Ricki King, a public historian who serves on the boards of the Iowa Historical Foundation and the State Historical Society of Iowa, speaks April 30, 2026 to lawmakers in opposition to a bill that would allow the state to no longer maintain a Historical Society center in Iowa City. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Advocates told a House panel that legislation removing a state requirement to maintain an State Historical Society of Iowa research center in Iowa City would not mitigate a current lawsuit challenging the state’s move to close the Iowa City location in 2025.
Speakers also reiterated concerns about the loss of historical artifacts and records that would come if the center is closed.
Senate File 2293, passed by the Senate in early March, strikes the requirement in current state code for the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to maintain a historical resource research center in Iowa City. The requirement for a center to be maintained by DAS in Des Moines would remain as-is.
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This legislation comes several months after DAS had announced its plan to close the Iowa City center. The State Historical Society of Iowa announced the move in June 2025 with plans to close the State Historical Society of Iowa Research Center June 30, 2026. The announcement that was met with a lawsuit from a group of historians, professors, archivists and donors. The suit cites the language in existing Iowa law that the bill seeks to eliminate.
DAS officials have said closing the Iowa City facility is necessary as the state historical society faces a $800,000 budget shortfall.
Ricki King, a public historian who serves on the boards of the Iowa Historical Foundation and the State Historical Society of Iowa, told reporters she did not approve of how the move was handled. As a member of the SHSI Board of Trustees, she said trustees were not notified before the decision was announced.
King also said she was concerned about closing the Iowa City center not only because the move defies existing state law, but also because Iowa City hosts historical materials that reflect “where most of Iowa history started, is on east side of Iowa — and that’s where most of the people of color’s records are going to be.”
“I’m worried about those records being lost,” King said. “”I understand the centennial building isn’t a viable location, but the legislation going through the courts isn’t saying ‘reopen that building’ as much as ‘make sure we have a location still in Iowa City,’ — we can maybe find a different building location.”
While this measure has the possibility of resolving some issues in regard to the first lawsuit, Jim Carney with the nonprofit corporation State Historical Society Inc. told House lawmakers Thursday that changing this language would not resolve their organization’s second lawsuit challenging the center’s closure. This lawsuit has been consolidated with the other case in Johnson County District Court.
Carney said in an interview the State Historical Society Inc. lawsuit specifically deals with the State Historical Society of Iowa’s contract with their nonprofit, which he said would not be impacted by the bill, and that previous court cases in the state have “maintained the right to contract, and the Legislature can’t impair those contracts.”
“This bill will not solve that litigation,” Carney told lawmakers. “I’ve talked to the attorneys handling the matter, and I think we just wanted you to be aware of the fact that as you’re doing this, the explanation (from supporters) may be that this might take care of it — and it might even create more litigation, actually.”
Some of the concern brought up surrounding the closure of the Iowa City location centered on actions that have already been taken to move materials out of Iowa City, as well as concerns about what will happen to the historical objects that will not be stored in Des Moines. At a June 2025 board meeting, Iowa State Archivist Tony Jahn said 40% of the Iowa City collections would be transferred to the State Historical Building in Des Moines, while the other 60% would be sold, dispersed or discarded.
While litigation was pending, the state began moving some historical materials from the Iowa City location in October, using unmarked trucks and workers with Iowa Prison Industries, the Gazette reported.
Tami Wiencek, legislative liaison for DAS, reiterated that removal of materials “has been put on hold with this injunction,” and that earlier removal of materials was kept at a “bare minimum.” She also said DAS and the State Historical Society are “serious stewards” of these historic objects.
“Our State Historical Society and specifically the archivist follows not only professional standards within the archive industry for moving or keeping of documents and materials, but we also have standards in code and in administrative code,” Wiencek said.
Rep. Dave Jacoby, D-Coralville, said, “I’m not really sure that the Department of Correction people are trained in moving archive materials.”
Jacoby criticized the bill as “cancel culture,” removing Iowa City’s place in state history as the first capital — and criticized the bill coming up in the final days before lawmakers aim to end the 2026 session.
“This is something that we could have been working on together all through the session,” Jacoby said. “… I think to date, that this is maybe the worst bill that we could move forward in the closing days of the 2026 session.”
Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, did not give a firm answer on whether the measure will move forward in the House before final adjournment.
“I am going to consult the leadership and see what their intent is,” Lundgren said. The measure was recommended for passage by the subcommittee after the meeting, according to the Legislature’s website.
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