Plates go from teachers to curators

FORT MADISON - There’s always more to discover. Two retired Fort Madison teachers, Krys and Jim Plate, have carried their passion for learning and storytelling into new chapters of service. Their latest effort is a children’s exhibit at the CB&Q depot, a free space designed for exploration, learning, and play.  
After the Cattermole Memorial Library closed in 2007, the Plates saw a need for a children’s museum in town. As parents and foster caregivers, they recognized the importance of creating more spaces for kids.
“You have a lot of kids, and you say, ‘Let’s go do something.’ There’s not a lot to do,” said Krys Plate.
She discovered the train depot organically, while working on her post-retirement passion for storytelling.
“I love to write,” said Plate. After retiring from more than 35 years of teaching, she began researching ways to pursue writing. That search led to an opportunity to author a history book on Fort Madison, with photographic support from Kathy Burkhardt. While working on the project, Plate joined the North Lee County Historical Society and spent time at the train depot.
“Kathy and I would meet here once or twice a week,” she said. “I realized there was space for a children’s museum section.”
Their book, Images of America: Fort Madison, was published in March of 2025, and the grand opening for the children’s museum was just two months away.
Drawing on her background in public education and grant writing, Plate put her skills to work for the museum idea. In October 2024, the effort paid off when they received a grant from Lee County Youth Services. Her husband Jim, who also serves on the organization’s board, encourages others to apply for support.
“We offer up to five-thousand dollar grants for anyone interested in writing a grant to benefit kids in Lee County,” he said. Krys and Jim were in the middle of deep-cleaning the space when they received the exciting news of their funding.  The couple’s goal was to be very intentional about how they use the funding.
“We knew we wanted to make a big impact. I didn't want to just buy a hundred [small] trains. Yes, it’s a transportation museum, but it’s also a history museum. We wanted to tell a story with our children’s museum. The story of Fort Madison, of people coming west by train or even covered wagon and stopping here,” Krys said.. “We wanted children to immerse themselves in that time period, mid 1800s to mid 1900s, and be able to role play.”
The children’s exhibit is a hands-on adventure, featuring a log cabin, trading post, garden, chicken coop, mini train car, and costumes for dress-up. In the months before its opening, Jim built the structures while Krys organized supplies and coordinated the sets, with generous help and donations from friends.
The space has already welcomed homeschool groups and birthday parties with hopes of hosting more.
“Field trips would be amazing,” Krys said. “We would really love the schools in town to come visit us.” 
Many of the visits to the exhibit have come by word of mouth. They advertise through the North Lee County Historical Society Facebook page, but a lot of visitors come from posts made by their friends’ visits.
“The kids love it; they’re so excited to play in the spaces. They go pick some vegetables out of the garden to make a stew, and they will sing little songs. They have a lot of fun, and the entire complex is free. There are a lot of adult spaces to look at around the museum as well,” Krys said.
The museum offers something historical for all ages, from scavenger hunts for kids to scavenger hunts for adults.
Krys and Jim have both been able to dive into their love for history on a local scale through their involvement with the North Lee County Historical Society (NLCHS). The historical society controls multiple properties throughout Lee County, including its museum located on Fort Madison’s riverfront. Every Tuesday, they hold a 10 a.m. Coffee Talk at the CB&Q building for anyone to pop in.
“It’s really interesting,” Krys said. “We sit around and talk about artifacts. We’ll have some fruit or pastries. Kathy and I put some artifacts out on the table, and sometimes we have train people come in to speak. Anyone is welcome to attend".
Jim and Krys said they have met so many people through volunteering. For both, volunteering has opened the door to meaningful connections. Over the past year, their work on the project has brought them fascinating stories, new friendships, and visitors from across the country, even as far away as England.
“There’s always something to do,” Krys said. “Volunteering isn’t limited to giving tours; people can help with cleaning, computer work, tracking donations, or putting items on display.”

The idea of giving a tour sounded intimidating to Krys at first.
“I didn’t know anything about anything here. I didn’t even know this building was here,” she said.
Krys found out it was really easy once she had the spiel. Volunteers greet visitors and say, “Welcome to our 1898 Passenger Depot.” Krys created a double-sided self-guided walking tour, but she’ll usually ask visitors if they would like a couple of stories or to just poke around.
“They’ll tell me what they want; they can choose their own adventure.”
Throughout their own adventures, Jim and Krys have made countless stops at museums with their family.
“My favorite local museum has been the Anne Frank Connection in Danville,” Krys said. Jim added that they’ve visited museums in nearly every state.
“The largest one we’ve been to, physically, was the Colorado Railroad Museum,” he said. “We’ve gone a couple of times. There are hundreds of train cars, some beautifully refurbished and others left as they are. It’s a really cool place to walk around and look at everything.”
Jim loves traveling to places and learning the history of the scene, more personally. Krys’ love for history was sparked by combing through books on Indigenous Peoples as a young girl.
“I would get those huge World Books out of the library with really cool pictures, about the tribes, teepees, and all the things. When I moved into high school, I loved antiques and hearing stories about pieces of furniture,” she said. Krys later realized, “It wasn't necessarily the Indigenous Peoples and the furniture that I love so much, but it was really more a history of the stories and culture.”
Krys and other volunteers are trying to develop the Mexican heritage exhibits at the museum to highlight the Mexican rail workers, who were called “traqueros.”
Right now, the space to feature this history is rather bare.
“We’re struggling to find pictures or artifacts to use. The Mexican railroad workers were a huge part of the workforce,” Krys said.
Santa Fe put these workers in boxcars [to live], thinking this was generous. “It’s just horrifying,” she said. “This was the first community of Mexican immigrants in the city of Iowa. It was around the turn of the century. There's a lot of history in that.”
History has proven that many stories hold immense pain that people don’t want to relive. There is evidence of the influence immigrants have created all around our community; you just have to pay attention. Krys said she would love to complete the exhibit.
“If you know anybody who has artifacts or stories to tell or pictures, I would love to complete my display that currently has two tiny little artifacts in it.”
From helping with exhibits at the museum, Krys has uncovered details that she wished she had included in her book.
“There is always more to uncover,” she said. “I’ll be poking around, and I’ll find something that would have been great in the book.”
Kathy Burkhardt and Krys are currently working on a book about cemeteries in Lee County, with a hopeful published date two years from now.
Our community should be on the lookout for future children’s books written by Krys. Her eyes lit up as she shared her creative ideas for these books. Now, thanks to the Plates, there will be new stories for kids to tell down at the depot. There are always more stories to tell. Will you tell yours?
Come visit the CB&Q children’s exhibit and stay up to date with information on the North Lee County Historical Society Facebook page. Reach out to Krys if you are interested in hosting a birthday party or field trip at the exhibit. You can purchase Krys and Kathy's book on Fort Madison at the Bent Oak Bookstore. Reach out to various organizations in town if you are interested in volunteering, including at the historical society, art center, and more.