History and Culture by Bicycle: 2014

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Spain

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines is the Adventures Abroad with Al Bell exhibit.

William "Al" Bell and his wife Rhea traveled the world from 1949 to 1979. After each journey they would bring back artifacts, souvenirs and their stories of the adventure from the countries they visited. They would visit Iowa schools to educate and entertain school children with the artifacts and stories of their adventures.

Al Bell used the colorful character, Don Quixote, to describe the history of Spain:

Previous articles:
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Introduction
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Alaska
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Scotland
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Greece
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Egypt
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Romania
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Portugal
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Peru
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Kenya
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: China

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: China

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines is the Adventures Abroad with Al Bell exhibit.

William "Al" Bell and his wife Rhea traveled the world from 1949 to 1979. After each journey they would bring back artifacts, souvenirs and their stories of the adventure from the countries they visited. They would visit Iowa schools to educate and entertain school children with the artifacts and stories of their adventures.

Al Bell used this Chinese hat and dolls along with the program he created, "Sons of Hong Kong", to teach school children about Chinese culture:

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Kenya

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines is the Adventures Abroad with Al Bell exhibit.

William "Al" Bell and his wife Rhea traveled the world from 1949 to 1979. After each journey they would bring back artifacts, souvenirs and their stories of the adventure from the countries they visited. They would visit Iowa schools to educate and entertain school children with the artifacts and stories of their adventures.

The Bells created a film of their adventure in Kenya and brought back artifacts of the Maasai people:

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Peru

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Portugal

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines is the Adventures Abroad with Al Bell exhibit.

William "Al" Bell and his wife Rhea traveled the world from 1949 to 1979. After each journey they would bring back artifacts, souvenirs and their stories of the adventure from the countries they visited. They would visit Iowa schools to educate and entertain school children with the artifacts and stories of their adventures.

Al wore a native Portugal costume while telling of his adventures there:

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Romania

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Egypt

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines is the Adventures Abroad with Al Bell exhibit.

William "Al" Bell and his wife Rhea traveled the world from 1949 to 1979. After each journey they would bring back artifacts, souvenirs and their stories of the adventure from the countries they visited. They would visit Iowa schools to educate and entertain school children with the artifacts and stories of their adventures.

When Al returned from Egypt he had a camel saddle and tales of Egyptian kings and queens:

Previous articles:
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Introduction
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Alaska
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Scotland
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Greece

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Greece

Previous articles:
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Introduction
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Alaska
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Scotland

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Scotland

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines is the Adventures Abroad with Al Bell exhibit.

William "Al" Bell and his wife Rhea traveled the world from 1949 to 1979. After each journey they would bring back artifacts, souvenirs and their stories of the adventure from the countries they visited. They would visit Iowa schools to educate and entertain school children with the artifacts and stories of their adventures.

The program he created for school children after his trip to Scotland included a kilt, bagpipes and a shield:

Previous articles:
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Introduction
Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Alaska

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Alaska

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines is the Adventures Abroad with Al Bell exhibit.

William "Al" Bell and his wife Rhea traveled the world from 1949 to 1979. After each journey they would bring back artifacts, souvenirs and their stories of the adventure from the countries they visited. They would visit Iowa schools to educate and entertain school children with the artifacts and stories of their adventures.

Al even created a film of his adventures in Alaska

Artifacts from Alaska:

Adventures Abroad with Al Bell: Introduction

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines is the Adventures Abroad with Al Bell exhibit.

William "Al" Bell and his wife Rhea traveled the world from 1949 to 1979. After each journey they would bring back artifacts, souvenirs and their stories of the adventure from the countries they visited. They would visit Iowa schools to educate and entertain school children with the artifacts and stories of their adventures.

The following articles are some of the items they brought back from various countries.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Freedom Summer 1964 Exhibit - As told through Photographs

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines, Iowa is the Summer Freedom 1964 exhibit. The exhibit tells the story of two Iowans, Reverend Frazer Thomason and Loris Thomason who traveled to Clarksdale, Mississippi to help with the effort of registering African Americans to vote at the polls.

These photographs help tell the story of Freedom Summer 1964:

Previous articles:
Freedom Summer 1964 Exhibit - Introduction
Freedom Summer 1964 Exhibit - Wakonda Church News
Freedom Summer 1964 Exhibit - During Freedom Summer and the Aftermath
Freedom Summer 1964 Exhibit - "Observer"
Freedom Summer 1964 Exhibit - Reports from Clarksdale

Freedom Summer 1964 Exhibit - Reports from Clarksdale

On temporary display at the Iowa State Historical Building in Des Moines, Iowa is the Summer Freedom 1964 exhibit. The exhibit tells the story of two Iowans, Reverend Frazer Thomason and Loris Thomason who traveled to Clarksdale, Mississippi to help with the effort of registering African Americans to vote at the polls.

These are reports from Reverend Frazer Thomason about the events that took place in Clarksdale, Mississippi during his visit to help with the voter registration efforts: