T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Historical Society of Marshall County Treasurer Mary Pfantz presents a financial report during the HSMC’s annual meeting, held Saturday at Mowry Irvine Mansion on West Main Street in Marshalltown.

The Historical Society of Marshall County looked to its future at its annual meeting, held Saturday afternoon at the Mowry Irvine Mansion in Marshalltown.

The meeting began with recognition of the late Dan Brandt, HSMC’s president who died Jan. 15. HSMC vice president Steve Ryan is serving as interim president.

“He left a legacy of commitment and some very big shoes to fill,” HSMC board member Michelle Roseburrough said in a welcome to start Saturday’s meeting. “We’re missing him today.”

Roseburrough went on to set the table for the HSMC in 2025 as a “reboot” for the group.

“We’re going to do our due diligence of assessing our bylaws and our committee structure, and encouraging new board members and the community at large to partner with us as we bring the Historical Society into the future,” Roseburrough added. “We need to keep fostering those relationships.”

The group’s work continues on designating the Mowry Irvine Mansion, located at 503 W. Main St., on the National Register of Historic Places. Bentonsport Preservation was contracted last year to help HSMC with the process.

“We are probably our second year into this process, thinking that it would probably take us three years,” said HSMC Treasurer Mary Pfantz. “Once we’re approved, it opens up a world for us to get grants and tax credits, because there’s a lot of work that needs to be done on this house, and we can’t afford to do it on our own.”

Pfantz noted that they hope to hear more news on the designation process in the fall.

Financials for the HSMC are solid in the short-term, Pfantz reported, but cautioned in the long view that disbursements from the Susie Sower Trust, which have helped keep the society in the black, are likely to run out within the next five years.

“I think we are a really frugal organization, we try to be really careful,” Pfantz said. “… I think we have some pretty significant financial challenges ahead of us.”

Some notable pieces of income included almost $6,000 raised by last fall’s Home Tour organized by Julie Lang, who is also the director of the Taylor Country School No. 4 in Marshalltown; the family of James Bauer also donated $10,000 and a collection of World War II history books that have been distributed to various groups in the county, including the Iowa Veterans Home and libraries across the county. Bauer, a local author, penned a book about Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, who commanded US troops in naval battles in the Pacific during World War II.

Another major goal for the group is to continue work towards building a new museum, with plans of someday building it in the empty lot to the east of the mansion, though currently the costs of maintaining the museum currently outstrip what the society spends in costs to store the materials that would go in the museum. HSMC’s previous museum/headquarters was damaged in the 2018 tornado, forcing most operations to move to the Mowry Irvine Mansion.

Roseburrough mentioned that she is in touch with local groups for small pop-up displays to showcase the society’s collection, including a possible display of the group’s prolific art collection at the Marshalltown Arts & Civic Center (MACC). Roseburrough is also representing the historical society along with Pfantz in an Iowa culture leadership cohort offered by Iowa Economic Development to help build leadership skills in organizing the society’s operations.

“Michelle and I are really excited to be part of this to find ways to improve our membership base and our donation levels so we can have a more sustainable bottom line,” Pfantz said.

Lang reported to the group on upcoming country school re-enactments at Taylor No. 4 this spring, the 18th year of the re-enactments that Lang organizes with Rita Smith. Groups from BCLUW and Ames homeschoolers are scheduled to join a busy schedule of showing Marshall County students what life was like growing up on a Marshall County farm in 1915.

The HSMC also has its History on Second Tuesdays program scheduled through September at the Mowry Irvine Mansion, with the next program scheduled for April 8 featuring Marshalltown High School students’ History Day presentations – programs run from 6:30-8 p.m.

The Historical Society of Marshall County was established in 1908 to preserve Marshall County history and manages several sites in addition to the Mowry mansion and Taylor No. 4, including the Glick-Sower Historical Homestead and the Edel Blacksmith Shop, the latter of which is owned by the Iowa Historical Society.

For more general information about the group, visit their Facebook page, Historical Society of Marshall County.

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Contact Jake Ryder at 641-753-6611 ext. 227 or jryder@timesrepublican.com.