This lecture will introduce the audience to three extraordinary people from Iowa history. These include a Civil War soldier who escaped from three Confederate POW camps, a female temperance lecturer who was one of the most well-known women in late 19th Century Iowa, and a civil rights leader and World War One veteran who faced down the Klan. It will also review some of the main themes from A New History of Iowa.
Jeff Bremer is a professor of history at Iowa State University. He teaches Iowa history and nineteenth-century American history and is coordinator of ISU’s history education program. Bremer is the author of two books: A Store Almost in Sight: The Economic Transformation of Missouri from the Louisiana Purchase to the Civil War and a book with a much shorter title, A New History of Iowa. He is currently writing Des Moines: A Concise History for Indiana University Press and has started research on his fourth book, Civil War Iowa. Bremer has been a Fulbright Scholar in China and Poland. In 2024 he won a LAS Outstanding Achievement in Teaching award.
The University Book Store will be onsite selling Bremer’s books at the event.