Join us for a Captivating Conversation with a Terry Tharp of Idaho Correctional Industries to discuss prison craftsmanship in Idaho. ICI is an offender training program that teaches marketable work and life skills, and is committed to training offenders to successfully re-enter society. Explore the history of the program with us, and stay for audience Q&A after the presentation.

Admission is $6 per person. Tickets available online or at the door. Free for Idaho State Historical Society Members. Friday, January 24, 6pm-8pm. Last admission 6:25pm. Presentation begins at 6:30pm.

Tickets now available here.

Event includes free drinks and light refreshments, site exploration at 6:00pm, and 10% discount on Gift Shop purchases, including locally made Idaho Correctional Industries items. This event is open to all ages, but is recommended for ages 13+ due to occasional mature content.

“Captivating Conversations” is a new lecture series, hosted by the Old Idaho Penitentiary and featuring a variety of guest speakers and topics ranging from the history of the Idaho State Penitentiary to the issues facing correctional institutions today. Stay tuned for more event announcements on this website and our Facebook page.

Enjoy free admission from 5 PM – 8 PM at the Idaho State Museum for First Thursday in February!

National Flannel Day is February 10th. Join us at the Idaho State Museum and get hands-on with February’s favorite fabric. Add a piece to our flannel storyboard and wear your favorite flannel clothing to the Museum to receive a prize!

Family Second Saturdays will take place on the second Saturday of each month. Families are encouraged to drop in any time to create and learn together through these hands-on activities.

All ages welcome! Free with Museum admission.

Enjoy an evening of film, music, and history with Idaho State Museum and the Boise Philharmonic with an in-depth look at cinematic history. Learn about the history of Idaho film and silent films. Enjoy a concert with live music performed by Ben Model on the historic Cartee Weber Grand Piano played along to a screening of the silent film, Light on Lookout, directed by Idaho Filmmaker and actress, Nell Shipman. Ryan Cannon, Boise State Film Professor, will also be speaking about film in Idaho. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring Ben Model, Ryan Cannon, and Layce Johnson, Collections Archivist from the Idaho State Archives.

This evening is a partnership with Boise Philharmonic and is a kick-off event for their annual event on February 15th, a special concert of silent films accompanied by live music at the Egyptian later that week.

On Wednesday, February 19th, the Idaho State Museum is partnering with the National Park Service to hold a free film screening of the new NPS documentary “Minidoka: : An American Concentration Camp” in observance of the Day of Remembrance, the anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066. Friends of Minidoka, an organization committed to education and preserving WWII incarceration experiences, with the National Park Service, will offer a presentation in conjunction with the screening. This event is in connection to the new exhibition at the museum from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services, “Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II”, which opens to the public on January 25th, and is free during the evening of the screening to guests.

“In February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order that moved nearly 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans into 10 isolated war relocation centers in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. These temporary, tar paper-covered barracks, the guard towers, and most of the barbed-wire fences are gone now, but the people who spent years of their lives in the centers will never forget them. This is the story of one of those centers: Minidoka.” – Minidoka National Historic Site

Included in the screening and presentation, guests can visit the “Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II” exhibition presented in the Syringa gallery at the Idaho State Museum for free.

Doors open at 5pm for visitors to explore the new exhibition. Program begins at 6pm.

Seating for this event is limited and while this is a free event, guests will need to bring a ticket voucher for admission. Please register and bring the voucher in as your ticket for admission.

This event is SOLD OUT!

For more information about the screening, please reach out to the Idaho State Museum at events@ishs.idaho.gov or by calling 208-780-5194

Join the Idaho State Museum on Thursday, March 12th, for a special screening of the film Bamboo and Barbed Wire by Idaho filmmaker Karen Day. Afterward, hear about Karen Day’s experience researching and making this feature-length film. Bamboo and Barbed Wire documents the stories of Japanese-Americans incarcerated at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Jerome County, Idaho.

This event is in connection with the new exhibit at the Museum from the Smithsonian Institute Traveling Exhibit, Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II, which opens to the public on January 25th, 2020.

Included in the screening and presentation, guests can visit the Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II exhibition presented in the Syringa gallery at the Idaho State Museum.

This event is free for members and $5 for non-members. Doors open at 5pm for visitors to explore the new exhibit. Program begins at 6pm.

Seating for this event is limited. Guests must bring a ticket or voucher for admission, even for free member tickets. Please register and bring the ticket or voucher in when you arrive for the screening.

All proceeds from this event will go to the Museum’s Traveling Trunk program. These trunks extend the Museum experience into classrooms all over the state of Idaho. They contain primary sources for students to engage with, along with three full hours of activities for teachers to facilitate with their students. One of the new trunks to be offered focuses on the history of the Minidoka Camp that was located near Jerome, Idaho.

For more information about the screening, please reach out to the Idaho State Museum at events@ishs.idaho.gov or by calling 208-780-5194.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day as a family at the Idaho State Museum. Step into the shoes of an Idaho gold miner and try your luck at taking home a pot o’ gold through our hands-on gold panning activity.

Family Second Saturdays will take place on the second Saturday of each month. Families are encouraged to drop in any time to create and learn together through these hands-on activities.

All ages welcome! Free with Museum admission.

Join us this spring to explore dry deserts, soaring mountains, and swift rivers during camps at the Idaho State Museum. Navigate the wild landscapes that make Idaho such a unique state. Campers will travel through the Museum’s exhibits and learn about the plants, animals, and people that call these places home. Create a desert themed board game, float a boat, or play farmer freeze tag as they learn about the ecosystems that have defined Idaho.

1st-5th Grade,

March 23rd -27th

9am-4pm

ISHS Members $160, Non-members $190

Learn more and register at history.idaho.gov/camps/

April is Jazz Appreciation Month. Listen to the smooth sounds of Idaho’s own Gene Harris and design a piece of artwork inspired by the music and instruments of jazz musicians.

Family Second Saturdays will take place on the second Saturday of each month. Families are encouraged to drop in any time to create and learn together through these hands-on activities.

All ages welcome! Free with Museum admission.