Go Retire Psychiatrist

I saw a KCRG news item and an announcement about an upcoming exhibit opening at the African American Museum of Iowa on September 4, 2026.

The title is Right Where We Belong: Black Resilience, Culture, & Community, 1964-1999.

The summary on the museum website reads:

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 marked a major milestone in the Civil Rights Movement by outlawing discrimination and expanding opportunities for Black Americans. Over the next three decades, Black Iowans experienced both progress and ongoing challenges, advancing equality particularly through political representation, education, and community activism. Visitors will learn about notable events and achievements within the Black community that helped reshape Iowa from 1965 to 1999.

Although my wife, Sena, and I have never visited the museum, this new exhibit did send me on a web search about the topic. I found a couple of interesting items.

The one I found most interesting, at first mainly because the last name of the plaintiff in a civil rights related lawsuit (Amos v Prom 1954) against Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa happens to be the same as mine. There’s no relation, but the main point of the suit was that Mr. and Mrs. Amos and several other black persons were denied entry to a performance by Lionel Hampton’s Dance Band (an all colored band that I’m too young to remember) despite the curious fact they’d bought tickets to the event and also had been admitted to the band’s previous performance at the Surf. The Amos couple were living in Mason City, Iowa at the time, which is where Sena and I were born and lived until moving to Ames where I attended Iowa State University. The relevant law at the time was Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1950.

It’s a little strange that, during the time period the Amos litigants were living in Iowa in the same city my Amos family was—I never met them. My father, John Amos, was black and my mother, Ruby, was white. The litigants were both black and their names are not documented. It’s just a coincidence.

But the important point is that civil rights legal battles were being fought in Iowa long before the Civil Right Act of 1964. Another web resource is a wealth of historically important background.

I’m sure the upcoming exhibit at the African American Museum of Iowa will be excellent. Maybe we’ll be able to visit.