1914 wedding dress.

A new exhibit called “Somewhere in Time” at the Iowa Genealogical Society highlights some historical wedding wear. You may’ve seen some of the shows on TV that follow harried brides as they agonize over the selection and cost of their wedding dresses.

The Genealogical Society takes a more toned down approach that looks the history of heirloom wedding dresses from across the state. While today’s dresses are predominately white with all the lace and frills, society spokesperson, Alice Veen, says you’ll see dresses in this exhibit that are more practical.

Veen says white was not the popular color for wedding dresses until Queen Victoria wore that color in her wedding in the mid-1800′s.

She says even after that, brides couldn’t afford to buy a white gown and wear it only once. Veen says her grandmother for example, was married in 1919 and wore a blue wedding dress that she could later wear on the job as a teacher.

The exhibit includes vintage photos and wedding stories along with the dresses. The oldest dress dates back to 1863 from a woman who was married in Massachusetts.

1863 wedding dress.

“The family migrated to Iowa after that marriage and she writes about the history of that family and what motivated them to come to Iowa and about their lives here, where they lived,” Veen explains.

“Each exhibit comes from a different county in Iowa, so we have a variety of areas represented. And we look at different phases of history through the eyes of the people whose marriages took place at those times.”

The exhibit moves from that 1860′s era dress up to a dress from 2008. “And you can see the differences in time, of how local society handled weddings, what it was like for them, how they might have met, where the wedding took place and the circumstances,” Veen says.

The exhibit includes dresses that have stayed in families for years.  “We have one exhibit of four generations, and we have another of three generations…and even though the dress may not have reused the dress in a wedding, they’ve kept it as a family heirloom,” Veen says.

“These are items that our members have kept packed away. And this is probably the first and only time the public will be able to see them.”

The exhibit is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the State Genealogical Society in Des Moines. A $5 donation is requested at the door.

Photos courtesy of the Iowa Geneological Society

May is National Foster Care Month, and the celebration in Iowa is featuring something new this year. Amy Juhnke of Iowa KidsNet, says the National Heart Gallery exhibit is on display at the Valley West Mall  in West Des Moines as part of the festivities.

“It’s got what we call larger-than-life portraits of kids in foster care waiting for what we call forever families waiting to be adopted,” Juhnke explains. “There is one child from almost all 50 states, and of course stars one of our own Iowa kids in it.” The gallery will be on display at the West Des Moine mall through May 15th, and then it moves to the Sioux City Public Museum on May 17th.

Juhnke says the gallery does a good job of getting beyond some of the stereotypes of foster kids. “A lot of people have a lot of basically false understanding of the kids in foster care. When you look at this exhibit, you see that they are just kids like other kids. They have been in some unfortunate situations that are not their fault. A lot of media, or after school specials portray kids in a certain way,” Juhnke says.

While Juhnke says foster kids are just like other kids, she says foster parents aren’t put in one mold. “There is no typical foster family. You know, each child has unique needs and so they all have a different fit,” Juhnke says. She says you can be single parent, you don’t have to be a certain age and they give everyone a mandatory 10-week training course on how to be a foster parent. “So there’s no one role model or model or characteristic that makes a good foster parent.”

The first step in becoming a foster parent is to go to the organization’s website or call them. She says they have the whole process at IowaKidsNet.com, and they have people who can talk to you and answer your questions.

You can call 1-800-243-0756 to speak with someone about becoming a foster parent. Once you become a foster parent, Juhnke says Iowa KidsNet has a support network in all 99 counties to help you out.