For over 55 years, the Cedar Falls Historical Society has brought together local residents, business owners, and individuals and families with personal ties to Cedar Falls to collect and celebrate local history. All of our work is about finding and building meaningful connections in our community.

We hope you’ll consider joining us—as a member, volunteer, donor, sponsor, visitor, traveler, and fellow lover of history. Be a part of our Society!

The Cedar Falls Historical Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit and is not a division of or dependent upon any local, county, or state government nor does it regularly receive funds from government sources. 

Join as a Member

Memberships renew annually on July 1 and are tax deductible as allowed by law. Your membership today will be valid through June 30, 2026. 

You can join today or renew your membership by downloading a form to send in, or through PayPal.
Membership categories:
Student : $25
Individual : $50
Household: $100
Community Supporter: $150
Business Supporter: $175
Friend: $250
Benefactor: $500
Patron: $1,000
Philanthropist: $1,500+
Choose your membership level
Membership includes:
  • Discounted pricing for historic bus tours
  • Two free admissions to the Ice House Museum each year
  • Discounted pricing for the Summer at the Schoolhouse program 
  • Subscription to the “Museum District News” newsletter 
  • Subscription to our e-newsletter 

Forever Friend membership:  Two generous anonymous donors have contributed funds to set up an endowment at the Cedar Falls Community Foundation to help sustain our operations. Any individual who contributes $1,250 to the fund, or households that contribute $2,500, will become a Forever Member of the Historical Society. Donations to become a Forever Member should be made directly to the Cedar Falls Community Foundation, by sending the Community Foundation a check with a memo that it is for the Cedar Falls Historical Society Forever Fund, or by donating online here. Please contact us with any questions about joining. 

Make a Donation

City skyline

Photo By: John Doe
Button

Birthday Sparks

Photo By: John Doe
Button

Fashion Magazine

Photo By: John Doe
Button

Blurred Lines

Photo by: John Doe
Button

2025 has been another wonderful year at the Cedar Falls Historical Society! This year’s annual exhibit was titled “Alphabetical Artifacts,” which gave us a chance to showcase items from our collection that are not often on display. A full series of programs accompanied the exhibit, featuring topics such as calligraphy, samplers, and code breaking. Thousands of visitors and students, including every Cedar Falls 3rd grader, toured our museums, and over 100 children participated in Summer at the Schoolhouse. Renovations of our new education space at 315 Clay Street were completed a year ago, and we have been really enjoying using our new space for programs, events and community gatherings!  We hope you will consider helping us continue to keep history alive in Cedar Falls by making a donation.

If you would like to make an online general donation to our private, 501(c)3 organization,  click the yellow "Donate" button below.
Contact Carrie Eilderts, Executive Director by 
e-mail, or phone her at 319-266-5149 for more information about giving opportunities, including planned giving.

To make a donation of cash or check please send to Cedar Falls Historical Society, 308 W 3rd St, Cedar Falls, IA 50613.

Support the Cedar Falls Historical Society every time you shop online at Walmart. Donate spare change by automatically rounding up your orders to the nearest dollar at checkout. Visit our profile for more information here.

Lend a Hand
and Volunteer

Join in the fun at the Historical Society, learn more about local history, and connect with your community. Each year, over 120 volunteers contribute their time and talents to our organization. Contact us to learn more about what you can do!

Click here to fill out a volunteer application online.
If you prefer to fill out a paper application, please download one here, then scan and email it to historyeducation@cfu.net, or drop it off or send it to the Cedar Falls Historical Society, 308 W. 3rd St., Cedar Falls, IA 50613.
Museum Host: Welcome visitors at our Ice House Museum, Victorian House Museum, or Little Red Schoolhouse. Provide visitors with an introduction to the museum and exhibits, assist with gift shop purchases, and answer general questions.

Education Assistant: Work with the Education Coordinator to manage school field trips and assist with special programs and presentations. From Girl Scouts programs to preschool visits to adult workshops, there are opportunities to work with a wide range of age groups.

Special Event Committee Member: Throughout the year, the Historical Society has a number of special events and activities that require some extra energy.

Capital Campaign Steering Committee Member: The Cedar Falls Historical Society is seeking fundraisers to assist with our capital campaign. The Cedar Falls Historical Society is launching into a second phase of our campaign which will include building a new interactive museum on Franklin St., behind our new education center at 315 Clay Street. Please email us to learn more. 
E-mail Diane Schupbach or call 319-266-5149 for more information. Learn more about volunteering at the Cedar Falls Historical Society from our dedicated Ice House Museum volunteers:

Internships

Our museum buildings provide a rich opportunity for students in History, Public History, Museum Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Education, and other fields. Interns work on special projects based on their interests and the Historical Society’s needs at that time. Past interns have cataloged our military collection, inventoried our Victorian Home, conducted research for Ice House Museum exhibitions, and helped develop educational trunks for students.

Our staff works closely with interns to create meaningful projects that provide hands-on learning in areas such as collections care, preservation, database management, museum policies and procedures, and exhibition development.
Collections Intern
The Cedar Falls Historical Society offers one Collections Internship each fall and each summer. This intern will work with the Society’s artifact collection and will organize, inventory, and photograph or scan artifacts for cataloging. Applicants may also have the opportunity to learn PastPerfect museum software and assist with database entry. The Collections Intern will also have the opportunity to learn other aspects of museum work, such as hosting at museums and conducting archival research. Click here for more information and for application details. 

Education Intern
The Cedar Falls Historical Society offers one Education Internships per semester session. This internship is ideal for individuals interested in expanding their understanding of the field of museum education. Experiences may include prepping and setting up for programs, doing research, designing scavenger hunts, giving programs to groups, creating educational craft activities, and assembling educational materials. Click here for more information and for application details.


Please e-mail us for more information or to submit your application.

Donate an Artifact

The Cedar Falls Historical Society collects a wide variety of items that represent the history of our community and help tell its story. We have certain policies and procedures we must follow when accepting artifact donations:

1. Contact our collections manager at cfhscollections@gmail.com or (319) 266-5149. Include all the information you have on the artifact, including its age, who owned it, and its history. Attaching photos is very helpful.

2. If your artifact appears to fit our collecting criteria, we will make an appointment for you to bring it to the museum for further consideration. At that time, you will fill out and sign a Temporary Artifact Receipt, giving us permission to evaluate the artifact for the collection.

3. After examining the artifact, a decision will be made by staff as to whether or not it can be accepted. If accepted, a Deed of Gift will be sent to you for signature. This will complete the donation paperwork and the transfer of ownership to the museum.

Cedar Falls and the Pandemic



How are you dealing with the pandemic? The Cedar Falls Historical Society wants to document how residents are making it through these challenging times. We all have different coping methods—maybe you’re reading every book in the library, learning to bake bread, or writing poetry or short stories. We want to create an archive of letters, drawings, poetry, stories, etc. to preserve for future generations a record of how we dealt with this crisis. This project was inspired by a similar project being done by the Yellowstone Gateway Museum in Montana.


Our mission is to “engage the community in the preservation, education, and celebration of our heritage.” Our archives preserves many personal accounts of life in Cedar Falls that help us understand what life was like in the past. This project will be very helpful to those in the future who want to learn from the past. We hope that you will participate.


Please mail letters and other materials to Collections Manager, Cedar Falls Historical Society, 308 W. 3rd St., Cedar Falls, IA 50613.