History Camp Iowa 2015

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History Camp is the unconference for all things history.  It started in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2014 and was next held in Boston in March 2015.  History Camp Iowa is the first History Camp to be held outside of New England.

All History Camps are organized by volunteers. Anyone can attend, assuming there's still space, and anyone can speak, provided there's an open time slot.  This is a good introduction to History Camp. 

This is the list of presentations as of October 25:

  • "Democratizing Digitization: How thousands of strangers across the world are helping preserve Iowa history.” – Mark F. Anderson, Digital Collections Librarian, University of Iowa Libraries
  • "History in Fast Forward: 12 million years in just 30 minutes" – Pam Schwartz, Executive Director, Boone County Historical Society
  • "Confederates from Iowa: Not to Defend, but to Understand" – David Connon, interpreter, Living History Farms; independent researcher and writer
  • "A War of Ideas—U.S. Propaganda Posters of the Second World War" – John Fender, Associate Professor of Design, Drake University
  • "Outside In: African-American History in Iowa, 1838-2015" – Hal S. Chase, co-author of Outside In: African-American History in Iowa, 1838-2015
  • "How We Made the Gyrafoam: The Story of Two Midwestern Farm Boys Who Changed Washday Mondays Forever" – Tom Hoover
  • "The Museum Curator and the Meskwaki" — Jerome Thompson, state curator (ret.)
  • "Evaluating the Role of Women in Underground Railroad Activities in Iowa through Genealogical Research" – Douglas W. Jones, Iowa Freedom Trail Project Manager, State Historical Society of Iowa
  • “History of Military Communication” — Dan Rasmussen
  • "Abraham Lincoln at Council Bluffs” — Marvin Foss
  • "Happy Danes on the Plains" — Tova Brandt, Albert Ravenholt Curator of Danish-American Culture, Museum of Danish America
  • "Iowa’s Amazing Public Exposition Palaces" — Bill Sherman
  • "Billy Sunday, T. Nelson Downs and the Green Mountain Train Wreck" – Robert Kerr, Author of Completely Restored
  • "Midwestern Farm Childhood" — Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, author and professor of history, Iowa State University
  • "An Incomplete Guide to Teacher Preparation in Iowa" — Steve Rose, professor of education and coordinator of secondary education, Simpson College
  • "George Washington Didn’t Sleep Here: Backyard History" — Justin Alliss, state government professional, Independent Historian
  • “Whoa. Why Haven’t I Been Here Before?”: The Coolest Historic Site You’ve Never Visited…Yet. — Megan Stout Sibbel, curator and historian, Salisbury House
  • “Clang, Clang Went the Trolley!" — Phil Borleske
  • "The Almost President" — Robert Bibens
  • “From Military Reporter to ‘Mary Manners’: The Unbounded Journalism of Dorothy Ashby Pownall” — Tracy Lucht
  • "Dakota Prisoners in Davenport and their Uses of Literacy" — Linda Clemmons
  • “From Prairie to Farm: How the General Land Office survey shaped Iowa” — Paul F. Anderson, Emeritus Professor, Iowa State University
  • “Family Genealogy Newsletters: Monthly History Lessons” —  Paul F. Anderson, Emeritus Professor, Iowa State University
  • “World War I Camp Dodge” — Michael W. Vogt, Curator, Iowa Gold Star Military Museum
  • “Border Skunks and Heartland History of Lancaster” — George W. House
  • “McGregor, tell me thy Weird Story”: The American School of Wildlife, 1919-1941 — Mary Wise
  • “Tools historical societies and other local history organizations can use to attract more visitors and members” — Lee Wright, founder of History Camp and The History List, and a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Marlborough Historical Society

If you're interested in presenting, you'll find more information here.