Visit the University of Iowa Pentacrest Museums over spring break!

The University of Iowa Pentacrest Museums offer several permanent and temporary exhibits and tours to enjoy the week of March 17. The Old Capitol Museum is open normal hours through Thursday, March 21, and closes Friday, March 22 for National History Day District 10 Competition. The UI Museum of Natural History is open normal hours all week.

On March 13, 1865 Jefferson Davis, the first and only President of the Confederate States of America, signed into law the bill authorizing black men to serve in the Confederate Army. Celebrate the acknowledgement of their service by visiting two exhibits currently hosted at the Old Capitol Museum.

“Unconditional Loyalty: The Military Service of African Americans” is on display in the Pentacrest Museum Gallery of the Old Capitol Museum through Sunday, March 24. This traveling exhibit, courtesy of the African American Museum of Iowa, features Iowa’s African American military heroes and heroines from the Revolutionary War to today. Highlights include the 60th U.S. Colored Troops, the Buffalo Soldiers, women in the military, Iowa’s World War I training camps, and the Tuskegee Airmen.

While you are in the Old Capitol Museum, be sure to check out Gone to See the Elephant: The Civil War through the Eyes of Iowa Soldiers now through Sunday, May 26, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. The exhibit is on display in the Old Capitol Museum’s Hanson Family Humanities Gallery and rotunda on the ground floor. The exhibit examines the important role of the State of Iowa and the University of Iowa during the war, and features primary resources, artifacts, historical documents, and educational programming. Visitors will see how Iowa soldiers experienced daily camp life, faced injuries on the battlefield, survived prisoner camps, and longed for home.