Permanent Exhibit Now Open

Rising Above: The Story of a People and the Flood

This exhibition tells the story of the flood of 2008, one of the largest natural disasters in the history of the United States. It will be told in conjunction with the history of Czechs in Cedar Rapids and Czech Village and how the flood affected the people and their neighborhoods.

By installing the exhibit in the heart of historic 16th Avenue, the NCSML will incorporate Czech Village and New Bohemia as authentic 20th century ethnic commercial districts common to many Czech and Slovak neighborhoods across the country, but hard to find intact today. Walking tours, interpretive signage along the street, school tours, motor-coach tours, festivals and other interactive experiences are planned over the next few years to help make the visitor experience fully engaging.

Upon entering the exhibition, visitors will be confronted by a huge aerial photo showing a vast swath of the Cedar Rapids cityscape that was completely inundated. In the lower right hand corner of the photo, Czech Village is up to its neck.

As visitors progress through the exhibition, they will view images and listen to personal accounts of the flood damage, clean-up and recovery. An interactive scale model of the cityscape of Cedar Rapids will vividly compare the 2008 flood to the previous floods of 1929 and 1993. News stories, video and eye-witness accounts carry the visitor through the experience of the flood, moment by devastating moment, culminating with a walk-in model of a flooded house. Visitors will complete their journey in a restoration and memory area where they may view recovery progress and share their memories.

Materials for the exhibition were collected through a major project that the NCSML began soon after the flood waters receded -- the Flood Oral History Project. Personal accounts of flood victims were recorded using audio and video recordings, email entries, letters and photographs.

The exhibition is permanently installed at 87 Sixteenth Ave SW.  Hours:  Mon-Sat, 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Closed Sunday, Thanksgiving Day; Christmas Day & New Year's Day.