"Iowa History In A Cloth Bag" -- Reminisce Society March 2014

For our March program the OPL’s Reminisce Society is pleased to present Humanities Iowa speaker Michael Zahs. Zahs will present “Iowa History in a Cloth Bag,” at the upcoming Reminisce program, Tuesday, March 25, at 10:00 a.m. in the library’s meeting room. His program explains how cloth bags and the revolutionary idea of marketing them to women helped Iowans survive the Great Depression and the shortages that resulted from World War II. Flour sacks, feed sacks, and seed sacks will tell the story from relief work by Herbert Hoover to clothes and quilts in the 1950’s.

Michael Zahs grew up on a century farm near Haksins, Iowa as a part o f a nine-generation Iowa family. He attended a one-room school house and has a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Northern Iowa. He taught junior high science and Iowa history for 39 years. In 1989, he joined Dr. Loren Horton in creating the “Iowa: Eye to I” class and tour. This was the first graduate level class taught at Iowa Wesleyan College and developed into a series of seven classes. The classes cover art, literature, history, geology, food ways, ethnicity, architecture, nature and music. Students are immersed in all things Iowa in the classes, which are taught on a bus traveling the state. Michael has given programs on state and local topics for over 35 years. He is very involved in historic preservation, log buildings, cemetery work, and state and local history.

Plan to join us on Tuesday, March 25, for a fascinating glimpse into Iowa’s past. Reminisce Society programs are free and open to everyone. For further information, please call the library’s director, Sonja Ferrell at 641-682-7563, extension 202.