50 States of Generosity: Iowa
We’re continuing a series at Tweetspeak—50 States of Generosity, in which we highlight the 50 states of America and give people beautiful ways to understand and be generous with one another by noticing the unique and poetic things each state brings to the country. A more generous people in the States can become a more generous people in the world. We continue with Montana.
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State Capitol: Des Moines State Motto: Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain State Flower: Wild rose State Bird: Eastern goldfinch State Tree: Bur oak State Rock: Geode State Snack: S’more (According to Taste of Home)
At first glance, Iowa looks like a plain little rectangle sitting in the middle of the Midwest’s Corn Belt. It’s anything but. Although it’s only about 300 miles long and a couple hundred miles wide, it’s the 23rd largest state by area. Also, it’s the only state bordered by two rivers—the Mississippi on the east and the Missouri on the west. Today less than a tenth of what was once native prairie has disappeared. Most of today’s landscape consists of gently rolling hills or flat plains, and some say its greatest natural resource is its soil. The state leads the country in corn and soybean production—as well as eggs, although the state has recently been struggling with bird flu among its chickens. If golf is your thing, I also read that it has more courses per capita than any other state. And they also have some “not so tall, but fun ski resorts.”
Iowa, which was part of the Louisiana Purchase, became the 29th state on December 28, 1846. Its name was apparently derived from the Ioway people—an indigenous Sioux tribe. How it earned the name of Hawkeye State is a bit of a mystery, though. Some say it honors the Native American chief, Black Hawk. Others claim it was inspired by a character named Hawkeye in James Fenimore Cooper’s book, The Last of the Mohicans. The creation of its banner did not begin until World War I when Iowa National Guardsmen stationed along the Mexican border said others had banners, but they didn’t. The Daughters of the American Revolution got busy, and a banner was officially adopted in 1921.
Education is a big deal in Iowa. There are numerous colleges and universities in the state, including three public universities—the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa State University in Ames, and the University of Iowa in Iowa City. The latter is the home of the Iowa Writers Workshop, the seeds of which were sown in 1897 with its first creative writing class called “Verse-Making.” The Workshop was formally founded in 1936 and offers a Master’s of Fine Arts (the oldest and most prestigious writing program in the country) with a major in either fiction or poetry. It accepts only 2.7 to 3.7 percent of applicants and has graduated several award winners and poets laureate.
In 1999, the United States Mint began to release quarters that commemorated the 50 states. (We have a collection of all of them.) Iowa’s quarter was released in 2004 and highlights the state’s commitment to education. The design is based on a painting by Iowan artist Grant Wood and features the image of a schoolhouse with a teacher and her student planting a tree outside.
I’d never heard of Grant Wood, but I’m sure we’ve all seen photos of his famous painting. The “American Gothic” still hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago, and I’d be up for a visit to and costumed photos taken in front of the American Gothic House and Center in Eldon, Iowa. Grant Wood used the house as a background for his famous painting. On a trip to the area in 1930, he saw this “very paintable house,” sketched it, and then returned home to paint it. He used his sister and dentist as a farmer and his daughter (not wife) posed stiffly and dressed like “tintypes from my old family album.”
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Park & Museum in Burr Oak would also be at the top of my TripTik. It’s often referred to as “The Missing Link” in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books. The family lived there in 1876 and 1877 when Laura’s folks partnered with another family to run the Masters Hotel. It didn’t work out well financially. “Pa was no businessman,” she wrote. “He was a hunter and trapper, a musician and a poet.” (The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder, p. 121) “The reason I did not put it in my stories was that it would bring too many characters. You know in writing a story the reader’s interest must be held to the principal people, not scattered among so many. I remember Burr Oak with pleasure.” (p. 334)
Another stop would include Madison County to explore the covered bridges. Author Robert James Waller who was born in Charles City, Iowa and grew up in Rockford made them famous. His first novel (that he “famously” wrote in eleven days), The Bridges of Madison County, was a best seller about a National Geographic photojournalist who comes to photograph the bridges and ends up having a four-day affair with an Iowan farm wife while her husband at kids were away at the State Fair. It was then made into a movie starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. I’m pretty sure I’ll sign us up for a bridge tour.
I’m hoping we can visit the Iowa State Fair. It’s known as “America’s Classic State Fair” and is one of the largest, drawing more than a million visitors. It was the inspiration for Iowan Phil Stong’s book State Fair, which Rogers and Hammerstein adapted for a musical of the same name. The fair is held in August and traditionally ends two weeks before Labor Day. The hottest temperature recorded was 108 degrees in 1983 on Older Iowans’ Day. It’s a good thing they confine the Butter Cow and its companions to a showcase cooler. Also, we will need to go on a diet before we go because check out the food. I mean seriously. Also, between the fair food and other famous Iowa food like Maid-Rites, Dutch letters, sauerkraut pizza, Hawkeye apples, plus corn and maybe a few swigs of rhubarb wine, we will probably need to diet when we get home as well.
I’m a baseball fan, so how could we go home before we visited the original 1989 Field of Dreams? This is the real movie site in Dyersville that starred Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, and Burt Lancaster. The movie was based on a book called Shoeless Joe written by W.P. Kinsella—yet another graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop. The book was inspired by the life of Joe Jackson, a major league baseball player who was accused of being involved in the “Black Sox Scandal” in which several Chicago White Sox players agreed to lose the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. A real major league field has also been built on the site and hosted a real Major League Baseball game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox in 2021. (The White Sox won.) In 2022, the Cincinnati Reds played the Chicago Cubs. Those are the only two games to be played so far because of some construction that’s been happening. I’m hoping maybe *my* Detroit Tigers will play in 2026. If so, you’ll find me at the field for sure. (If you are reading this in 2025, Country superstar Tim McGraw will headline a concert at the Field of Dreams on August 30.)
They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. By the same token, you can’t judge a state by its shape. There’s a lot to learn about Iowa and enjoy. The American Film Institute named the Field of Dreams movie line, “If you build it, he will come,” as one of its 100 greatest movie quotes. And the lines, “Is this heaven? No, it’s Iowa” remains an unofficial state motto. So don’t be square. Visit there.
One of my favorite poets is Ted Kooser. He grew up in Iowa and wrote this sweet poem about his dad.
Father
Today you would be ninety-seven
if you had lived, and we would all be
miserable, you and your children,
driving from clinic to clinic,
an ancient fearful hypochondriac
and his fretful son and daughter,
asking directions, trying to read
the complicated, fading map of cures.
But with your dignity intact
you have been gone for twenty years,
and I am glad for all of us, although
I miss you every day—the heartbeat
under your necktie, the hand cupped
on the back of my neck, Old Spice
in the air, your voice delighted with stories.
On this day each year you loved to relate
that the moment of your birth
your mother glanced out the window
and saw lilacs in bloom. Well, today
lilacs are blooming in side yards
all over Iowa, still welcoming you.
~from Delights & Shadows and published on Kooser’s website
Poetry Prompt: Iowa Generosities
See if you can create a poem (maybe a limerick or a haiku) from something you learned. Maybe use this State Fair trivia site for inspiration.
More About Montana: Poets, Writers, Artists + Landmarks
History of Iowa
Iowa Heritage
Geography of Iowa
More Geography of Iowa
Prairie History
About Iowa (Brittanica)
Travel Iowa
Top 25 Things to do in Iowa (video)
10 Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Iowa (video)
What to Eat in Iowa (video)
Eight Great Iowa City Literary Haunts
Madison County Bridge Tour
Travel Iowa
Music (videos)
Iowa USA 4K: Relaxing Music Journey with the Beauty of Nature
Iowa Corn Song
The (State) Song of Iowa
The Iowa Song by Josh Conner – Nashville singer/songwriter who lived a while in Iowa
Field of Dreams
11 Field of Dream Facts You May Not Know
Kevin Costner Leads the Yankees and White Sox From the Cornfield onto the Field of Dreams (video)
Field of Dreams movie trailer
Iowan Creatives
Iowa: The Writing University
Iowa Writers Workshop
8 Iowa Authors and Poets to Add to Your Reading List
Current and Former Iowa Poets Laureate
Vince Gotera’s Blog
The Elbert Files: Famous Iowa Writers and Fictional Characters
A History of Iowa Writers/Poets from Iowa PBS
54 Iowa Celebrities
About Robert James Waller with photos of the Madison County Bridges
Photo by Alan Light, Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Sandra Heska King.
- 50 States of Generosity: Iowa - April 7, 2025
- 50 States of Generosity: Montana - January 27, 2025
- 50 States of Generosity: Idaho - December 16, 2024
L.L. Barkat says
Wow! 🙂
Lots to think about with Iowa. 🙂 Thank you for bringing so much goodness to our attention.
I’ll meet you at the fair. (Love fairs. Always have.)