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Hometown Heritage
  • About
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Hometown Heritage
​Photograph Collection

Hometown Pathways

Hometown Pathways represents one of the ways in which FCCT collects, describes, and analyzes the story of the community. For the last five years, FCCT has engaged the residents of Perry and the surrounding area in documenting their life histories through their own voices and their photographs. The collection has grown to more than 12,000 photographs, 500 interviews, decades of census data, architectural information on buildings and homes, and other text.

The Process 
In our work with the community, a number of residents have told us the stories of their lives. We begin this process with a telephone interview, then an audiotape interview, and finally videotape of the individual and sometimes their family. All of these interviews are transcribed. Eventually, excerpts from the interviews will be included here.
As well as interviews, FCCT has a collection of over 15,000 photographs from individuals and families throughout the area. We borrow the photographs, scan, and then return them. These photographs span the families and community from 1860 to the present. We have formal portraits, casual shots of family life, landscapes, and many more. At present, these photographs are the ONLY part of the Pathways database available on this site.

Featured Acquisition

Construction of the old Perry Post Office
The findings
As we have listened to the stories of the communities, transcribed their interviews, and scanned their photographs, themes of their lives and community began to emerge. We illustrate the themes of work, family, faith, education, and loss with selected photographs from our collection. 

Search photograph Collection

Picture
Faith
Because immigrants from many countries settled Perry, the congregations represented are also diverse. The first three churches in the community were Methodist, Baptist and Christian. Eventually, there were 16 different churches for the current 7,000 residents. The history of these churches show how as their congregations grew, the church would move from a house or a basement to their own building. Churches range from large congregations, such as St. Patrick's Catholic Church, to smaller congregations of several families.

Picture
Education
Iowa communities historically made education a priority. Oftentimes, as communities were founded, the school was built before the general store. The photographs in this section document the one-room schools, the early town schools, and the later emphasis on buildings that consolidated the student population. Also, teachers and students are shown from the beginning of the settlement to the present.

Picture
Work
In this section, we have a variety of photographs that exemplify the different types of work from the early settlement of the community to the present. For example, Perry was settled as a "magic town", when the railroad went through what was then farmland in 1869. Magic towns appeared overnight as the railroad made its way west. The collection of railroad photographs begins with the early steam engines and goes forward. Here also are photographs of farm life from the late nineteenth century to the present-- threshing days, early tractors, and other aspects of farm life are represented. There are pictures of mines and miners, packing plants, merchants, and shopkeepers.

Picture
Family
In this section, families from the late nineteenth century to the present are portrayed. Family life includes the early settlers to the area -- some who are German, Irish, Swedish, Welsh, and English. The range of these photographs shows families at work and play. The diversity of the early immigrants to the present day immigrant families show the complexity of this small Midwestern community.

Picture
Loss
Every community goes through changes. Perry was founded when the railroad came through in 1869, and in 1980, the last train went through the town. More than 100 men and their families found themselves out of work, but the whole community felt the loss. Other changes include farming, education, the meat packing plant, and stores that closed their doors. At the same time, new immigrants came from Central and South America. Other stores and businesses opened. These photographs represent what was lost and, in some ways, what the community has learned.

All Rights Reserved, Fullhart Carnegie Charitable Trust, 2014-2023
This website is possible with the support of the
Dallas County Foundation
  • About
    • Contact
  • Collections
    • Photo Collection
    • Newspaper Archives
    • PHS Yearbooks
    • Books at CLM
  • Installations
    • Soumas Court
  • Programs & Exhibits
    • Current Exhibits
    • Upcoming Programs
    • Past Programs & Exhibits
  • Support
    • Volunteer