08/21/2026
From the Brooklyn Historical Society:
As a youth, Nathan Hellwig spent many summer days with his grandparents, where he grew to appreciate tales of local pioneers as he listened to stories on their front porch.
This summer, he tells visitors at the Brooklyn Museum the tales of the town’s early railroad days -- a story that can be envisioned in the south view from the Museum’s circular front porch.
Hellwig, a history teacher for the past 26 years in Iowa City’s public school system, has spent the past several months as a tour guide at Brooklyn’s museum, also known as the William Manatt House. He counts the area’s railroad history, as well as the histories of the early settlers and the Civil War years, as his favorite topics of Brooklyn’s community history.
Hellwig served as a ranger (guide) for five years at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch. He has a particular interest in Civil War history; when he was 15 he joined an Iowa Civil War reenactment group, and was active for 30 years. He recently visited, for a second time, the Vicksburg National Battleground in Mississippi, where many Brooklyn men fought for the Union as members of Company H of the 28th Regiment of Iowa Infantry.
(The Civil War Monument at the Brooklyn Cemetery, erected in 1882, honors the Brooklyn men who died in battle and the four major battles where they fought, including Vicksburg.)
Hellwig has been excited to learn more about Brooklyn’s hometown hero, Harold “Pie” Keller. One of the highlights of his venture here was meeting Brent Westemeyer of Johnston, during Brooklyn’s Flag Festival weekend; through his photo research, Westemeyer was instrumental in identifying Keller as one of the Iwo Jima flag raisers during WWII.
Nathan Hellwig will soon return to the classroom to teach 9th graders at Iowa City High, but visitors to the local museum have two more Saturdays to meet him before the museum closes its summer season: tomorrow (Saturday), August 22, and Saturday, August 29, from 9 am to 1 pm.
Photo & Story by Carol Carpenter, Brooklyn Historical Society
