THE COLLECTIVE

Fall 2014

Trina Roberts, MNH Associate Director

Shalla Wilson Ashworth, OCM Associate Director

Arthur Kim, Visitor Services Coordinator

Sarah Horgen, MNH Education and Outreach Coordinator

Julia DeSpain, MNH Acting Education and Outreach Coordinator

Andrew Blodgett, MNH Assistant Education and Outreach Coordinator

Kathrine Moermond, OCM Education and Outreach Coordinator

Cindy Opitz, MNH Collections Manager

Byron Preston, Exhibits Preparator

Casey Westlake, Communications Coordinator

JC Gillett, Mobile Museum Educator

Staff Listing

Student StaffJacqueline BaniganRick BeckleySarah CampRiley Cook Connett CroghanChloe DanielCarissa DewaeleTaylor FinchElizabeth FoutsMeredith FranciscoKaren Grigsby

Melody HinesEmily JepsonSinead KeaneyNathan KookerEvan McCarthyAmy MeehlederKyle NormanThomas PantherAlex PhiloonBrianna PickelNick Richardson

Jessica RomanzKaitlin SchlotfeltKristen TefftAudrey TerondeRiley VierAbigail WeaverKelsy WestmanChelsea WeisRachel WinterEsther Zhang

Find Us Online!Visit www.uiowa.edu/mnh and www.uiowa.edu/oldcap to learn more about each museum.

Facebook• University of Iowa

Museum of Natural History

• Old Capitol Museum, University of Iowa

• Rusty the Giant Sloth

Twitter@IowaMNH@IowaOldCap@RustyGiantSloth@IowaPentacrest

Tumblrwww.iowanaturalhistory.tumblr.com

Dear friends,

What a year it’s been at the Pentacrest Museums!

Our last newsletter opened with a farewell from our outgoing interim director, and we had all expected that this issue would introduce and welcome a per-manent executive director. Instead, we find our-selves moving forward with a new, shared leadership structure but a stronger-than-ever vision of what the Pentacrest Museums can offer the UI community, Iowa City, and the entire state of Iowa.

Our two museums are busier than we’ve ever been. We opened three new temporary exhibits this fall, bringing new perspectives to history, ecology, and even the Hawkeye football tradition. Thousands of visitors enjoyed our lecture series, gallery talks, movies, concerts, workshops, and children’s pro-grams, as we continued to build collaborations with other UI departments and with organizations such as Summer of the Arts and Book Fest. Some of these successful programs are highlighted in this newslet-ter. Extending our reach away from the Pentacrest, this summer and fall saw the first voyages of the new UI Mobile Museum, a project many of our staff and

students were deeply involved in. You can read more about MoMu’s impact across the state here as well, as we reflect on its highly successful launch and start to plan year two of the project. Away from the public eye, staff and students have continued to work to preserve our specimens and artifacts and to make them available for UI classes, exhibits, and outreach programs. We’ve also taken some time to commem-orate our own history, with the Museum of Natural History celebrating the centennial of the incompara-ble Laysan Island Cyclorama in June. (If you haven’t visited us for a while, perhaps it’s time to come back and reflect again on the craftsmanship and artistry shown by exhibits like the Cyclorama and places like the Old Capitol building—and on the many reasons “real” museums continue to thrive in our increasing-ly virtual and digital world.)

What happens next? The upcoming year brings more new exhibits and continued programming, with some exciting new ideas and collaborations on the horizon. We are also looking forward to involve-ment in the new UI Theme Semester project—visit us throughout the spring for exhibits, events, and programs highlighting our perspectives on “Food for

Thought.” Be sure to keep in touch with us through email, our websites, and social media to make sure you know what’s happening at your museums and how you can stay involved.

None of what we do would be possible without the support of our visitors, friends, and benefactors. Whether you’ve volunteered, visited, joined a con-versation with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr, attended events, or made a contribution, your contin-ued support and engagement is what keeps us moving forward. Enjoy this newsletter, which highlights just a few of the many fascinating projects currently engag-ing our staff and students. We hope to see you all at the Pentacrest Museums sometime soon!

A LETTER FROM OUR DIRECTORS

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Trina Roberts, MNH Associate Director

Shalla Wilson Ashworth, OCM Associate Director

Jar of newts, skull of a four-horned sheep, monkey skeleton—it sounds like ingredients for a potion that Harry Potter might brew at Hogwarts. But for the UI Museum of Natural History and the Solon Public Library, it’s also a recipe for a successful partnership.

This summer the Museum of Natural History lent several items to the Solon Public Library for a window display centered around the library’s summer reading program. The theme for this year’s program, which is part of the national Collaborative Summer Library Program, was “Fizz, Boom, Read!” Library volunteer Toni Russo created a Harry Potter-style lab for the display, which featured several items from the MNH collections. Russo titled the display, “Alchemy, Science, and Magic: Potions Class at Hogwarts,” and dedicated it to area science teachers.

“It’s authentic,” Russo says. “And we could just use fake stuff, but these are real, museum-quality items and it changes the whole atmosphere.”

In addition to the items MNH lent, the intricate display also included an old wooden globe, a cauldron, a plate of eggs and toast, a copy of the Daily Prophet, and several antique microscopes lent by retired UI biology professor Dick Sjolund. The library encouraged the children to study the

diorama closely by posting a list of “hidden” items to find.

“One of our measures of ‘success’ for each window display is based on how many times I have to clean the bottom 18 inches of the window where excited fingers and noses have been resting,” librarian Kris Brown says. “Toni knows that and she purposely lines the bottom with treasures.” Brown adds that many families discuss visits they’ve made to the museum when they learn that MNH has lent items to the displays.

Last winter MNH lent a black wolf to the library to help bring a scene from Peter and the Wolf to life, and prior to that it lent several owls for another window design. This fall, the library created a “Hawkeye” display,

which features several hawks from the MNH collection. Jack Neuzil* worked with Russo to install the raptors. The library dedicated the exhibit to MNH.

“Often, people think that the work of the collections department is restricted to the galleries and storage spaces of the museum,” says Cindy Opitz, MNH collections manager. “Being able to share these treasures with the community is one of my favorite parts of my job, and it’s even better when that gets children excited about science and literature.”

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MAKI NG REA D I N G MAG I C A L

FOR PHOTOS OF OTHER DISPLAYS, SEE PAGE 15.

Photo by Dick Sjolund Wilderness Studio

*The Collective previously stated that Don Johnson helped install the Solon Library displays. We apologize for the error.

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Imagine staggering through the dark with your expedition party. You have nothing to guide you but the light from your helmet, which reveals an array of fascinating creatures in the nearby landscapes: orangutans, a wolf, foxes, and a bobcat.

No, it’s not a safari in an exotic land—it’s a typical Friday evening for young explorers in MNH’s Night at the Museum. The program, which launched in 2010, gives elementary-aged children a chance to try their hand at exciting science activities, such as learning about animal adaptions with a camouflage contest or dissecting owl pellets to discover what birds eat. They also explore the museum galleries by the light of the MNH miner’s helmet they receive for participating and enjoy pizza donated by Papa John’s. Due to overwhelming popularity, the education department is now offering the program approximately twice each month during the school year.

“This started as a fun way for the children to explore the galleries, like they do in the movie Night at the Museum,” says Sarah Horgen, MNH education and outreach coordinator. “Over the past four years, it’s grown into a great opportunity to introduce children to science as an exciting way to understand the world.”

Once Horgen and the student staff realized how many children were coming regularly, they started incorporating more activities centered on scientific and sometimes cultural themes. Horgen started with topics such as dinosaurs, archaeology,

and volcanos before expanding to different departments on campus. The UI physics and astronomy department and the UI chemistry department have done demonstrations, and students have taken mini field trips to anthropology and biology labs nearby. Occasionally, they even get to see the museum’s lab or vault.

“It’s a neat way for chiildren to get to see research in action here on campus,” Horgen says.

This fall, children have been “Natural Disaster Masters” in September and “Cosmic Crusaders” in October. In November, they went on an “Outback Adventure,” and they’ll learn about duck-billed dinosaurs with “Hadrosaur Havoc” in December. Topics for Spring 2015 include ancient oceans, physics, archaeology, and engineering.

Student staff play a crucial role, running the program and planning themes and activities for each month. They find the experience rewarding.

“I get to see kids discover,” says Carissa Dewaele, MNH education assistant and senior anthropology major.

The children love it, too.

“My favorite part of going to Night at the Museum is when we get to explore Mammal Hall in the dark using our miner hat,” fourth grader Amelia Lang-Fallon says. “It’s really fun!”

NIGHTS OF WONDER

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While most Iowans are aware that the Old Capitol Museum was once the first home of the state government and the University of Iowa, fewer people know that it was also the first home of another Iowa institution—the UI College of Law, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. The college will commemorate the occasion with an exhibit in the Keyes Gallery for the Arts, Humanities, and Sciences in the Old Capitol Museum from February to August.

“The basis of the College of Law that we know today was here in the Old Capitol,” says Shalla Ashworth, associate director of the Old Capitol Museum.

In 1865, Iowa Supreme Court justices George Wright and C.C. Cole founded the Iowa Law School in Des Moines, the first public law school west of the Mississippi. In 1868, the school moved to Iowa City, joining the University of Iowa as the law department. William G. Hammond served as dean, with Wright and Cole staying on as part-time faculty.

Upon joining the UI, the law department moved into the House Chamber in the Old Capitol building. When the Cabinet of Natural History moved from the Senate Chamber to Calvin Hall, the department expanded. It would occupy the second floor of the building for over 40 years, moving into the brand-new Gilmore Hall in 1910.

The new exhibit will highlight this era in the law school’s history, when the legal profession in Iowa reached many landmarks. In 1873, Mary Beth Hickey became the first woman to graduate from law school at the UI. In 1879, Alexander Clark Jr. became the second black law school graduate in the U.S. and first African American graduate of the UI

law school. His father, Alexander Clark Sr., would become the second. The elder Clark had already gained fame as the plaintiff in an Iowa Supreme Court case that ruled segregation of public schools illegal under the state constitution. The exhibit will feature memorabilia from these important figures and many other items of historical interest.

“I like seeing the early catalogues and newspaper articles about the school, looking at what the curriculum was then,” says exhibit curator Noelle Sinclair, who serves as head of special collections and reference librarian at the UI Law Library. “Some of the ‘firsts’ in terms of students we’ve had are fascinating—we had the first student from another country (both the law school and the university itself), who graduated in 1879. He was from Burma.” The exhibit will also touch on other famous

landmarks during this time, including offering the first continuing legal education program in the country and pioneering the use of case method in teaching law.

Iowa Law: First Law School West of the Mississippi will cover landmark events in the first 150 years of the College of Law, the various homes the college has inhabited since its founding, and the evolution of the law library. It will give visitors a taste of what a legal education at Iowa was like for a student sitting in the Old Capitol more than a century ago compared to what a student learns in class today, and they can try their hand at questions on the bar exam. The exhibit will also offer a look at what the future may hold for the College of Law.

“We need to celebrate and explore where we’ve been so we know where we’re going,” says Ashworth.

A L E GAL LEGACY

Iowa’s pioneering spirit never dies, and once each fall, the Old Capitol Museum and the Cedar County Historical Society partner to bring the customs of the state’s earliest settlers to life in a Day on the Prairie.

The OCM education staff, service learning students from the Introduction to Museum Studies course, and historical interpreters from the Cedar County Historical Society and Ushers

Ferry Historic Village in Cedar Rapids have teamed up since 2011 to create an annual living history day at the historical society’s Prairie Village in Tipton.

“We thought it would be a great opportunity to pair up because they have five historic buildings on their property,” says Kathrine Moermond, OCM education and outreach coordinator. “We had always wanted to do an outdoor program

that included open fire cooking, Civil War reenactors, and outdoor activities that would be fun for kids, including games, candle-making and weaving.”

Students, staff, and interpreters dress in period clothing and pose as residents of the village, leading activities such as games of hoops and graces, rope-braiding, butter-churning and hay baling. Moermond, along with Ciuin Ferrin and Ann Cejka from Ushers Ferry, demonstrate how early European settlers in Iowa would have cooked over an open fire.

“At this year’s Day on the Prairie, I had the opportunity to not only plan the process, but coordinate the museum studies students who make the event happen,” says Rachel Winter, a UI art history major and OCM education assistant. “The students who ran the event were absolutely wonderful with the children, and it was great to see them in character (and in costume) teaching kids and doing crafts. I’m so happy to have the opportunity to work with wonderful students who are passionate about museum outreach!” Winter is a senior from Naperville, Ill.

In addition to providing a location for a Day on the Prairie, Cedar County Historical Society is planning to lend objects for the spring 2015 exhibit The Land Provides: Iowa’s Culinary History at the Old Capitol Museum.

“I’m hoping that we can develop more opportunities for students to work with Cedar County, especially with their collections,” says Moermond. “There’s a lot of objects in their collections that belonged to Iowans who played an important role in the building of the Old Capitol, and working together allows us to celebrate our shared heritage.”

A P I ONE ERING PARTNERSHIP

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Staff salaries & benefits

Student salaries & benefits

General expenses

Debt reduction

EXPENSES

Outside the stateOther communities in IowaWithin the Iowa City/Coralville areaWithin the university

UI & external grantsOne UI grant for our Discovery Trunks education project.One federal grant to upgrade and digitize our insect collection.

Other GEF, state, or university funds

Museums' General Education Fund allocation

Earned income

Program fees

Gifts, fundraising, investments, income

Events & facility rentalsGift shops

Through our donation boxesThrough the UI FoundationLocal business sponsorships

REVENUE

40 student employees greeted visitors, ran education programs, installed exhibits, took care of artifacts, designed print materials, and many other projects.

Operating revenue and expenses equal each other. Does not include change in gift shop inventory or assets not spent this fiscal year.

BY THE NUM BERS JULY 2013-JUNE 2014

ON THE ROAD

to 34 Iowa towns in 24 counties

for museum and mobile museum programs attended by 18,538 people

More than 3,500 miles drivenDiscoverDare to

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37,850website visits

111,547 page views from

106 countries and every U.S. state

50.3% new web visitors

25,858 visits

from 286 Iowa towns

8,096 social media likes and followers

AT HOME 64,703

total visitors fromat least 27 countries

6,480

students on field trips

5,785 attendees at public andeducation programs

5,078 UI students in orientation groups

7 new exhibits

32 loans for exhibit, research,

or instruction, including 866 objects and specimens

691 students in classes borrowing objects and specimens

40 student employees working 16,980 hours

More than 50 interns and volunteers contributing

over 3,500 additional hours

ONTHE

WEB

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Heads were turning along the highways and byways of Iowa this summer at the sight of a black and gold Winnebago rolling down the road, an ice age giant sloth riding on the back. The UI Mobile Museum crisscrossed the state, visiting historical societies, museums, libraries, fairs, and festivals from Maquoketa to Mount Ayr.

From its launch on April 1 to the end of the season on November 1, the Mobile Museum, affectionately dubbed “MoMu” by students and staff, visited nearly 60 events in 37 Iowa counties, and saw over 33,000 visitors. Highlights of the summer included returning to the Winnebago plant in Forest City for the Winnebago Grand National Rally, following 8500 cyclists across the state during RAGBRAI, and indulging in 10 days’ worth of deep-fried Twinkies at the state fair in Des Moines.

Although the Mobile Museum is a collaboration among several departments, student employees from the museums have played a crucial role in helping to staff the the Mobile Museum during its inaugural year. JC Gillett, the education assistant at Old Capitol Museum, began driving the Mobile Museum in the spring. After graduating in May, JC became our full-time mobile educator, driving the vehicle across Iowa and interacting with the public.

Here’s what students said were some of their favorite experiences this summer this summer:

“One of the most profound things people say to me is that they loved touring the museum once; when they heard that it was going to be close by they had to see it again. An example of one such occasion was while we were doing a school visit, one student ran up to me and proclaimed ‘I saw you guys at the state fair!’ then immediately grabbed his

two friends and started touring the museum, telling them all about the exhibits and how much he knew because he had already been in it once! As the Mobile Museum Educator, I truly appreciate and cherish experiences like these.” –JC Gillett, Mobile Museum educator

“I’m hoping to continue with museum education as a career, so seeing both adults and children getting excited about the incredible size of mammoth bones or the craftsmanship of Native American projectile points gave me excellent reminders of how much I enjoy helping the public learn about their natural and cultural worlds.” –Carissa Dewaele, senior anthropology major

“State fair was the best! I enjoyed making friends with the wood shop stand near our MoMu and then having them come over to check out the museum. It was great being able to impress them with the super cool stuff we have and do.” –Brianna Pickel, senior health and human physiology major

“We had a professor come in with his wife and children, and his children were just so phenomenal. They knew so much already. He even bragged to me about how his kid knew so much about human evolution. He said, ‘Look, my daughter knows how we were evolved from apes,’ and he asked his daughter, ‘What were we evolved from?’ and she said, ‘Common ancestor.’ She must have been 6 or 7.” –Riley Cook, senior anthropology major

ROAD TR IPP IN ’

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O BJE C TSPOTL IGHTBanded Kingfisher, Lacedo pulchella (SUI 33473)

Collected by William Temple Hornaday, c. 1880s

Malacca, Malaysia

Hornaday listed the common name of the species as “Beautiful Kingfisher” on his original tag.

OBJECTSPOTL IGHTMarion Meteorite

Permanent loan from Amherst College, 1977

This is a fragment of a meteorite that passed over Iowa City before falling in Marion, 22 miles north, on February 25, 1847. This was also the day that Governor Ansel Briggs signed legislation creating the State University of Iowa.

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Unfinished Business: The Arts of the New Arab RevolutionsJanuary 15–May 15, 2015

In 2011, Arabic-speaking people from Morocco to the Gulf states took to the streets in unprecedented protests, demanding the removal of entrenched despotic regimes and destroying Western assumptions about the inherent incompatibility of Arab cultures with the values of accountability, transparency, and democracy. In the face of brutality and repression, Arab protesters, activists, and artists reclaimed their dignity, proclaimed solidarity, and a channeled common voice through the arts of revolution—both visual and performative. Drawing from the collections of the UI Libraries, Unfinished Business explores the role of revolutionary art in the continuing transformation of Arab political activism and emergence of new waves of civil protest.

UPCOMI NG EXH IB ITS

The Land Provides: Iowa’s Culinary HistoryJanuary 22–August 2, 2015

Take a bite of the colorful and flavorful world of food that Iowans grew, prepared, and enjoyed during our state’s early years. Through the stories of Iowa immigrants, migrants, and families, The Land Provides explores Iowa’s rich culinary history, various agriculture techniques, and the people who brought the earth’s bounty from farm and garden to table. Integral to life, food was flavored with tradition, spiced with new ingredients and techniques, and served with Iowa love.

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Iowa Law: The First Law School West of the MississippiFebruary 12–August 2, 2015

In 1865, the Iowa Law School opened in Des Moines with the goal of educating Iowa’s first generation of lawyers. Three years later, it moved to Iowa City and became part of the University of Iowa. In Iowa Law, follow the history of the program, from famous firsts to the promise of the future. See how the curriculum has evolved over the past 150 years, and try your hand at sample questions from the bar exam. Join the College of Law as they celebrate their sesquicentennial, and follow the landmark events that transformed the department into one of the most respected law schools in the country. Part of the Spring 2015 theme semester,

Food for Thought.

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Rachel, a senior from Naperville, Ill., has always had an interest in museum education and exhibit planning. After working with the Old Capitol Museum for her service learning project for Intro to Museum Studies last fall, she interned with the education department in the spring and was then hired as education assistant. Rachel plans to attend graduate school for Middle Eastern Studies and Art History.

Rachel Winter

Old Capitol Museum

Education Assistant

Art History, Museum Studies,

International Studies ’15

STA FF S POTL IGH T

Evan started at the Old Capitol Museum in April of his freshman year after finding a job posting on the student job web site. An Iowa City native, he plans to join the Peace Corps after graduation and pursue a career in the Foreign Service. Evan says the best part of working at the museum is the balance between being relaxed and getting things done, which has helped him learn to manage his time.

Evan McCarthy

Old Capitol Museum

Research Assistant

Political Science, Theatre ’16

Sarah started as an intern with the MNH insect collections in September 2013 because she wanted to experience something new. Sarah, who grew up in Shellsburg and attended school in Cedar Rapids, became a staff member through grant funding in January. As a painter, she enjoys the vivid colors of the insect specimens. She plans to pursue a career as a collections manager.

Sarah Camp

Pentacrest Museums

Insect Collection Curatorial

Assistant & Digitizer

Art, Museum Studies ’15

Carissa’s first experience at MNH was service learning—she planned and led an activity during Creepy Campus Crawl her freshman year. Originally from Moline, Ill., Carissa joined the MNH gallery staff her sophomore and junior years before becoming the MNH education assistant this year. After graduating, she plans to attend grad school for museum education.

Carissa Dewaele

Museum of Natural History

Education Assistant

Anthropology, Museum Studies,

Native Studies ’15

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To p ro tec t the pe r sona l i n fo rmat ion o f ou r d onors , t he honor ro l l page has been redac ted f rom the on l i ne ed i t i on o f The Co l l ec t i ve . To rece ive a p ap er copy o f The Co l l ec t i ve tha t i nc ludes th i s page , p l ease con tac t us a t pen tac res t@u iowa .edu o r 3 19 -335-359 1 .

404 : PAGE NOT F OUND

CORRECTIONSThe recognition extended to those listed in this honor roll is one small way to thank contributors. Every effort has been made to ensure that this honor roll is accurate. If your name has been omitted, misspelled, or misplaced, we apologize. Please contact the UI Foundation with any questions or corrections.

FOR MORE INFORMATIONIf you would like to discuss how you can support the Pentacrest Museums, please contact Samantha Terrill Crow, Assistant Director of Development, Development Resources, at the University of Iowa Foundation.

Please call (319) 335-3305 or (800) 648-6973, or email terrill@uifoundation.org.

This fall, the Solon Public Library created a “Hawkeye”-themed scene and dedicated it to the Museum of Natural History. It

features five of our hawks that aren’t usually on diplay.

Photos by Nancy Wehrheim.

FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE THE STORY ON PAGE 4.

The University of Iowa prohibits discrimination in employment, educational programs, and activities on the basis of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or associational preference. The University also affirms its commitment to providing equal opportunities and equal access to University facilities. For additional information on nondiscrimination policies, contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, (319) 335-0705 (voice) and (319) 335-0697 (text), 202 Jessup Hall, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1316.

Doorways to Discovery

The University of Iowa

PentacrestMuseums

Old Capitol Museum Museum of Natural History21 Old CapitolIowa City, IA 52242(319)335-0548

and EXPLORE

Old Capitol Museum

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Museum of Natural History

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