Rural Schools Mission & Policies
The Center for the History of Rural Iowa Education and Culture (CHRIEC), of the University of Northern Iowa Museum, is dedicated to the preservation, protection, and dissemination of unique and rare materials documenting America's rural school system and culture with particular emphasis on Iowa and the Midwest.
- To facilitate access to collections and materials for students, faculty, independent scholars, and organizations, in as much as facilities, budget, staffing, time, and other constraints permit.
- To collect, preserve, organize, and make available to researchers, materials relating to the cultural and institutional history of Iowa's rural schools.
- To continue to promote and connect with other rural education focused organizations to further develop the current network of rural cultural resources available.
The Center for the History of Rural Iowa Education and Culture (CHRIEC), established in 2008 as a joint initiative of the UNI Museum, College of Education, and College of Social & Behavioral Sciences, is dedicated to the preservation, protection, and dissemination of materials and information relating to the rural school system and culture in Iowa. It maintains archival, historical, and research collections containing primary resources—such as the rural school records, photographs, maps, and artifacts—as well as secondary materials including oral histories, reference works, and textiles.
The Center for the History of Rural Iowa Education and Culture is located within the UNI Museum on the first floor of the Rod Library. It houses Iowa’s largest collection of rural school records, including primary source materials, rural school ephemera, and related supporting documents. The Center is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and welcomes all researchers by appointment or with advance arrangements.