Our State's Surprising Past: A New History of Iowa

This lecture will introduce the audience to three extraordinary people from Iowa history. These include a Civil War soldier who escaped from three Confederate POW camps, a female temperance lecturer who was one of the most well-known women in late 19th Century Iowa, and a civil rights leader and World War One veteran who faced down the Klan. It will also review some of the main themes from A New History of Iowa.

Jeff Bremer is a professor of history at Iowa State University. He teaches Iowa history and nineteenth-century American history and is coordinator of ISU’s history education program. Bremer is the author of two books: A Store Almost in Sight: The Economic Transformation of Missouri from the Louisiana Purchase to the Civil War and a book with a much shorter title, A New History of Iowa. He is currently writing Des Moines: A Concise History for Indiana University Press and has started research on his fourth book, Civil War Iowa. Bremer has been a Fulbright Scholar in China and Poland. In 2024 he won a LAS Outstanding Achievement in Teaching award.

This lecture recording can be found on the Available Recordings page approximately two business days after the event and will remain accessible for three weeks.