CHARLES ALDRICH, Curator. MISS MARY R. WHITCOMB, Assistant Curator. MISS ALICE M. STEELE, Clerk and Stenographer. INTRODUCTORY. The progress of the Historical Department since the last biennial report has been in the main highly satisfactory; the policy which was outlined at the founding of the Department, in regard to the nature of the collections, is still being pursued. Their general character will be seen from the appended lists. Ample and most gratifying justification for the establishment and the fostering of the Historical Department is found in the constantly increasing calls for information from all parts of the state. There is no interruption to this interest. Important questions concerning points in Iowa history are undergoing investigation every day in the year, either by parties who visit the Department, or by the workers in the building in response to inquiries. In a large majority of cases the Department has been able to furnish the desired information. The museum and art collections have become a center of popular attraction. Thousands of Iowa people are annually visiting these rooms, manifesting pride in what has thus early been accomplished, and finding therein compensation for the taxes they pay for its support. The collection of manuscripts, autograph letters and portraits is an extension of "The Aldrich Collection," the original gift upon which the Historical Department was founded. The total number of books and pamphlets in the Historical Library is now 11,754. This does not include the bound volumes of newspapers, nor the books transferred from the State Library. During the past two years a special effort has been made to collect works of biography, genealogy and local history in order to meet the constantly increasing demands for information in those directions. The library should be enlarged by the purchase of several hundred volumes of the older works on these subjects, as well as by procuring the new ones as fast as they come from the press. These publications are always expensive, as they are in large part issued in limited editions which rapidly advance in price, while many of them speedily go out of print and cannot be obtained at all. The State Board of Health has turned over to the Historical Department its valuable collection of Vital Statistics. This consists of 322 volumes of record size in most substantial binding. These statistics run back to and include the year 1880. IOWA NEWSPAPERS. This important section of the work of the Historical Department is hampered by want of room. Owing to the lack of funds less than the usual number of newspapers has been bound since the last report (three or four hundred volumes are waiting to be bound), but those we already have are in excess of the space that can be devoted to them in the present building. The bound volumes number 2,940 and the room is so over-crowded that three times the present space would be required to properly classify and shelve them. One glance at the newspaper room will confirm this statement. This branch of the work forms the fullest and best repository of the facts of state and western contemporary history. We are now receiving 300 Iowa newspapers, and sixteen of the best representative journals throughout the country. The Iowa daily papers are carefully examined and their principal articles entered in the card index. With more help and more space, and increased facilities for their care, it would be advisable to increase this index, extending it back to the first issues of the leading Iowa journals. Efforts are constantly put forth to secure such files of early Iowa newspapers as are still in existence in private hands. Many have been located which the owners are not yet ready to part with, but which the state will some day receive-if they are not in the meantime destroyed by fire. THE MUSEUM. The great measure of appreciation shown by the people of Iowa for this work has been a constant inspiration to add to its materials and its educational value. During the past two years it has made a substantial and highly satisfactory growth; in fact, its acquisitions now require nearly double the present space for their satisfactory exhibition. The cases have been crowded too much with the excess of materials, making a proper classification quite out of the question. Many of our most valuable articles have been packed away in boxes or piled on the floor in the upper story. Both space and cases are required by the natural growth of this work. Many of the articles acquired during the closing biennial period are of more than ordinary value, as will be readily appreciated by reference to the lists presented herewith. During the past year the museum has been favored with a skilled worker in the person of Mr. T. Van Hyning, at resident of Des Moines. He has performed a great amount of systematic work in classifying and arranging the diverse materials which have been accumulated since the organization of the Department. His restoration of parts of the skeletons of the Iowa mastodon and mammoth have been very successful and will compare favorably with those of any museum in the country. The same may be said of the specimens preserved in alcohol, including fishes, snakes and small reptiles. He has also made an excellent display of the swivel guns, muskets, rifles, pistols, swords, and other materials acquired in this country or from Cuba and the Philippines. The exhibit of pistols and revolvers coming down from the most antique patterns to those of the present time is especially large and interesting. Since the organization of the Department especial efforts have been made to increase the collections illustrative of the natural history of the state. THE ANNALS OF IOWA. The third series of this periodical has been published quarterly since April, 1893. The edition at this time is 1,350 copies, which in my judgment should be increased to at least 1,500. It would be a measure of economy to stereotype the work as fast as numbers are issued. At the time I began the publication I obtained permission from the Trustees to send it free of expense to the public libraries of the state. It also goes to every Iowa newspaper which is donated to the Department, and to historical magazines with which we make exchanges of publications. Through these exchanges it much more than "pays its way." Of late there has been a demand for full sets by schools, colleges and public libraries, as well as by individuals, and some of the issues should |