Mobile Museum takes history to communities around Iowa

For years, Team Archaeology, a bike team from the Office of the State Archaeologist, has ridden across Iowa during RAGBRAI, setting up a small exhibit at each stop along the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa.

This year, the team will have access to a much bigger exhibit space than the tent they're used to. The University of Iowa's new Mobile Museum, basically a miniature museum on wheels, started touring the state in April.

The museum, a custom-built Winnebago filled with museum-quality displays, is stopping in towns and festivals across the Iowa. Upcoming stops range from RAGBRAI to Riverside's Trek Fest.

The UI Pentacrest Museums, which include the Old Capitol Museum and the Museum of Natural History, and the Office of the State Archaeologist partnered to make the Mobile Museum possible.

Museum of Natural History associate director Trina Roberts said the Mobile Museum allows the university to share a glimpse of its museum collections and some of the work of its researchers with people who wouldn't otherwise get a chance to see them.

'We wanted to tell the story of what we're doing around the state and needed a stronger ‘away' presence,” she said. 'We wanted to take education on the road - we've been limited by not having a way to get beyond the Iowa City area.”

The University of Iowa Mobile Museum will be open to the public from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the pedestrian plaza north of the UI Main Library.

She said the exhibits in the Mobile Museum will change, probably annually. For now, the museum features three exhibits. 'Iowa's Ice Age Giants,” explores the great mammals that roamed that state during the last ice age. 'Glenwood: Iowa's Ancient Agriculturalists,” examines the story of the people who once lived in the Loess Hills. 'Cornerstones” focuses on Iowa's founding as a state, the writing of its constitution, the Old Capitol building and the creation of the University of Iowa.

The museum also features an interactive digital wall that allows visitors to learn about the UI's space research, the Santos Virtual Soldier Program and the UI Flood Center, as well as additional information on Iowa archaeology.

'Some people aren't necessarily ever going to come to our museums,” Roberts said. 'In the Mobile Museum they can see real fossils and real archaeological artifacts. We've found people have really liked seeing this real stuff coming to them.”

The museum is still looking for communities and organizations to visit. Those interested in bringing the Mobile Museum to their community or event can email mobile-museum@uiowa.edu.

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