In the 1930s, the Curtiss-Wright Flying Service awarded this C.M. Keys trophy to E.J. McKeon. While we do not know exactly which achievement earned it, we do know of daring pursuits by this early aviator.  

Just like the Three Kittens of Mother Goose fame, it is only too easy to lose one or both mittens. They disappear in the washing machine, fall off the clothesline, or tumble from a torn pocket leading to cold, frostbitten fingers. One solution was attaching mittens together with a cord. The cord would be long enough to stretch from one hand across to the other through the sleeves of a jacket, guaranteeing matching gloves and warm hands. A too short cord, however, could make snow angels impossible.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) is a Federal Law passed in 1990 to protect Native American graves, human remains, and certain items of cultural importance. For centuries, colonizers looted Indigenous Peoples’ graves and sacred sites to display and research human remains, and other cultural artifacts without permission. NAGPRA sought to correct this at the institutions that receive federal funding.

While summer doesn’t formally end this year until the autumnal equinox on September 23, Labor Day marks the unofficial close of summer for many. Celebrated on the first Monday of September, the resulting three-day weekend for Labor Day offers a last hurrah of summer.

Nothing says summer like a day on the water in Dubuque!

While the warm temperatures in Iowa haven’t changed over the years, the swimming suits have! In the 1920s, swimsuits looked more like one-piece jumpsuits and were made of knitted wool! This month’s Collection Spotlight are these wool swimsuits donated and worn by Mary Ann Andresen, her mother, and her father.

The Dubuque County Historical Society recently welcomed a donation of archival materials relating to Lillian Clark Cary, a prominent Dubuque woman known for her civic engagement and patriotism in the early 20th century. The donation consists of two scrapbooks full of newspaper clippings of Lillian Clark Cary’s poetry and coverage of current events and her civic endeavors.

A group of like-minded women banded together in Philadelphia in December of 1846 to rally around a cause they held dear- the abolition of slavery. The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society (PFASS) organized annual anti-slavery fairs, fundraising for abolitionism and using the event as a platform to sway others to the cause. Their members lobbied for emancipation, organized boycotts of goods manufactured by enslaved peoples, and published anti-slavery literature.