City: Des Moines, IA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (515) 282-8060 or (888) 828-36

Address: 75 E. Army Post Rd.

Description: Inside a redbrick building just beyond the gates of this historic military fort, a 20,000-square-foot museum showcases Fort Des Moines’s pioneering role in training America’s first African-American officers during World War I and the formation of the first female military units during World War II, when 72,000 women were trained here for military service, including commissioned female officers. The extensive exhibits, including some interactive displays, do a good job of telling the stories of the men and women who went on to lead troops and perform other critical tasks, and they don’t shy away from the tensions that accompanied the introduction of blacks and women into leadership roles in the military, as well as examining general social conditions of the era. There are also displays covering the service of women and African-Americans in other wars, as well as looking at Fort Des Moines between the world wars as a center for training cavalry officers, including a young Ronald Reagan, who learned horsemanship at the fort while serving in the army reserves during his time working as a radio broadcaster in Des Moines in the 1930s. Outside, a reflecting pool and memorial sculpture stand next to a granite wall that commemorates the fort’s first graduating class of officers of 639 men in 1917. The fort, which was originally built in 1901, has shrunk in size since the end of World War II. Some of the land has been sold off and developed into the city’s Blank Park Zoo, among other developments. Today the remaining fort still serves as a training center for the army reserves. Admission to the museum is $5 for adults, $4 for children. Seniors are admitted free. The museum is open Mon through Sat 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.