Iowa State Fair Historian Shares Lifelong Fair Story

After falling in love with the Iowa State Fair as a young girl, Ellen Hammond began volunteering in 1987 and hasn’t missed a single fair day since. Now, she works as the Museum Historian and keeps the fair’s magnificent history alive each year. Here, she shares her story for Woman’s World’s“Fair’est of Them All” special series with Sandra Lee.

This is right where I belong, Des Moines, Iowa, native Ellen Hammond thought as she stepped into the Iowa State Fair museum for the very first time.

Ellen grew up visiting the state fair each year with her family, and in 1987, the then 26-year-old had decided to make it her mission to never miss a single day of the fair.

How can I get in free each day? she’d wondered when an idea sparked. Maybe I should just start volunteering.

Excited, Ellen took vacation days from her job at a local hair salon and volunteered during all 10 days of the fair.

She began by simply selling raffle tickets on the street to folks passing the fair’s entrance, but Ellen had such a wonderful time she wanted to do more.

“My dream is to find a place here,” Ellen mentioned to one of the staff members she befriended.

“Have you ever visited the museum?” they asked. “Come with me—I’ll give you a quick tour.”

Ellen was already an avid collector of antique Iowa State Fair memorabilia — from vintage postcards to old photographs she’d uncovered in thrift stores—so when she stepped into the museum and was surrounded by the fair’s rich history, it felt like coming home.

Capturing history

That summer, Ellen also struck up a friendship with Floyd, the fair’s longtime maintenance man. His grandfather first began working at the Iowa State Fair in 1890, followed by his father in 1921. Then, in 1960, Floyd proudly carried on the family tradition.

Ellen loved sitting with him, listening to his stories about what the fair was like so many years ago.

As the years passed, Ellen’s love and passion for the fair’s history only deepened. She donated all the memorabilia she had collected to the museum, and she worked tirelessly to preserve every piece of history she could uncover. She even bought a house that overlooked the fairgrounds.

After more than two decades of volunteering, hearing Floyd’s captivating stories and spending countless hours digging through the museum’s photos and archives, Ellen felt a pull on her heart to protect those memories.

We need to digitize these for future generations, Ellen realized.

In 2024, Ellen shared her idea with Jeremy Parsons, the fair’s CEO. “I don’t want the job, but someone needs to do it,” she told Jeremy. Ellen had retired from her full-time career and wasn’t looking to take on another job—and she knew the project would be a massive undertaking.

A week later, Jeremy returned to Ellen and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to take this on? You’d truly be perfect for it.”

Ellen’s heart stirred. She knew it was a project she would pour herself into wholeheartedly, and she finally agreed.

That day, she was hired as the year-round Iowa State Fair Historian and Museum Superintendent.

For the love of the fair

Today, Ellen, 65, works at the museum year-round, recording the lore and memories of fairgoers who have stories much like Floyd’s. She’s especially drawn to the tales of family legacies and generations-deep fair traditions that first captivated her years ago — like the family behind the beloved corn dog stand and another that has camped on the fairgrounds every summer for decades.

For America’s 250th anniversary, the main booth display at the Iowa State Fair (running August 13 to August 23) will be honoring the fair’s military history. The fair was closed from 1943–1945 during World War II, and the buildings on the grounds were rented out by the military for housing and equipment storage. Ellen has reached her goal of never missing a single day of the fair.

Each new archive she discovers and preserves in the museum makes her proud to be part of the fair family and honored to play a role in safeguarding those rich historical moments.

“We get many visitors from out of state and out of the country,” Ellen says, full of pride. “Our grounds are beautiful rolling hills, and we’ve been here since 1886. Everybody can relate to something when they come into the museum. It is a special place. I love how the fair brings everyone together.”

Keep an eye out for our “Fair’est of Them All” series! In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, Sandra Lee—chef, creator of Semi-Homemade Cooking and host of Blue Ribbon Bakeoff—is hitting the road with Woman’s World for a special cross-country journey honoring the remarkable women who bring America’s beloved state and county fairs to life. From longtime family traditions to unforgettable fairground innovations, these inspiring stories celebrate the heart, resilience and community spirit woven into fairs across the country. Catch the series in issues on sale July 17, August 4 and August 28, with stories appearing online the following week.

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This story was originally published July 2, 2026 at 5:00 PM.