New Hours for the Cambridge Historical Association

 

We have new open hours beginning in September 2022.  We are open the first and fourth Thursdays of the month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Also we are open by appointment.  Call 515-220-4478.

Cambridge Historical Association Meeting October 27 2021

 The Cambridge Historical Association will meet Wednesday, October 27, 2021 at 2:00 p.m.  Meeting is at the Cambridge Historical Association building, 506 3rd Street, Cambridge.  Everyone is invited!

 

 

Cambridge Historical Association Looking for New Members

 From the Cambridge Iowa News & Events Facebook page comes this message:

Anyone interested in joining the Cambridge Historical Association? We're open to new ideas and just getting together. Message Barb McBreen on FB or send an email to her at barbmcbreen@gmail.com.

 

Cambridge Firemen's Days - June 11th - June 13th, 2021

 This year's Cambridge Firemen's Days are Friday, June 11th, Saturday, June 12th, and Sunday, June 13th.  See this years flyer for details.

Monthly Meetings Cancelled Until Further Notice

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Cambridge Historical Association will no longer be holding our regular monthly meetings.  You can still make an appointment if you would like to use our reference materials.

CHA
P.O. Box 461 
Cambridge, IA, 50046 
Phone: 515-220-HIST (answering machine.  Because of the building closure we may not retrieve your message for some time.) 
E-mail: cha@huxcomm.net

Appointments: Call Don at 515-231-8494.

2018 Summer Open House Schedule

This summer the Cambridge Historical Association has several open houses scheduled.  Beginning with one as part of the Firemen Days celebration this weekend.  You can learn more about the Firemen Days events here on the Cambridge Iowa Facebook page.

2018 Summer OPEN Hours - all are Saturdays.
June 9 - 10 AM to 1 PM
June 23 - 9 AM to Noon
July 14 & July 28 - 9 AM to Noon
August 11 & August 25 - 9 AM to Noon

If you would like to schedule a visit at a different time, please let us know.

Cambridge City Center Is Now Open

The Cambridge City Center contains the Cambridge Memorial Library, City Hall, and a community room with a large kitchen.  You can learn more about its history in this flyer (PDF) from the Cambridge Historical Association.  See the photos showing how the block looked around 1900 and now.  Also learn about the history of the Cambridge Memorial Library.

The Cambridge City Center is located immediately east of the Cambridge Historical Association.  Be sure to join us for open houses during Firemen's Day (June 9th) and during the summer.

Summer 2017 Open Houses

In addition to the open house we had as part of the Cambridge's 2017 Firemen Days, we have open houses scheduled at the Cambridge Historical Association museum on Saturday July 15th and Saturday August 19th from 9 a.m. to noon.  We are also glad to be open by appointment.  Call Don at 515-231-8494.

Hope to see you soon!

American Legion Auxiliary Presentation

The Cambridge, Iowa Mathis-Wire American Legion Auxiliary meets the first Tuesday of most months.  They had invited us to speak about the Cambridge Historical Association at their February 2017 meeting.  I gave them a short history of our group, shared the two books we have published, and showed photos of the Cambridge school and the train depots.  This lead to a lively discussion of Cambridge and their memories of life in Cambridge.

They also identified one of the unknown 1915 Cambridge graduates!  In the bottom row, the second from the right is Meda Thomas.  Thank you Wilma Jean Longnecker.

Thank you to the Auxiliary for the invitation and for the great audience participation.  We have invited them to visit our museum, which they hope to do this fall.

If you would like us to speak to your group, please let us know.  Also, the museum is open by appointment.  Our phone is 515-220-HIST.  That is an answering machine.  For a faster answer, either email cha@huxcomm.net or phone 515-231-8494.

Last of This Summer's Open Houses - August 20, 2016

There is one more open house at the Cambridge Historical Association this Summer.  We will be open this Saturday, August 20th, from 9 to noon.  Stop by to see our exhibits and let us help you with your research.  Whether you are seeking ancestors or recent Cambridge history, come in and see us.

Just a reminder, you can also get your Passport to Story County signed.  In case you do not already have one, we still have some available.  Visit all the Story County Historical Alliance members and enter for a chance to win.

Open House Saturday, August 22, 2015

The Cambridge Historical Association has been open for research from 9 to noon on selected Saturdays this summer.  The final Open House Saturday is August 22nd.  Find us at 504 3rd Street in Cambridge, Iowa.

Open House - Saturday July 11, 2015

The Cambridge Historical Association will be open for research from 9 to noon on selected Saturdays this summer.  The next Open House Saturday is July 11th.  Find us at 504 3rd Street in Cambridge, Iowa. 

And in August see us Saturday, August 22nd.

Skunk River Valley Days - June 12 - 14, 2015

The annual Skunk River Valley Days kicks off Friday evening, June 12th, with food and a teen dance.  It continues Saturday with a variety of events before concluding Sunday with Worship in the Park and a potluck.  The parade kicks off Saturday at 10 a.m.  See all the details on the Cambridge Iowa Events Committee Facebook page (anyone can see it - no Facebook account required).  And the complete schedule can be viewed here.

The Cambridge Historical Association will be open following the parade.  Stop in to see our displays and learn more about the history of Cambridge.

Unknowns in the Cambridge High School Graduates

In our list of graduates from the Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Iowa, we have names with an unknown year of graduation and years with unknown graduates.  Maybe by listing them here, someone can help sort parts of them out or fill in some blanks.

The years for which we list graduates unknown are 1894 and 1897.  The earliest year for which we list graduates is 1892.  The "Biographical and Historic Memoirs of Story County, Iowa" (1890) cited in our book states "but as yet no graduation has been had." so around 1892 for the first graduates would be consistent.
 
The unknown year of graduation graduates list (converted to alphabetical order) is:

Beck	Smith
Benfer	Charles
Benfer	Eva
Bossout	Sylvia
Clawson	Elizabeth
Clawson	Ruth
Cronk	Fanny
Ersland	Knute
Guthrie	Bess
Livingston	Grafton
Maxwell	Addie
Maxwell	Fanny
Maxwell	George
Nellis	Jennie
Presnall	Sarah
Severson	George
Snyder	Charles
Tesdahl	Martha
Thompson	Minnie
White	Charles
White	Lara

And in looking at the list I noticed a Fanny Cronk listed as graduating in 1898, presumably the same person as on our list of unknown year of graduation.  As we do our electronic version of this list, we may be able to find others that do not belong on the unknown year of graduation list.

If you can help us with any of these names, please let us know.  Or if they may be relatives you are searching, let us know that; it is possible we have other information about them.

To learn much more about the history of Cambridge education, see our second book and its expanded table of contents.  Which is still for sale.

Help Us Identify These Cambridge High School Graduates

We have a collection of class photos showing graduates of the Cambridge High School.  The earliest we have is 1911 and the final one is the last class, which graduated in 1958, before Cambridge became part of the Ballard School District.  You can see these framed at our museum in Cambridge, Iowa.  They also are part of our second book:  Cambridge, Iowa 150 Years of Education in Cambridge and Union Township, Story County, Iowa.

Of those photos we have (especially early on there are gaps), one which does not identify who is who is the 1915 photo above which only has one name associated with a picture. Can you help us identify them?

Here is what we know:

• One individual photo has a hand-written name above it; the top row fourth from left says Ava Irene Cook.  Not known what the source of identification for it is. 
• Our list of 1915 graduates, again in the second book, has 11 names.  The 12th photo would presumably be the Superintendent, Harry Washburn Dana. if our list of graduates is complete.

The 11 names on our list of 1915 graduates are:

1. Mable Abraham
2. B. Dewey Angstrom
3. Ava Cook
4. Effie Erickson
5. Helen Haun
6.  Althea Johnson
7. Raymond Langland
8. Joe Larson
9.  Florence Maywald
10.  Robert Maywald
11.  Meda Thomas

 This list has been alphabetized rather than being in the order shown in our list.

Can you help us identify any of the graduates?  How else might we sort out who is who?  You can leave comments, suggestions and questions below in the comments.  Or email us at cha@huxcomm.net   Thank you for your assistance.

Note:  To see a larger version of the photo, click on it.

Cambridge Iowa High School Graduates List

Both of our books contain listings of the Graduates of Cambridge High School by year from 1892 to 1961 along with a few of unknown year.  The second book, Cambridge, Iowa: 150 Years of Education in Cambridge and Union Township, Story County, Iowa, also has class pictures for many of the classes.  To help you and us better use these resources, we are creating a  list by name.

While this is just getting underway, we would like to show you the current format for your comments.  It is sorted by name with columns for last name, first name, year, and whether or not a photo is available.  The photos only refer to the Senior Class pictures we have, not any of our other sources.  There is also a column for notes (not shown below) which might include items such as married name.  The listing as Needed under photos means we do not have a class picture.  The earliest one we have is 1911 and there are some gaps in the early years.  Does anyone know when Senior Class photos were begun in Cambridge or in general?

Please let us know if you think this will be useful.  And what would make it more useful for you and the community.



The list in our books comes thanks to the work of Lois Whitney, one of our early members and a longtime supporter of the Cambridge Alumni Association.

Check Us Out on Facebook

In addition to this website, you can also follow us on Facebook.  Thanks to Julie Erickson, we now have a Facebook page!  See it here.  Note:  You do not have to have a Facebook account to see all of the page; however, you do need one if you would like to Like us or leave us a message.

One of the most recent postings is a video from the Skunk River Valley Days Parade in 2014 and you can see some of our historical photos.

January Meeting Will Be Tuesday, January 20th

Just a reminder that the next meeting of the Cambridge Historical Society will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, 2015.  The weather forecast is good for this time of year!  Hope to see you there at our Museum on Third Street.

Summer 2014 Hours - Sundays 2-4 Begins June 22

The Cambridge Historical Association will be open for research from 2 to 4 p.m. on most Sundays this summer.  First Sunday is June 22.  Find us at 504 3rd Street in Cambridge, Iowa.

Complete List of Dates

• June 22
• June 29
• July 13
• July 27
• August 3
• August 10
• August 17
• August 24

See you there!

Skunk River Valley Days - June 12-15, 2014

The first annual Skunk River Valley Days kicks off with Family Movie Night on Thursday, June 12th.  It continues Friday and Saturday with a variety of events before concluding Sunday with Worship in the Park and a potluck.  The parade, with a new route, kicks off Saturday at 10 a.m.  See all the details on the Cambridge Iowa Events Committee Facebook page (anyone can see it - no Facebook account required).  And the complete schedule can be viewed here.