Iowa Quietly Celebrates Its Dodransbicentennial

Radio Iowa says that the state doesn't often have a lot of official public celebrations of its anniversary on December 28 because of the likelihood of inclement winter weather. Well sure enough, with a snow event barreling down on much of the state today, Iowa will very quietly turn 175.

Next time you hear it referred to as "Ioway", here's why

That was one of the original pronunciations of the state. Most of us now pronounce it "Iow-uh".  It was named, according to the curator of the State Historical Museum, Leo Landis, after the indigenous peoples of the Ioway Nation. We've seen several cities, schools, and entities change their names due to native distinctions in recent years, but Iowa has been called such since the early 1900s.

It took two years to act on the proposal for statehood

Thank you, Missouri. Our neighbors to the south delayed our quest for statehood when they tried to claim some of the lands that would become Iowa, before the Supreme Court firmly ruled in our favor, and the rest is history.

Muscatine was home to Iowa's first big celebration

When the state hit the half-century mark, Landis says Iowans celebrated in Muscatine, complete with parades, pageants, and starting the aforementioned trend, bad weather that night.

Commemorating the anniversary statewide

Iowa Public Radio says that the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs has held several ongoing exhibits and programs this month.

To celebrate this year, the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs put together programs featuring Iowa history available both in-person and online. That includes pop-ups sent to each county in Iowa, as well as a virtual tour of the State Historical Museum of Iowa’s “People and Places” exhibit. There will be also some guided tours available through the in-person exhibit at the museum in Des Moines.

I am proud to say I have lived in Iowa for all of my 44 years, moving from west (Sac City) to east (Cedar Rapids) when I was 12.

So, finally, what does that word in the title mean? This birthday is also known, according to Wikipedia, as the "Dodransbicentennial." We will stick to birthday or anniversary. Happy Birthday, Iowa! You don't look a day over "Iowa Nice".