River Museum Announces GivingTuesday Campaign to Support Historic Collections
Dubuque, IA - The Dubuque County Historical Society (DCHS) is excited to announce its participation in the global GivingTuesday movement on December 2, 2025. This year’s campaign will focus on raising funds to support the preservation of the Herrmann Herbarium, one of the artifacts from Richard Herrmann’s collection that helped establish the Historical Society 75 years ago.
GivingTuesday is a worldwide day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities, and organizations to encourage philanthropy and celebrate generosity. The River Museum is calling on its community of supporters, members, and guests to join this movement by making a donation online or onsite at the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. Donations made between November 24 and December 5 will go towards the GivingTuesday campaign.
Donated in 1964, a founding businessman of Dubuque, Herrmann operated a museum from 1871-1956. Many of the natural history objects once on display, such as fossilized fish and mammoth teeth, are now part of the DCHS collection. Collected between 1830 and 1920, the herbarium includes pressed and carefully identified plants from Dubuque County and the surrounding region. These specimens provide a rare glimpse into the natural landscape before modern development, helping us understand our environment, our history, and our community. The herbarium tells the stories of the land from nearly 200 years ago, and with proper processing, the collection can serve researchers, students, and community groups interested in native flora and prairie restoration. Each pressed plant is also a piece of art, connecting to traditions of plant pressing, citizen science, and environmental observation.
“This collection speaks to the beginnings of the conservation movement in this area which Henry Herrmann, who pressed and documented these specimens, joined in the early 1900s. As artifacts we can use these to connect to an individual, but they represent more than just one man’s passion,” says Emma Sundberg, Director of Curatorial Services. The goal is to raise $3,000 to support the project. Donations made on GivingTuesday will go towards purchasing archival boxes and acid-free materials for safe storage, professional identification, photography, and cataloging, and a travel-friendly display that brings these stories into schools, libraries, and community spaces. With your support, the Herrmann Herbarium will be accessible, protected, and ready to inspire future generations. Contributions of all sizes make an impact and will ensure the continued success of this vital program. To see photos of the Herrmann Herbarium, and participate in GivingTuesday to support the historic preservation of the Dubuque County Historical Society’s founding collection, visit https://give.rivermuseum.org/tuesday on December 2 to make a tax-deductible donation.
About the Dubuque County Historical Society
The Society was formed in 1950 as a private, non-profit organization with a focus on oral and archival history. Since that time, its collections have grown to include more than 41,000 historical items, many of which are on display at DCHS properties—the Mathias Ham Historic Site and the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium. The Society’s mission is to inspire stewardship by creating educational experiences where history and rivers come alive. It fulfills that mission through dynamic interpretation and exhibition of historical artifacts and archives as well as through the conservation and preservation of these historic treasures.