Iowa's Ethnic Heritage

Enjoy the unfolding and changing adventure of Iowa’s immigration history. Beginning with the Ioway, one of 17 distinctive indigenous tribal groups, we’ll trace chronologically who we are as Iowans. From Spanish explorers and French trappers, traders and priests; to the dominant English, Germans and Irish; to Scandinavians, Dutch and Czechs, we’ll explore why these group chose to leave their homelands and how they eventually ended up in Iowa. African-Americans, Eastern Europeans and Hispanics have different stories to share along with other “newer” Iowans. This course is personal and interactive and we’ll work together to discover who we are, and who we are becoming as Iowans.

This program is free and open to the public thanks to Humanities Iowa.