Honoring the Past

While we were in Iowa this spring, Larry and I visited the local museum and I'm sorry to say we had not gone there before. Most small towns don’t have their own museum and if they do, it is usually confined to a few rooms in an old building. However, this town of 1800 people has one to be proud of.

Rockwell City is the county seat, so it is appropriate that the county museum is here. It is housed in the old high school building, which is well suited to it and has a fairly impressive collection. Each room can be designated for an era, or a theme. The halls have display cases built into them.  Families from every town in the county have donated artifacts, collections, clothing, furniture, toys, and anything that had meaning for them.  Here are just a few examples of what you will find here.

A children’s room with old furniture and toys, and a church room housing artifacts from early churches.

A room devoted to native animals and birds, all carefully preserved and displayed behind glass. I was able to identify a bird I’ve seen around there, thanks to that display! It was a brown thrasher.

Dishes, cameras of every vintage, and a great collection of old typewriters. (That blows the mind of school kids who come to the museum. 'What's a typewriter?')

One of our favorite displays was the 1425 salt and pepper shakers donated by one woman! It’s not so much the value of the display but its uniqueness! Imagine how long it took to collect them all and where she kept it in her house!

         A beautiful quilt hanging on display was over 150 years old. During the Civil War it was buried in the ground to keep the Union soldiers from taking it. It is beautiful and in mint condition. How did they protect it so well from the elements?

The military room with the display of uniforms.  As I browsed this room I felt the impact from some of the letters that came with the uniforms, adding a particularly personal touch to the display. It was here that I had the greatest sense of honoring our past. Every war is heart wrenching to the families that are personally involved, whether it was the Civil War that had brothers choosing different sides, or the Vietnam war (oops, excuse me… the Vietnamese Conflict), the ‘Conflict’ of my peers.

From tiny John Deere toy tractors to a giant horn used to amplify music at the first skating rink, a beautiful old quilt to a 100 year old Christening gown, from Mickey Mouse toys to salt and pepper shakers, this museum lived up to its intent. It was a testament to what was valued by this rural farm community. And it was fun to see.