The decision to close the Iowa Historical Society Research Center in Iowa City has been made. On Saturday, Aug. 23, I participated in a rally to reverse the decision in a packed room at the Iowa City Public Library. The main ask from the event organizers and from State Representative Adam Zabner, who represents the district where the building is located, was to sign the online petition to reverse the decision. Click here to sign the petition. There was more.

My takeaway is the decision to close the facility is pure amateurism. Archaeologist and historic preservationist Kathy Gourley questioned whether the dire financial picture the state reported is true. She presented information about negotiations with the state legislature last session to secure an additional $1 million in funding for the center. While the legislature only provided a half million, that is not chump change at the historical society. The main thrust of this decision was that “your history” doesn’t matter.

Jonathan Buffalo, historian and director of the Meskwaki Historical Preservation Department told friends, relatives and neighbors about the proposed closure. They replied, “What about our stuff?” The Meskwaki house a collection of early photographs at the Research Center. We might all ask the same question. Communication about the closure was a surprise to almost everyone who read or heard the news. There appears to be only the vaguest of plans for the move. A lack of transparency runs throughout.

Here’s the rub. The state archivist is not following professional procedures for closing a facility like this. Donors gave consideration to what items they may have donated to the State Historical Society. Part of the deal was the artifacts would be cared for in perpetuity. Instead of assuring the public that any change would meet this obligation, it’s been like, “Let’s go to Walmart and get us some plastic bags to haul what we don’t like to the landfill.” It is amateur hour.

Rebecca Conard, native Iowan and historian at Middle Tennessee University outlined some of those professional procedures during the rally. Things like looking at the Iowa collections as a whole and then making a transparent, public decision on what to do with items that are less relevant today than they were when donated.

What about our stuff? Will it go to a warehouse? Will it be discarded? There have been no good answers. If the state had considered the public impact of closing the Iowa City Research Center, they would have researched and provided some of the answers when they announced the change. They apparently didn’t. This made a difference that, in part, created the social anxiety on display at the Iowa City Public Library on Saturday.

Valued collections live in that building today. What will happen to archives of Meskwaki photographs, the Iowa Musicians Project, pioneer diaries, manuscripts, and the rest of the materials? Let’s hope they are not rendered into oblivion either by tucking them away on a shelf in a Des Moines warehouse or by discarding.

To learn more, read Trish Nelson’s backgrounder on the issue here.

Sign the online petition to reverse the decision to close the Iowa Historical Society Research Center at the Centennial Building click here.