At the African American Museum of Iowa, we educate people from all backgrounds about the current and past African American experience in Iowa. Teaching and sharing is what we do.

Museum Educational Benefits

Visiting a museum offers the perfect opportunity for youth and adults to ask questions, talk about new subjects, and interact with exhibits. The benefits of our museum includes:

  • Inspiring creativity
  • Offering historical lessons not taught in schools
  • Sparking curiosity
  • Supplementing historical knowledge

Adult & Youth Programming

Discover tailored and engaging education, programs, and group presentations at the Africian American Museum of Iowa for:

Gain knowledge by visiting the museum.

Educator Resources

If you’re an educator, we can help you:

  • Incorporate information into your lesson plans
  • Offer classroom resources, such as traveling trunks

Museum Field Trips

Student field trips help youth increase critical thinking skills, historical empathy and tolerance. Through exhibits and discussions, children and teens can become interested in learning more about social sciences, humanities, politics, arts, and technology. Some of these interests may influence their future.

Traveling Exhibits

Bring African American history to your school, library, museum, or business with a traveling exhibit. Traveling exhibits are sets of informational banners specific to one history topic. Find out more about traveling exhibits and request an exhibit.

Oral History Videos

Make the most of our online resources by watching interesting oral history videos focused on:

  • Adult Voices, Children’s Eyes Segregation and integration, African American professionals, civil rights organizations, and church history
  • The Only One Experiences of being the only one in the classroom, on a sports team, in the office, and more.
  • Civil Rights in Linn County – Issues related to the Civil Rights Movement, segregation, and integration

Research Services

The AAMI research resources, library, and archives contain unique African American history and cultural materials. Browse our research services, such as using our library, off-site services, or request research help from our staff.