MUSCATINE, Iowa–With spring just creeping in to Muscatine, people have started looking for more reasons to get out and about. As people venture forth, the National Pearl Button Museum @ History and Industry Center invite them to explore two events, the first ever Pearl City Seed Swap, perfect for gardeners, and a talk by author Linda McCann about her book “Prisoners of War in Iowa” which explores prisoner of war camps across the state, including in Muscatine.
March 4 from 1 to 3 p.m., National Pearl Button Museum Assistant Director Thalia Sutton invites gardeners of all types to come to the Pearl City Seed Swap hosted at the museum at 117 West Second Street in Muscatine. Inspired by her past experiences at the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, the event will give people a chance to share their favorite seeds with others and discover some new cultivars for themselves: “Muscatine has a long and impressive agricultural heritage, especially around melons and tomatoes. There are also many groups in town that are enthusiastic about gardening or conservation,” Sutton observed. “Since our mission involves telling Muscatine’s economic history as well as addressing conservation related to those industries, we felt that a seed swap was a great way to bring people together to celebrate these overlapping areas of interest.”
To participate in the seed swap, people may bring any packages of at least 20 seeds that they like, either store bought seed packets (open or not) or ones harvested from their own gardens. The $5 cost of admission will get gardeners five swap tickets each. Seed packets cost one ticket each, and people may purchase extra tickets for a dollar apiece. People may also save up tickets to get special prizes such as unique seed packets from the Seed Savers Exchange, educational materials, and posters.
On March 16, history lovers will get a peek into an often overlooked part of Muscatine’s past, the prisoner of war camp located at the Fairport Fish Hatchery during World War II. National Pearl Button Museum Director Dustin Joy took an interest in Muscatine’s prisoner of war camp when he found artifacts in the museum’s collection from it. This interest intensified when Herbert Masthoff, the son of a German prisoner of war who spent time in Muscatine, visited the city in 2022 to see where his father had stayed.
His research put him in contact with McCann, whose book “Prisoners of War in Iowa” examined camps across Iowa and the stories behind them. From her findings, Joy learned about how German prisoners of war mainly worked for the Heinz factory, growing tomatoes to process into ketchup.
Beginning at 6 p.m. at the National Pearl Button Museum, McCann will speak about her book and the research that went into it. She will also have copies of “Prisoners of War in Iowa” available for sale to further attendees’ reading on the subject.
A chance to delve deeper into a unique aspect of Muscatine’s history Joy thinks McCann’s visit will appeal to many. “I think this is a fascinating bit of our local history that very few people know about,” reflected Joy. “It is important to preserve these stories for future generations.”
