Sioux City Museum & Historical Association

08/31/2026

On this day in Sioux City history: An earthquake shocked Sioux Cityans attending an opening night concert on August 31, 1886. Tremors shook the Conservatory of Music hall in the Wilkins Block at 614-616 4th Street as this Sioux City Journal article recounts.

08/30/2026

On this day in Sioux City history: On August 30, 2015, Reverend Floyd Brown delivered his final sermon at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Revered Brown was selected to pastor at Sioux City's Mount Zion in 1978, to a congregation of less than 35 members at the time. The church was originally organized in 1887, and the organization papers declared it as "the first Negro church in Sioux City."

Interested in the history of Sioux City's churches? Visit our YouTube channel for Tom Munson's History at High Noon: Sioux City Houses of Worship 1870-1940. Click here: https://youtu.be/2-_FGjMJrLo?si=dbYYDMlWOhCmeVUO

08/28/2026

On this day in Sioux City history: Fifty years to the day that Korean War casualty Sgt. John R. Rice was denied burial in a Sioux City cemetery, a memorial was held in his honor on August 28, 2001. The refusal of Memorial Park Cemetery officials to allow the burial of Rice due to his Native American heritage sparked national outrage in 1951. The parade and Rice's widow, Evelyn, are shown in these Sioux City Journal photographs from the 2001 event. For more about Sgt. Rice and the controversy surrounding the interruption of his burial 70 years ago today, visit SiouxCityHistory.org/notable-people/8-sergeantjohnrrice.

08/28/2026

On this day in Sioux City history: On August 28, 1951, the burial of Sergeant John R. Rice, a casualty of the Korean War, was halted when officials at Memorial Park Cemetery learned of his Native American ethnicity. The decision sparked anger locally and nationwide. When President Harry Truman learned about Memorial Park Cemetery's refusal to bury Sergeant Rice during a press conference the following day, August 29, 1951, he rebuked both the cemetery officials and Sioux City's leaders. He also authorized his military aide Major General Harry Vaughn to send a telegram to Rice's family offering to bury him in Arlington National Cemetery. Sgt. Rice was buried eight days later in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

For more about the controversy, visit SiouxCityMuseum.org/history-website/rice-sergeant-john-r

08/27/2026

Good news! Call to Arms: Sioux City in US Military History has been extended through November 29. You've got to see it!

08/27/2026

On this day in Sioux City history: Charles Lindbergh and his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, landed at Rickenbacker Field in North Sioux City on Saturday, August 27, 1927 to an estimated 20,000 spectators. He spoke at a banquet held in his honor about the future of commerce and aviation at the Sioux City Armory that evening. After enjoying his weekend in Sioux City, he flew off on Monday to Mason City on his nationwide tour.

08/26/2026

Happy International Dog Day! 🐕 Siouxlanders in the 1880s might have recognized these dogs. They belonged to Daniel Hector Talbot, and he trained them to bark when anyone entered his property. Talbot had an experimental farm on his land, where he researched and bred all kinds of strange plants and animals, but he also had a reputation as a recluse and eccentric – hence the dogs! 🐾

Talbot’s Farm is now known to Siouxland as Stone Park. For more information on Stone Park, check out curator Matt Anderson's History at High Noon presentation here: https://youtu.be/t7YJddB-Aw4?si=b2_X8qUjclnEV3mC

08/25/2026

On this day in Sioux City history: Gertrude Brown Henderson was born on August 25, 1883, in Indianola, Iowa. She moved to Sioux City in 1914 and eventually became the community’s unofficial local historian. In 1921, she married Ralph A. Henderson, a First World War veteran, in Des Moines. Her first position was at the Sioux City Journal, where she worked as a local history authority and was a special writer for the newspaper’s Seventy-Fifth Anniversary edition. She eventually became curator at the Sioux City Public Museum and was part of the Advisory Committee of the Iowa Historical Records Survey. She also wrote many manuscripts about a wide variety of historical topics in Sioux City. Henderson passed away in 1954. For more about this early Sioux City historian, visit SiouxCityMuseum.org/history-website/henderson-gertrude-brown.

08/23/2026

On this day in Sioux City history: The Curtis Co. building was engulfed in flames on Aug. 23, 1961. Located at the corner of West Fourth and Perry streets, the structure was abandoned at the time of the fire. According to George Lindblade's "Fully Involved" book, "Acting Assistant Chief Bob Arnold was overcome by heat and smoke though he was still issuing orders as he was being given oxygen and carried away on a stretcher. More than 1,000 spectators lined the streets and one enterprising man wheeled his ice cream cart into the area and was doing a brisk business before authorities ordered him away."

08/20/2026