a graduate of both ISU and Iowa in history, I urge you to maintain the SHSI in Iowa City.

01-20-2026

Daniel Kinney

The Iowa City branch of the State Historical Society must remain open because it safeguards irreplaceable documents that are the living memory of our staterecords that cannot be digitized away or moved without profound loss. These manuscripts, letters, maps, and firsthand accounts do not simply belong to Iowa City; they belong to all Iowans, past, present, and future. Once access to these materials is disrupted, the damage to scholarship, education, and public understanding is permanent. Closing this branch would sever students, researchers, educators, and citizens from primary sources that anchor our history in truth rather than abstraction. Stewardship of history is a public trust, and when we allow irreplaceable records to be endangered for shortterm savings, we abandon our responsibility to future generations. We urge lawmakers to recognize that preserving history is not a luxuryit is a duty, and the Iowa City branch is essential to fulfilling it.

01-20-2026

Daniel Kinney

01-20-2026

Cyndy L Sardeson

Iowa has a rich and colorful history, and we are blessed to have caring respectful people compiling and preserving the treasures from our past. These items are meant for us to observe, study and learn. How can anyone think this organization is no longer necessary? Instead, it deserves to continue nurturing, displaying and teaching about these priceless collections. This is a bountiful resource that should be recognized and protected. Let our Light Shine. Lift up rather than tear down.

01-20-2026

Tim Samuelson [Cultural Historian for the City of Chicago]

I am surprised and dismayed by the recent proposal to eliminate the State Historical Society in Iowa City. Statebased historical resources like this agency are critical and essential for maintaining local histories as well as for sharing Iowa's legacies in the history of the United States as a whole. I am the Cultural Historian for the City of Chicago, and have a research specialty in architecture. So many of the city's famous architects have strong connections to Iowa, and did much of their best work in the state. The State Historical Society in Iowa City has been an INVALUABLE resource in helping tell the story of Chicago's connection to Iowa, and for providing detailed research material on architects and buildings not available from any other resource.And this isn't just about architecture or Iowa itself. The importance of a resource like the State Historical Society in Iowa City is allencompassing in many fields and disciplines of historical interest. And this isn't just about the past. The resources have evolved as a roadmap of contemporary life and culture. Hold this place close! Treasure it! There will never be another one like it!.

01-20-2026

Linda K Kerber

I am a historian. I recently retired from 50 years of teaching at the University of Iowa. All those years I brought whole classes of students to SHSI on Iowa Avenue; Mary Bennett introduced them to the magnificent and extensive collections, and guided them as they chose research subjects. For most students, even touching handwritten papers from the 19th century was a thrill. And even undergraduates wrote important histories of aspects of Iowa history that few, if any of us , had known how we got paved farmtomarket roads, the German POW camp in Algona, oral histories of Iowa workers, oral histories of Iowa dentists, the segregated Girl Scouts, the stories behind criminal cases. Sharon Lake wrote a prizewinning doctoral dissertation based almost completely on materials housed at SHSI. In the last decade of my teaching, students presented their work in conferences open to the public. They emerged with a richer understanding of Iowa; and their reports have enriched the holdings of the Archives. If these precious holdings were moved to Des Moines, it would be impossible for students undergraduates and graduate students or faculty to integrate visits to SHSI with their other obligations to be present in all their other classes, or in the case of graduate student teaching fellows to teach classes. Our teaching obligations would be undermined. The distance between Iowa City and Des Moines would impoverish us all.Sincerely, Linda K Kerber Professor of History Emerita

01-20-2026

Gail Bonath [Grinnell College]

Please vote No on SSB 3033. We need to maintain the Iowa City branch of the State Historical Society of Iowa. These unique and irreplaceable materials need to be accessible to Iowans. Does the facility in Des Moines have the specialized space and the staff to maintain these collections? The proximity of the Iowa City facility to The University of Iowa should be taken into consideration. Many undergraduate and graduate students and faculty use the Iowa City facility to write research papers and books. We do not need to save money by eliminating this facility when the state has a huge budget surplus.

01-20-2026

Margaret Reese [Retired]

My husband donated a lifetime collection of Iowa history, a total of 74 boxes of books and ephemera representing history, culture, our communal ancestors stories, local documents and much more bringing to life the richness of our state since before it became a state. The Historical Society found that it had none of these items and was thrilled to be able to add them to the collection for current and future use. And my husband was very happy to be able to donate this valuable collection to the Johnson County Historical Society. The donation was made in 2025. Like every other donor for the past many years, we believed that our donations would be carefully preserved for future generations, cherishing our state's history, as promised in Iowa law. Please preserve the Johnson County Historical Society and all of the irreplaceable materials located there and honor the promises made to the donors who have shared their treasures for the benefit of all. Thank you.

01-20-2026

Carol-Jean Boevers

In the longer, bigger pictures, it makes sense to keep the Iowa City State Historical Society location open. It provides access for Eastern Iowans who may not be able to drive 23 hours to Des Moines, as well as curating materials specific to this area. My son's Germans in Iowa class at Cornell College had an eyeopening research field trip in Iowa City, 35 minutes away, but would not have had this experience at all with the closing. Many family history researchers are seniors, who also would lose access with a faraway location.The Iowa City branch exists by law. Since when do Iowa institutions break the law (by moving materials and shutting down), then make a new law to justify it?Please restore Eastern Iowa's access to Iowa history!

01-20-2026

Brady G'sell [Educator and community member]

Local archives are an essential part of the vibrancy of a city and state. These are the places where students, researchers, and the general public come to understand their home and their community. Otherwise the particular of Iowa's rich history become lost to the glut of information chaos. Keep the arrives open and rooted in Iowa city.

01-20-2026

Ashley Howard

As a historian, I am disappointed and deeply saddened by the proposed closure of the Iowa City branch of the state historical society. This outpost houses a treasure trove of oneofakind materials related to our state's unique history. Permanently moving these documents to Des Moines will decrease access to this vital information for the entire western half of the state, disadvantaging the teachers, students, citizens, and researchers who rely on this invaluable and irreplaceable resource. Given legislative priorities to champion civic education and American history, why would anyone vote to decrease the number of sites where Iowans could access their own history?

01-20-2026

Mark Culbertson

Adding a comment here to support keeping these irreplaceable items in Iowa City. The decision to inexpertly move or destroy any of these materials seems very short sighted. These archives must be maintained as a record for future generations of Iowans.

01-20-2026

Ralph Altmaier

My Grandfather was the judge in South Liberty, Iowa. The best source of information about the village of South Liberty is the historical research center in Iowa City. Closing the center would be a great loss for this sort of information. Please keep it open. Thank you.

01-20-2026

Ryson Stuart

I am so proud of Iowa History, and the research center in Iowa City is an integral part of maintaining a thorough and verifiable record of our state's history. Please keep this building open in Iowa City, it is part of who we are!

01-20-2026

John Kenyon [Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature]

I am writing to oppose this bill. What is at stake is not simply a building in Iowa City, though that alone should be enough to derail this bill given the way it would restrict access to historical documents for Iowans from all across the Eastern part of the state. Rather, it is about preserving our state's history. Having toured the entirety of this facility last fall, I can attest to the amazing, unique artifacts housed there. These irreplaceable items are part of the story of our state, its founding and formation, its struggles, its triumphs, and its people. It has become clear that despite assurances to the contrary, not all of these materials will be preserved in the State Historical Society's effort to move and consolidate collections. The easiest way to maintain these items is to keep this collection whole and in place in the Centennial Building in Iowa City, overseen by curators who know these items and are dedicated to their preservation. Rather than look for ways to further restrict access to this material, the state ought to find ways to make them even more accessible, to celebrate our shared history as we continue to add to it. Yes, there is a cost to this, but there is a greater, more permanent cost to taking the steps that would follow passage of this bill.

01-20-2026

Thomas Dean

Please stop this bill from moving forward. The Iowa City State Historical Society collection and building have been an integral part of Iowa's history for many decades. Its closure and the dispersal (and elimination) of much of the collection will do grievous harm to historians, students, and state citizens in the conduct, preservation, understanding, accessibility, and dissemination of Iowa history. The State Historical Society of Iowa as it is now construed has no adequate staffing, infrastructure, or plan to properly and professionally care for this essential collection. Thank you.

01-20-2026

Helen Gunderson

I am an 80yearold native Iowan, living in Ames but with family roots in Pocahontas County in northwest Iowa. I first began donating photographs and other items to the SHSI center in Iowa City in the late 1970s. My most recent gift to that institution was a twovolume book about my rural heritage that I worked on for 30years before publishing it in December 2020. I valued the Iowa City program and the quality service that the staff in the archives division provided me. I knew all these years that there were two physical centers for SHSI. Going to the Des Moines facility would have been more convenient for me to come from Ames or the Pocahontas area. And yet, although I benefited from a wide range of help from both centers, I found the Iowa City center to be the most helpful of the two facilities for my needs to archive some of my collections of materials. Also, in more recent decades, I would learn that there were structural problems with the Des Moines Centerthat although it has been an impressive building with wonderful exhibits and library, it either had not been designed or built well.What has been of concern to me regarding the plans to close the Iowa City facility is not simply about closing an important institution and its services and with potential loss or mishandling of valuable resources. I am also deeply concerned about how the decision was made. It seemed to be part of a political rift with someone without true authority and without input from specialists (either in the department or in the larger world of historical archives) and without public discussion and due process decided to put an axe to the place.In both our federal and state governments, there is too much of a trend toward decisions made on shallow rationale and without a thoughtful process of discerning what is best.I request that in the short term, the legislature acts to restore the Iowa City facility, staff, and mission. And if there is some valid reason for closing it, then vet the decision of its future properly and slowly. But it my mind, it should be kept open and enabled to thrive.

01-20-2026

Carolina Kaufman

Dear Public Officials,Please keep a satelite research library for the states history and archives in Iowa City. As its original capitol and founding city of the state, the State of Iowa has an obligation to have multiple sites to access important history and archives for Iowa citizens. I am a Museum leader and educator and have used the Iowa City Historical Society for important research and information that pertained to Museum education programs I have led. The staff who helped catalog, organize, and support patron research are invaluable contributors to our community of learners, not just for the local public but in adjacent with the University of Iowa as a trusted resource. I've also known many students from the University that would use this library for research some under my supervision that gained much from access to Iowa's history and legacy. This access should not be only housed in DesMoines which would cut off significant access for communities living far from the capitol. Several U.S. states have multiple major, distinct historical society libraries and research centers, often separating statewide, regional, or specialized collections. States with notable multiple historical society libraries include: Arizona: The Arizona Historical Society operates libraries and archives in multiple locations, including the Arizona Heritage Center in Tempe and the Arizona History Museum in Tucson.New York: Has both the NewYork Historical Society in NYC and the New York State Historical Association (now often associated with the Farmers' Museum/Fenimore Art Museum) in Cooperstown.Pennsylvania: Hosts the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (one of the largest in the US) alongside the State Museum of Pennsylvania (which includes archival collections) in Harrisburg.Massachusetts: Features the Massachusetts Historical Society (the oldest in the U.S.) in Boston, along with specialized institutions like the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester.California: Features the California Historical Society, the Bancroft Library at UC Berkeley, and the Sutro Library in San Francisco.Missouri: Contains the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Missouri Historical Society (St. Louis). Iowa having two is a good number to have and allows for greater access on its east and western regions, taking one away would be a significant loss and and further risk access, engagement and preservation of our history that should be accessed by the public in multiple areas of the state not just one.

01-20-2026

Carolina Kaufman

01-20-2026

Dr Rin Porter [Iowa Archaeological Society]

As a member of the Iowa Archaeological Society, I am appalled at the idea of closing the historical resource research center in Iowa City. Generations of university students, members of the public, trained and vocational archaeologists, and others have used the collections of the center because they are valuable and irreplaceable items that explain Iowa's history.Please do NOT move this bill forward. Kill it now, in committee. Show the citizens of Iowa that you care about Iowa history.

01-19-2026

Lynn Marie Alex [University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist, Retired]

The caliber of collections and the services at the State Historical Society in Iowa City, simply put, are not duplicated elsewhere in the state. The continuity in staff expertise and institutional knowledge, in addition to the resources themselves, have served my own and colleagues' research, as well as the public's appreciation of the state's history, over many decades. The center and its staff have remained approachable in ways that have made its resources as available to the public as they are to the professional community. This is a rare thing, not found in other larger, statelevel departments or universities in Iowa. I believe that Iowans value this accessibility. I respectfully request that you block SSB3033.

01-19-2026

Mary Greenleaf

Please oppose SSD3033 which eliminates the need for DAS to maintain a historical research center in Iowa City. In mid June the DAS announced it's decision to close the Centennial Building in Iowa City on the evening news, without asking for public input or discussion of options for funding and well after the Legislative Session ended. Pushback came with the "Save Iowa History 2025" petition and a Rally to "Reverse the Decision". Media coverage is increasing. Unfortunately, by July hours were limited to Wednesday through Friday, by appointment only and the doors closed to the public on December 31, 2025. As I spoke with family, friends and anyone willing to listen, I was amazed by how many had used this building for Research, University Classes, Genealogy,presentations, writing,the love of history or opportunities to work or volunteer. Because of the DAS process to close the building, many didn't know we were losing this valuable Iowa City resource that provides Eastern Iowans access to our history, as well as training Archivists and Researchers through it's ties to the University. Please consider why Iowa chose to designate two Archives when the Code was written, what is Unique about each site and their Collections and how the Iowa City site is enhanced by the University of Iowa. Finally, my grandfather (F.W. Kent) and my mother (Barbara Kent Buckley) both have Special Collections in the Centennial Building. Iowa City was their home and their collections reflect this. Thank you for your time and consideration.

01-19-2026

Cynthia Otis Charlton

I am a research archaeologist who worked for 20 years with my husband on excavations at the Plum Grove Historic Site in Iowa City, home of Robert Lucas, first territorial governor of what would become Iowa. The archives of the Historical Society located in Iowa City are invaluable to research on early Iowa and the history of Iowa in general. These materials are essential to teaching Iowa history as well, for public schools as well as for university classes here in the Iowa City area. Having this resource broken up, discarded in parts, and sent unprofessionally out of the area is NOT a responsible plan. Borrowing copies of documents through the UIowa library from the Des Moines facility is NOT a way to do archival research. You cant borrow something sight unseen or that you do not know is there. The legislature has been complaining about the universities not teaching enough government and history. Now it is trying to remove local access to history for eastern Iowans. Administrative Services should never have been put in charge of something of which they have no knowledge, interest or expertise in the first place. PLEASE do not allow their change in wording of a 150yearold law that maintains our history here in the Historical Society location where it belongs. Thank you.

01-19-2026

Janet Weaver

I urge you to preserve the Iowa City SHSI. The resources and collections preserved there are a vital resource for our ability to understand and interpret the past. Historical documents from letters and diaries to local newspapers, businesses, city directories, oral histories, and newsletters provide insight into family and community history in Iowa and enable us to situate Iowa history within a larger national and even international context. Members of the public go there to find their family history and students go there to learn how to examine and interpret primary source materials. As a graduate student in the UI History department I spent countless hours examining materials relating to industrial development in eastern Iowa. The collections in the SHSIIC building have developed over an extended period of time. They are interrelated, each enriching the other to offer a more accurate and complete accounting of the past. To pull them apart is to destroy the fabric of the whole. Please preserve the integrity of these collections by keeping the building open and its collections accessible to the public.

01-19-2026

Leslie Gardner

I urge the subcommittee members to vote No on SSB 3033. The collections at the Iowa City and Des Moines facilities are quite different. There is some duplication with published materials like books and journals. The bulk of the items in the Iowa City facility are "special collections" manuscripts, photographs, diaries, etc. that were not duplicated for deposit at the Des Moines facility. The Des Moines facility was not designed to absorb the Iowa City collection when it was built. The design of the building allowed for the special collections in the Old Historical building and the State Archives of Iowa to be combined in one location as well as the Historical Library also housed in the Old Historical building, the Historical Museum collections, the State Historic Preservation Office, and the Iowa Arts Council. Again, moving the Iowa City collections was not a consideration due to lack of space for the collections and lack of staff to care for the collections and assist patrons in their use. Those conditions have not changed in the present day. History is important. The history of this state is told through original documents housed in two research libraries, one located in the former state capital, the other in the current state capital. These libraries were designed to work together to tell the story of Iowa. Again, I urge you to vote No on SSB 3033.

01-19-2026

Bill Crews

Dear Fellow Iowans, I submit this conmen to encourage you to forget this study bill. Please support maintaining access to Iowa History in Iowa City as well as Des Moines and to support staffing and maintenance levels that protect historical documents as well as providing adequate archival standards. I had intended to have this resource available in making a move to Iowa City. Iowa history is not a partisan issue, the House has a bipartisan bill that will maintain two centers of access as well as providing adequate resources for Iowans today and in the future. I appreciate your consideration of my commentBill Crews

01-19-2026

David Leshtz [Retired]

I write in opposition to SSB3033. The value of keeping the State Historical Society in Iowa City is obvious to educators, professors, genealogists, historians, and everyday Iowans curious about their ancestry, but another group of users is often overlooked. Many in the business community also rely on SHSI. I've talked with property owners, attorneys, city planners, elected officials, and developers who research plats, zoning rules, contracts, leases, and a wide variety of documents that often can be found only at SHSI when making decisions that impact their communities. Please keep in mind that SHSI casts a wider net that many people realize.

01-19-2026

Michael Aitchison

I respectfully and strongly urge the subcommittee to oppose SSD3033, and to oppose in general the closure of the State Historical Society of Iowa Library in Iowa City. This closure jeopardizes the integrity of a priceless collection of primary sources and unique items that has been built since 1857, it disregards the wishes of countless donors over decades, and it reduces access for Iowans of all backgrounds to the state's rich and storied history. For the population served by this institution, there really is no comparable alternative for historical research.This facility and collection are an incredible resource for all Iowans, and once we lose this vital resource recovering it in its entirety at some future time will be difficult if not impossible. To sacrifice that resource in the name of insignificant spending cuts would be shortsighted and harmful to all Iowans.

01-19-2026

Jonathan Danker

This bill shouldnt be passed because its very important to show all the history of Iowa to everyone. Its important that the younger generation of Iowans that we preserve our history. If you care about Iowa, Please Dont Pass SSB 3033.

01-19-2026

Thomas Oates

Resources follow priorities, and preserving IC SHS should be a high priority for Iowa lawmakers. I teach at the University of Iowa, and countless colleagues have used these archives to add to our understanding of Iowas past. Locating the archive near the university ensures a vital resource is readily available to a large number of professionals trained to make use it. Closing the IC SHS would be a shortsighted decision and disrespectful to the citizens of the state. Widely available archives are crucial to ensuring that the people of Iowa have the ability to explore and understand their past, which is crucial to charting their future.

01-19-2026

Sharon Lake

Please vote "no" on the bill to close the State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa City. This is a priceless cultural institution that has served a wide range of users for over 150 years. As a graduate student in the early 2000's, I did a good deal of research for my dissertation at SHSI, and was assisted by knowledgeable archivists. The proposal to store the records and archival materials at the UI is shortterm, with no guarantee about the future. Sending records to the Des Moines facility and having users in Iowa City request them through ILL is completely impractical, expensive, dangerous for the materials, and very unhelpful for a researcher. The slow drainage of funding for SHSI over the past decade is a disgrace. Records of the past, and access to those records, are a prerequisite for a strong democratic nation. I urge you to reopen the Iowa City branch of the SHSI as quickly as possible; to fund and staff it properly; and to restore all the records that have been removed. SHSI has had a major impact on our ability to write Iowa's history in the past. Please ensure that continues into the future. This bill does not serve the public good.

01-19-2026

Karen Greenleaf

I do not support SSB3033. Many professors, historians and others have used the SHSI location in Iowa City over many years. Others have donated special artifacts, photographs and more which are unique to our area of the state. Having them in Des Moines is not convenient for people in our area.

01-20-2026

Steve Siegel

Please oppose SSB 3033.The State Historical Society building in Iowa City must be kept open.It is a valuable research to the students, professional historians, and anyone interested in our past.It has many, many historical documents about iowa's labor unions, the Mesquaki people's history, and much more.To move these documents to an unclear future in Des Moines would probably doom them to total disorganization and uselessness.Please keep the building in Iowa City open.

01-20-2026

Denis sievers [retired teacher, Davenport property owner]

Removing Iowa City based historical artifacts and documents to a Des Moines storage area is removing them away from Iowa's citizens, especially those of eastern Iowa. These are to a large extent eastern Iowa history. This is nothing but state government looking for a budget cut they feel would not be very strongly contested, and aiming for an "easy" target. I have called about this erasure/sequestration of history, and been ignored. I am assuming this plethora of comments will also be ignored, but remember that elected officials are answerable to voters at some point in the future, and these people will vote.

01-20-2026

K. Kris Hirst

Please block SSB 3033. As a working archaeologist, I have used the SHSI research collection in Iowa City uncountable times and found the historical records and unique collections vital to my research investigations. I met numerous wonderful people there, genealogists and historians visiting the priceless special collections, including notebooks and journals donated to the library by early residents of Iowa City. These fragile, irreplaceable elements of our past must not be discarded; the plan to ship them back and forth from Des Moines endangers their integrity. Respect the history of Iowa, do not reverse the longstanding commitment to keep this research facility for the community.

01-20-2026

Jonni Lukenbill-Bowles

In regards to The Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS) introduced a bill in the Iowa Senate SSB 3033 to strike the requirement that the department maintain such a research center in Iowa City.I am a historian and licensed psychotherapist and use these services regularly for research. I am safe in saying that the State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa City, is neccessary as a human and educational service that is needed here. Please realize what you are eradicating and do not strike the requirement that the department maintain such a research center in Iowa City.Let intelligence and kindness lead the way!

01-20-2026

Victor Ray [The University Of Iowa]

The historical research center in Iowa City is a vital public resource that shouldnt be shut down. Generations of Iowans have relied upon the center to preserve our history. Closing the center harms present efforts to chronicle Iowas history. And closing the center is an offense against the future, denying subsequent generations access to knowledge of their past.

01-20-2026

Cory Heisterkamp [Museum of Advanced Design & Technology]

We are at a crossroads where history, on a national scale, is being lost. Where education has taken a back seat and facts seemingly no longer matter. This is not an accident, its intentional. And you, our representatives, have the power to stop this. To right this course. Closing SHSI was never really about cost savings; the numbers simply dont bear that out, nor do the swift actions that were made without public input. Closing the Centennial building is a mistake, and obviously puts thousands of accessions at risk. With all due respect, any nearterm gain on the ledger is not worth the longterm loss of our States history.

01-20-2026

Mitch Connot

I was born and raised in the Great State of Iowa, and I have my entire life here because I love it. One of the things that I love the most about living in Iowa is how our communities embrace our roots and place great value on the history of our communities and our State. To say that I was disappointed to hear that shuttering the State Historical Society in Iowa City is a gross understatement it is an absolute travesty for our state and the people who have called Iowa home, many of us for many generations. Our History is something that should be valued and shared with the all generations, especially our younger generations. My children deserve to have the same opportunities that I had as a child to learn about our Great State, and be able to walk through the historic halls of the SHS building, even having a chance to see many of the rare and beautiful artifacts from our State's history. To close this building would be to deny future generations the opportunity to love and respect where they came from. Knowing our history is one of the things that made me want to stay here in Iowa because I am proud of our history. Please take a moment to reflect on your own upbringing and that of your children and grandchildren. We as Iowans deserve to have the SHS in Iowa City, and it would be terribly shameful and shortsighted to close those doors. Thank you for your consideration. I pray that you all do the right thing and keep the SHS in Iowa City open and flourishing for generations to come.

01-20-2026

Anne Silander

Senators, Committee Members and Representatives, I am writing to implore you to block the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS) proposed bill in the Iowa Senate (SSB 3033), which strikes the requirement that the department maintain a research center in Iowa City. There is neither the room, nor staff to keep physical records of Iowa history preserved and accessible to all, when stored solely in Des Moines. Important and beloved archival records have been donated by Iowa families over many decades, with the understanding they would be preserved and accessible to Iowans. I found records of my own family on the shelves at the center in Iowa City. What a gift! It meant a great deal to me and my siblings.These diaries, documents and other records are meaningful to us, valuable and irreplaceable. They belong to all the people of Iowa. To dismantle the amazing collections housed in Iowa City will be impossible to undo. We deserve a more thoughtful, transparent, and informed process to decide the best way to care for these resources and make sure they are truly available to the public. We ask you please to stop this attempt to change the law that requires a library in both Des Moines and Iowa City. Please support legislation that will follow the law, keep the State Historical Society of Iowas research facility in Iowa City center open, and ensure it is properly staffed and funded.This is not simply an issue for scholars and academics, but speaks to the hearts of everyday Iowans. It is about preserving and having access to our history for Iowans for generations to come! Thank you for your service and consideration!Sincerely, Anne Silander (741 Grant St, Iowa City, IA 52240)

01-20-2026

Alan Gardner

PLEASE BLOCK PROPOSED SENATE BILL 3033 AND ITS PURPOSE TO ELIMINATE IOWAS HISTORICAL RESEARCH RESOURCE CENTER IN IOWA CITY. Anyone supporting this legislation lacks the wisdom, humility, and understanding of stewardship required of public servants. While destroying the Resource Center in Iowa City may be part of ongoing Republican efforts to reduce government bloat via blindfold and chainsaw, something else may be at play. At the risk of being called a conspiracy theorist, I ask, Does someone, or some group, have alternative plans for the University of Iowas Centennial Building, or the land upon which it sits? Whatever interest is being served, as Director of the Department of Administrative Services, Adam Steen, played hatchet man. One can only applaud his swift, singleminded, and efficient attack upon Iowa history, which, in theory, is held in trust by folks like him. With neither expertise in history nor training in preservation and curation, Director Steen gleefully sought no input from true experts within his own department. Normally, failed stewardship would disqualify someone from falsely styling himself as a follower of Jesus Christ or any other sort of public servant. Remember, no matter how people try to destroy history, history records fame and infamy for generations.

01-19-2026

Tom Cameron

I strongly oppose the amendment to strike the requirement for a historical resource research center in Iowa City. Our history is not just a collection of dates and events; its a vital part of our identity and culture. Maintaining a research center in Iowa City ensures that this rich tapestry of our past remains accessible to all Iowans, fostering a deeper understanding of who we are as a community.Without a research center in Iowa City, we risk limiting access to valuable resources that support education and engagement with our history. This accessibility is crucial for educators, students, and researchers who rely on these centers to learn, teach, and preserve our heritage. By providing a space where historical documents, artifacts, and expert knowledge are available, we empower future generations to appreciate and learn from our past.Stripping away this requirement not only undermines our commitment to education but also diminishes the opportunities for meaningful dialogue around our states history. Iowans deserve the chance to explore their roots and connect with the stories that have shaped our present and future. Lets ensure our history remains available, vibrant, and integral to our community's educational landscape.

01-19-2026

Colin Gordon [Department of History, University of Iowa]

Closure of SHSIs Iowa City branch will undermine our workas scholars and teachersin several ways. First, it will dramatically constrain our ability to teach the craft of historical research to our students. History is a social science; archival collections (like SHSI) are our laboratories. Local access to SHSI collections allows us to introduce students to the range and richness of diverse and tangible primary sources. In our courses like History of Iowa and the Midwest" and others, students have conducted research projects on everything from industrial accidents in Cedar Rapids, to labor unrest in Muscatine, to nativist attacks on German speakers in Iowa during World War I. Students have benefited from both the SHSI archive and the expertise of the archivists who work there. More broadly, integrating the SHSI and its collections into our classes allows us to teach invaluable research skills. Such skills are important not just to future historians but align to a wide array of workforce fieldsthe law, property development, K12 education, corporate communicationsin which job readiness includes the ability to locate, contextualize, and interpret written texts.Second, the SHSIs closure threatens our ability, as historians of Iowa, to enrich and disseminate our states story. It is essential to maintain these collections where they are accessible to University of Iowa students and scholars. Generations of undergraduate and graduate students have relied on the SHSIs collections to write K12 curriculum, undergraduate theses, Masters essays, and doctoral dissertations on Iowas rich and varied history. Finally, the closure of the Iowa City SHSI branch threatens the University of Iowas broader research enterprise. For decades, the University Libraries and SHSI have collaborated on an efficient and mutually rewarding collections and accessions policy. Many manuscript collections have been archived at the Iowa City branch with the expressed intent that this would make them accessible to UI students and scholars. Moving or removing those collections not only renders them less accessible, but it violates the terms and conditions under which Iowans entrusted those records to SHSI in the first place. In turn, the UI and SHSI have historically coordinated collections: the University Library does not collect state and local history journals, for example, because the SHSI does so. Closing the Iowa City branch would close off local access to these important resources as well. Closure of Iowa Citys SHSI branch would strangle access to the States documentary legacy. It would mean not only losing a valuable archival resource but losing it in the place where its has been (and can continue to be) used by University of Iowa students, scholars, and a wide assortment of visitors to effectively research, teach and learn the craft of history. The draft agreement with the University Libraries, resting on limited interlibrary loan of materials housed in Des Moines, is an entirely unrealistic solution. It offers no solution to the challenge of undergraduate and class access to these collections. And it fundamentally misunderstands the demands and process of archival researchwhich requires access to full collections (or material from multiple collections) to make use and sense of the documents.

01-19-2026

Julie Lawrence

Iowa history must be preserved. The Iowa City location of the State Historical Society of Iowa holds important links to our past, that once lost will not be recovered. Sadly, items have been removed with little concern for the protocols used by professionals. That they were shown such little care shows the mindset of those in "charge." That they were removed at all is a greater concern. Please stop the closure of the Iowa City location of the State Historical Society.

01-19-2026

Paula Mohr

Please vote no on the proposed legislation to close the State Historical Society of Iowa Library in Iowa City.The collections in Iowa City are a rich resource, especially in the history of eastern Iowa. I and many other eastern Iowabased historians use this library in Iowa City regularly to do our work. These research materials are invaluable to understand historic properties, write National Register nominations, plan rehabilitation projects, and other activities. And I have specific examples that demonstrate how important this work is.I have spent a couple decades of my career working in communities across Iowa including Keokuk, Donnellson, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, and Dubuque. These cities, large and small, have used history and historic preservation as an powerful economic development tool, to preserve their history, increase tourism, and transform their cities for their residents. Having ready access to a research library in eastern Iowa that preserves our state's history is critical to fostering appreciation for local history.Please vote no on moving this legislation forward.

01-19-2026

Meg Beshey [Webster County Historical Society]

I feel this is a very important service to the entire community of Iowa. We value our history; we are proud of our history and to just dispose of assistance to this organization to save a a few bucks is wrong. People utilize this facility, the staff and the massive number of archives that are pertinent to the understanding of how Iowa came to be as we are today.I work for the historical society in Webster County. We have in the short time I've been there utilized information that they have provided to us a number of times. Our town historian, Roger Natte has relied on the services and information he can retrieve from this organization numerous times in his 50 years of collection archives for our county. Just recently, we had a young man of college age, travel two hours to our archives room in Fort Dodge from western Iowa to find out information about historical preservation of a building in our city. He wanted to look at more information via Iowa City site but wasn't sure he wanted to travel that far nor if it was even open after reading all the new stories about it closing. Here's a young mind interested in our state's history and deeply involved in wanting to do preservation work, yet we are hindering efforts from our upcoming architects, preservationists, etc. Denying this opportunity is not fair and is not a thought through process. What will happen to all the information, how will you delegate all the information to all the various sites that can properly handle it all? Please keep the funding for this amazing facility and staff who maintain it with great professionalism. Making it non accessible is not doing Iowa any great favor and those voting against the funding will be known for tossing Iowa's heritage into the garbage. Not a legacy I would want on my record at all. Vote yes for funding please!

01-18-2026

Richard Masters [Richard Masters]

I conducted critical research on more than occasion to acquire copies of unique historical photographs of the mounds at the Effigy Mounds National Monument. This research lead to my creating the winning design of the state of Iowa's 2017 America the Beautiful Effigy Mounds National Monument quarter that has been in circulation for nearly nine years now. No where else could I have gotten the critical imagery necessary if it weren't for the convenience of the historical resource research center in Iowa City. This quarter is literally in the pockets of millions of Americans all over this country at any given moment!!Thank you,Richard Masters4thgeneration Iowan

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01-19-2026

Marty Boller [Our Iowa Heritage]

Sadly, today's decision to take SHSI out of Iowa City because of budgetary limitations is like deciding to stop teaching students because were running low on paper and ink. It simply makes no sense, especially when the state's budget surplus for 2026 is projected to be $1.6 billion! From my seat on the history bench, there is a multitude of strong SHSI leaders from the past, who are, today, rolling over in their graves, knowing that this generation of SHSI leaders is teetering on the edge of actually reversing a 168yearold commitment to one strong & successful educational alliance: SHSI & Iowa City.

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01-19-2026

Jill Fishbaugh

Having been born, raised, educated, and employed in Iowa, I consider the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) in Iowa City to be an invaluable resource. In 202324, I performed extensive research at the facility to complete an application to place the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center on the National Register of Historic Places. I was able to locate critical information and documentation necessary to complete the application because the SHSI was located in Iowa City, and it had the resources I needed specific to the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center. These resources included, architectural plans, historical documents, photos, correspondence, product catalogs and literature, and other materials in the Richard W. Pattschull Collection, as well as 20th century fire insurance maps on microfiche, local historical photos, and historical newspaper articles and books housed in the facility. Many of these resources were donated to SHSI and may now be marked for disposal, particularly those materials that have not been digitized. The application was subsequently approved, and the Robert A. Lee Recreation Center was added to the National Register in 2024, thanks to the materials housed in the State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa City. Getting rid of this facility is a colossal mistake. Once this facility is gone, this type of research will no longer be possible.

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01-19-2026

Judy` Nolte Temple [University of Arizona]

Iowa City, with its beautifully preserved Old Capitol Building, symbolizes Iowas long history. Likewise, the Iowa City branch of the Historical Society has preserved important documents in Iowa history for many decades.The location of documents and archives so close to the University of Iowa enables scholars to easily access items for careful study that often can take years. If the collections housed in Iowa City were relocated to Des Moines, that access would be destroyed. Speaking from my own experiences while writing A Secret to be Burried: The Diary and Life of Emily Hawley Gillespie, 18581888, the many trips I made to study primary documents would have been impossible if they were housed in Des Moines. The collection upon which I drew preserved the diaries of an ordinary woman whose old personal journals might not have survived the culling necessary to move collections to Des Moines. My book won the Shambaugh Award for best work in Iowa History, thanks to the Iowa City archives and their tireless, patient staff.I urge decisionmakers to take the long view of what is valuable to the Iowa. Dismantling an esteemed jewel of Iowa history would be a shortsighted mistake. Judy Nolte TempleProfessor Emerita, University of ArizonaAuthor (under surname Lensink) of A Secret to be Burried

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01-19-2026

Glenn Ehrstine

Dear Honored State Senators,Im writing to ask your support in maintaining the current collections, staff, and location of the Iowa City Research Center of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI). SHSI was founded in Iowa City in 1857 with the intent of keeping the societys collections available in perpetuity, not only to the public, but also to researchers at the State University of Iowa, now the University of Iowa.Since 2014, the Iowa City location has enabled UI faculty and students to create and maintain the Digital Archive of German Iowa and the Global Midwest, a public humanities research project concerning the contributions of German immigrants to farming, trade, industry, and education in the State of Iowa. Irreplaceable items in the Iowa City collections include the rare 1873 edition of Iowa: Die Heimath fr Einwanderer, an updated German translation of the 1870 handbook for immigrants issued by the state in English, German, Dutch, Danish, and Swedish (see attached file).Most rare prints have not been digitized and are not suitable for any type of longdistance loan service. Indeed, our research team at the time travelled to Des Moines to access materials there precisely because those materials required care and were not allowed to be accessed offsite. I personally accompanied students to the Iowa City SHSI Archives to help them gain experience in reading older German handwriting and print.Thank you for your time.Sincerely,Glenn Ehrstine

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01-19-2026

Linda Schreiber

The University of Iowa and the State Historical Society of Iowa have been intertwined for generations. But the Iowa City research center has never served only academics. It has long been a public resourceopen to anyone seeking to understand Iowas past, including students, faculty, genealogists, journalists, teachers, and community members researching their own families and towns.In June, Gov. Kim Reynoldss administration announced with little notice that it would close the Iowa City research center. Hours were immediately restricted, staff were given termination notices, and the doors closed Dec. 31. Under her plan, the societys collections will be moved to Des Moines, deaccessioned, or otherwise removed from regular public accessplacing Iowas historical record farther away and behind new barriers.The educational value of these resources extends beyond the classroom. Civil War diaries, farm homemakers letters, labor oral histories, womens club records, and the personal papers of political leaders allow Iowans to see themselves reflected in the historical record. These sources have supported countless school projects, community histories, and published books, including my own, Before 52341: A Place in Time: The Settlement of Clear Creek Township and Tiffin, Iowa.For decades, a formal agreement between the University of Iowa Libraries and the State Historical Society in Iowa City established complementary, nonduplicative collecting policies. The university does not collect state history journals from around the country because the historical society has done so on behalf of the public. Those materials are used daily not only by students and faculty, but by Iowans conducting independent research, writing local histories, and documenting community heritage.These collectionssome dating back more than 160 yearsare most valuable when accessed together. Archival records, journals, and reference works are typically used side by side. That is how real research happens, whether by a graduate student or a retiree tracing a family story. Separating these materials diminishes their usefulness and discourages public engagement with history.Relocating the collections to Des Moines creates substantial barriers for everyday Iowans. Researchers will face longer travel, appointmentonly access, and strict limits on how much material can be requested. These obstacles fall hardest on members of the public who lack institutional support or flexible schedules.State law makes this closure especially troubling. Iowa Code 8A.707 requires the State Historical Society, through the Department of Administrative Services, to maintain research centers in both Des Moines and Iowa City. That requirement is now being contested in the Legislature to permit the Iowa City closure. Yet the governors administration put the closure plan into actionand began transferring functions and accessbefore the law allowed such a move.Closing the State Historical Society of Iowas research center in Iowa City does more than inconvenience scholars. It restricts public access to Iowas shared history and places irreplaceable records farther out of reach for the people they were meant to serve.

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01-19-2026

Kathy Gourley

Dear Chairwoman Koelker and Committee Members Reichman and Staed,Since the founding of the State Historical Society in 1857just over a decade after Iowa became a stateit has always had a presence in Iowa City. The facility holds Iowas earliest archival materials. It is a rich, diverse, integrated, and carefully curated collection.In 1983, three distinct Iowa historical agencies merged into one. Beginning with that merger, the Code of Iowa read The State Historical Society Board of Trustees shall maintain research centers in Des Moines and Iowa City. That language never changedbut in June 2025, conveniently just a month after the Iowa Legislature adjourned, the then Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Director, and his adjutants, the State Historical Society Administrator and the State Archivist, announced the Iowa City Research Center would be closed. They said the closure would begin in early July 2025, and the building would be fully closed by the end of December 2025. And that is exactly what happened. They acted counter to the law this body enacted.The reason given for the closure was a financial one; yet, that spring, the Legislature had appropriated $500,000 more than the Historical Society had received in years past. Now, I agree that the Historical Society has not been adequately funded for many years. I also agree that cultural institutions across the nation suffered setbacks in 2025. However, these realities do not excuse the abrupt decision to close the Iowa City facility with no public discussion, and without the consideration of this body. Their actions not only fell outside the law but are also contrary to every historical organizations professional ethics code.Again, it is clear that the DAS and the Historical Society overstepped the bounds, and state law, when theyas Executive Branch administratorsdecided they could disregard an unambiguous directive in that law. That directive says, the Department shall maintain research centers in Des Moines and Iowa City. The State Historical Societys Iowa City Research Center and the priceless collections it holds should be maintained and adequately funded and staffed.I urge you to respect the current wording of the law and reject SSB 3033. I urge you to defend our rich history and ensure that it remains accessible to Iowans. Sincerely,Kathy Gourley

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01-20-2026

Madeline Cole

I graduated from the University of Iowa in 2012. When moving back to the area this summer, I felt compelled, not to beeline for friends and favorite restaurants, but to attend the rally to support the State Historical Society on my VERY FIRST DAY BACK in Iowa City. I continue to oppose SSB3033. This institution was crucial to me as an undergraduate. Please see the attached picture of me, 21 years old, receiving the Governor Volunteer Award from our very own Kim Reynolds and former governor Terry Branstad. Not only did I use the archives for class research papers, but I also: cleaned and repaired Civil War muster rolls catalogued donated materials for families who had entrusted the state with their documents brought a friend to research their own family history, who said they had never felt connected with their ancestry before this moment of seeing that one of their ancestors had been one of the area's earliest school teachersNone of this would have been possible without close access to this archive. And this is just a tiny part of the collections, which of course also include a significant moral responsibility to the Meskwaki tribe, among others. This organization hugely impacted my life and was a definite perceived benefit when I decided to move back. It is crucial to future historians of this state's history. Many college students do not have the time or resources to commute back and forth to Des Moines for research and or the kind of weekly volunteering that I did for several years. You would lose a significant volunteer base that would further jeopardize the collection management. Closing the archives in this particular America250 year seems especially dismissive of everything this country and state's founders have worked towards. This state's citizens have voiced clear willingness to fund and prioritize this building. Thank you.Maddie ColeB.A. in History with a Museum Studies Certificate from the University of Iowa, 2012

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