Have you considered the Farm House Museum  for your next event? For information on facility rentals, contact the University Museums Main Office at 515.294.3342 or ajhall@iastate.edu.

 

 

University Museums
Iowa State University
290 Scheman Bldg.
Ames, Iowa  50011
515.294.3342
Fax: 515.294.7070

 

Visit the Ames Historical Society website for information on Ames History! click here

 

The Farm House Museum

 

NOTICE: 
The Farm House Museum on Central Campus of Iowa State University will be open to the public by appointment only beginning August 1, 2007 until further notice. Appointments to view the Farm House Museum can be made by calling 515-294-3342 at least a week in advance. (posted 7.26.07) 

NO 4th of July event this year. (posted 4.09.08)

To arrange a tour of the Brunnier Art Museum, Christian Petersen Art Museum, Farm House Museum, or Art on Campus Collection, please  fill out our the University Museums online Tour Request Form and email to ajhall@iastate.edu.

 

In the center of the campus grounds of Iowa State University sits a three story, grey-stuccoed house with an inviting red brick walk leading to its front door. Students walking by on their way to class often see signs in the yard announcing free "Hot Cider" or "Lemonade" just for coming inside. Where on campus can you view former college President Beardshear's chair or walk through the very rooms where founders of Iowa State lived and made decisions that affect life on campus today? It is here at the Farm House Museum.

This fourteen-room structure was the first building on the Iowa State campus. It was begun in 1860 when the college campus was prairie grass, before there was a college building and before students walked the college paths or worked the college farm. Volunteers from the neighboring communities began construction on the house for the college farm just two years after the state legislature passed a measure in 1858 providing for the establishment of a State Agricultural College and Model Farm. It was the first building in the nation's first state to accept the Morrill Act. It is where the very first Board of Trustees met and planned the first college building, laid plans for the first curriculum and selected the first faculty for the college.

While the college farm managers and superintendents lived in the house in the early 1860s, the house was also home to the first two presidents of Iowa State. Later, the Deans of Agriculture made it their home. College and university faculty lived in it for one hundred and ten years, from 1860 to 1970. The individuals who lived at the Farm House and worked for the college made significant contributions to the nation's agricultural policies. The house is a National Historic Landmark because of two of those individuals, James "Tama Jim" Wilson, who lived in the house during the 1890s, and Seaman Knapp in the 1880s.

Today, the Farm House Museum serves the university community as well as visitors from around the world. It is open to the public, offering educational programs, tours, and activities that focus on the developing first fifty years of Iowa State, 1860 through 1910. The Farm House Museum offers visitors a view into a 19th century home on the campus at a time when most faculty members lived with their families on the college grounds.

In warm weather, the Farm House Museum is a friendly stop where visitors can relax in a comfortable wicker chair on the screen porch while absorbing the history of the university. On cooler days the Farm House Museum gives a welcome warm respite for students on their long walk to classes.

The Farm House Museum staff is dedicated to serving the campus community and the many visitors to the university campus. The Farm House Museum is open in the afternoons during the week. There is no admission charge during regular hours. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to visit the Farm House Museum and make it their home away from home.

 

The Collection

The Farm House Museum collection consists of 19th and early 20th century decorative arts, furnishings and material culture reflecting Iowa State and Iowa.  Entering the Farm House and viewing these works of art is like experiencing the history of Iowa State University firsthand.

 

Education

The Farm House Museum is an on-campus resource providing a changing environment of exhibitions among the historical permanent collection objects that are on display. A walk through the Farm House Museum immerses visitors in the Victorian era and colorful state and local history. Programs, receptions, university classes, and educational tours are presented on a regular basis to enhance visual literacy. Our relationship with Iowa State University, local K-12 schools and the community facilitates the design and presentation of insightful tours, curriculum connections, and programming tailored to the diversity of our audience. The Farm House Museum provides educational opportunities for all ages -- from learning traditional soap making techniques to analyzing the lifestyle of Victorian-era farm children.

 

Outreach Kits
Outreach kits provide school groups with an introduction to underlying themes of the Farm House Museum. Through a variety of hands-on objects, activities, and background materials, students will be introduced to themes such as clothing styles, work and play, dining traditions, technology, and family life. These themes provide students with a base for comparison between life long ago and life today. These are also themes that they will explore further during their visits to the Farm House Museum.

Outreach kits are based on the educational premise that familiarity provides motivation to learn more. Students will investigate objects from the era of the Farm House to learn how they work, who used them, and who made them. Related activities will provide students with opportunities to examine nineteenth century life further. These activities combined with the objects provide stepping stones into the past. Additional articles and visual materials have been provided for reference.

The following kits are available to check out from the University Museums Office, please call 515-294-3342 to reserve the kits. 

           -Never Done: Women's Work in the 1860s

           -Grandmother's Trunk

Exhibitions

Current / Upcoming Exhibitions

 

Publications

All Publications