Capping four landmark decades

Old Capitol Museum celebrates 40 years on National Historic Registry

Margaret Keyes surveying the progress in the building in the early 1970s

UI President Willard “Sandy” Boyd spearheaded the effort to restore the Old Capitol as a landmark and museum after the building had served as classroom and office space for more than a century. Work began in 1972, with home economics professor Margaret Keyes leading the effort to ensure historical accuracy. Keyes is seen here, surveying the progress in the building in the early 1970s. Photo from Old Capitol Museum archives.

old cap 40 yrs landmark

The earliest known photograph of the Old Capitol

Workmen place the railing on the stairway to the House Chamber gallery.

By: Casey Westlake | 2016.06.28 | 03:12 pm

While the Fourth of July represents a day of celebration for Americans around the world, the third of July is a special date on the University of Iowa campus. On that date in 1976, the Old Capitol opened to the public as a museum and National Historic Landmark. Check out these photos of the museum taken over the last four decades—and earlier.

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