Curator’s Tour: Prairie, Plows, and the People’s College

On July 4, 2026, the United States will commemorate the 250th anniversary of its founding. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Farm House Museum, built in 1860 (before Iowa State even had students), is foundational not only to the development of campus and Iowa State University heritage, but also to state and national education, innovation, and policy. This tour highlights the exhibition  America 250: Prairie, Plows, and the People’s College, open February 2 – October 2026. Recent ISU students helped identify and research  250 primary source objects for this exhibition.

Longtime curator Allison Sheridan connects the dots between this house, the land-grant mission, and how a college in the middle of the midwestern prairie helped shape national agricultural policy.  Don’t miss this opportunity to hear it all from the Farm House expert and exhibition creator herself, in the lead-up to America 250.