Location: Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory, second floor
Contact: Jackie Hartling Stolze

Floyd Nagler (center) was an active proponent of Iowa’s water power. When out in the field, he sought discarded turbines, which he brought to the Hydraulics Lab to display for students.

In 2000, IIHR established an archival repository specifically for materials relating to its rich history and research efforts. The archives include administrative, personnel, and research records and photographs tracing the evolution of IIHR from the early 1900s to the present.

IIHR also claims a History of Hydraulics Rare Book Collection that includes treatises dating from the Middle Ages to the 1900s. This valuable collection is housed in the UI Special Collections in the Main Library.

The heart of IIHR’s archive comprises approximately 50 linear feet of paper documents in the following 14 record groups. To locate specific holdings in any of these record groups, click on the record group in question and do a simple word search for the topic, person, or category of concern.

• Early IIHR Administration, Articles, Information on Floyd Nagler (Pre-WW II)
• Early IIHR Research (Pre-World War II)
• World War II Research
• IIHR Administration & Miscellaneous (World War II to present)
• IIHR Grants and Contracts (Post-World War II)
• IIHR Publications and Reports (Post-World War II)
• Ralston Creek Data and Reports
• IIHR Book Publications
• Hydraulics Conferences
• Hydraulics Laboratory and Annexes
• Hunter Rouse Materials, 1906–96
• John F. Kennedy Archives, 1958–91
• Louis Landweber Archives, 1943–94
• Oversized Archives

IIHR’s collection of thousands historic photographs is housed in the Photo Archive, which comprises the following categories:

• Books and Reports, 1946–2000
• Books and Reports—Oversized Items (two boxes), 1946–91
• Buildings and Surroundings (two boxes), 1919–2003
• Conferences, Director Travels, and Miscellaneous Oversized Items
• Directors—Hunter Rouse, 1920s–94
• Directors—John F. Kennedy, 1958–90s
• Equipment and Instrumentation, 1930s–70s
• IIHR Directors, 1920s–Present
• People (two boxes)
• Research Projects (two boxes), 1924–90s
  • Research Projects, Waste Heat Management (two notebooks), 1970–1990
• IIHR Visitors, Conferences, and Events, 1920–2003

The IIHR Archives also includes a dozen scrapbooks of original clippings and articles; and additional reports, books, objects, and miscellaneous items of historic importance.

Supplementary materials relating to IIHR’s history are housed in the UI Library’s Special Collections, in these three record groups:

• General
• H. Rouse papers, No. RG99.0253
• F. Nagler papers, No. RG99.0251
• P. Hubbard papers, No. RG99.0248

Research on the Mississippi

Scholars and students are encouraged to use IIHR’s archives. All materials must be used on-site; copies may be provided on a limited basis. Details of archive use are outlined in IIHR’s Collections Policy. If you have any questions or would like assistance with finding materials, please contact IIHR Archivist Jackie Hartling Stolze.