Running head: The History of Iowa

The History of Iowa: A Narrative

Jacinta J. Luster
Georgia Southern University

The History of Iowa

The History of Iowa: A narrative

Higher Education in America has a rich and long history; starting in the early 1600s with
Harvard Claiming to be the oldest University established in the United States. Colleges during
the colonial times were usually reserved for elite Caucasian men who were preparing for
ministry, medicine or law. Women had the opportunity to go to school later on, but they were
usually teachers and separated from the male students. Not only was there a divide racially in the
United States but also woman did not have equal opportunities.
The state of Iowa acquired the nick name of the Hawkeye state and is located in The Heartland
of the Midwest. It is surrounded by Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.
The first known settlers were Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet, who traveled the Mississippi
River in 1613 documenting several Indian villages on the Iowa side ( Peterson, 2009).The State
that we know now was purchased for $15 million dollars in the Louisiana Purchase from France
in 1803 (Badertscher, 2010). In June of 1883 the first European settlers came to the state, and in
December of 1846 during the Civil War, Iowa joined the Union and become the 29th state in the
United States of America.
Iowa has over 60 Colleges and University ranging from public to for-profit colleges. As with
most colleges established in the United States, the first colleges were founded by the church to
prepare young men for ministry. In Iowas case, the first school was started in 1839 by the
Catholic Church St. Raphaels seminary in Dubuque. The school was later renamed Loras
College in honor of the first Catholic Bishop in Iowa (Iowa Pathways, 2005-2014). While there
are over 60 colleges in the state, the public institutions are University of Iowa, Iowa State

The History of Iowa

University, and University of Northern Iowa. University of Iowa and Iowa State University are
known as the state research institutions.
The University of Iowa was established in 1847, but the first class was not taught until 1855.
University of Iowa or UI is also known as a public Ivy League College. One of their large
accomplishments is the establishment of a Law School in 1865 that was founded by Justice
George Wright. The Law School did not have entrance requirements that are required now and in
1866 in a one-year study course (The University of Iowa, 2012).Three years after the first class is
held at University of Iowa, Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, now Iowa State
University, is founded and established. Iowa State is not considered Ivy League, but has an
impactful history none the less. In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill act.
According to the Greenwood dictionary of Education, The Morrill Act or the Land grant act gave
institution the opportunity to educate people in agriculture, economics, and mechanical Arts. The
State of Iowa was one of the first to sign and accept. The Morrill act gave Iowa State University
the opportunities to teach liberal and practical subjects (Zanish-Belcher, 2006).
One of the most remarkable features about Iowa is the accomplishments of diversity in such a
time where there was racial and economic divide. Woman and African Americans alike had
opportunities to advance. The University of Iowa was the first school to offer degrees to men and
women, and admitted them on unbiased and equal bases. African Americans began to migrate in
the 1860s after obtaining freedom (Bergmann, 1948). What is more impressive, between 1878
and 1928, two generations of black women collegians in Iowa tested the states racial and gender
progressiveness in higher education. In 1894, Ida Mae Godfrey entered Iowa Wesleyan College,
a predominately white institution. Iowa Wesleyan College, IWC for short graduated more

The History of Iowa

African American woman than any other college in the 19th and 20th century. Most women during
this time, white or black, went to school to earn their degree in teaching (Breaux, 2010).
Ida was the example of being a minority within the minority (Breaux, 2010). Woman in the
Hawkeye state were not only being awarded degrees for education to become teachers. Mary
Beth Hickey was a female student that attended the University of Iowa. In 1873, Hickey was
thought to be the first woman to graduate from a Public institution with a law degree. Following
in the footsteps of Mary Beth Hickey, Mary Humphreys was the second woman at the
University of Iowa to obtain a degree in Law. She went on to be the first woman to first woman
admitted to practice before the US district and circuit courts.
African American woman were not the only ones making history in Iowa. A young man by the
name of Alexander Clark was an activist on behave on African Americans decades before the
Civil Rights movements. Although some Iowans opposed slavery on a moral and religion bases,
they still felt that blacks were inferior (Frese 2006). Clark was a son of an emancipated slave, he
came to the state of Iowa at a time where African Americans were not allowed to vote, hold
office, or attend public office. Alexander Clark, Also known as a colored actor of the West, was
awarded the first Law degree at University State of Iowa in 1879 (Frese, 2006). This degree
came after the court case of Clark vs. Board of Directors of 1868, guaranteeing the rights for
public education to all citizens. Many years after Alexander Clark fought for African American
rights in the state of Iowa, another man name Phillip Hubbard was the first African American
appointed as the administrative Vice President at the University of Iowa. In 2012, the University
of Iowa had the pleasure for the second time, having the First African American President of the
United States, President Barak Obama, speaks about higher education in a weak economy.

The History of Iowa

There are is more that could be said about the importance of this state and much of Iowas
history should give the state a sense of pride. We cannot forget that as Iowa progresses and
advances, students are benefiting from that History. In a 2006 Measuring Up report, the State of
Iowa compared well with preparing students enrolling in higher education. The state has also
been one of the leading states to have a 9th grader from higher school enroll in a 4 year
institution. The major accomplishment of the men and woman during the early years shaped this
state, country, and more importantly our world today.

The History of Iowa

References
Iowa Pathways. (2005-2014). Retrieved July 2014, from Iowa Public Television:
http://www.iptv.org/iowapathways/
Measuring Up 2006: The State Report Card for Higher Education of Iowa. (2011). Retrieved
July 2014, from National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education:
http://www.highereducation.org
The University of Iowa. (2012). Retrieved July 2014, from http://www.law.uiowa.edu/
Breaux, R. M. (May 2010). To the Uplift and Protection of Young Woman Hood: AfricanAmerican Women at Iowa's Private Colleges and the University of Iowa, 1878-1928. 159.
Frese, S. J. (2006). From Emancipation to Equality: Alexander Clark's stand for Civil Rights in
Iowa.
Greenwood Dictionary of Education. (n.d.). 2011. Greenwood.
Peterson, C. L. (2009). Frontier Forts of Iowa: Indians, Traders, and Soldiers, 1682-1862. Iowa
city: University Of Iowa Press.
Zanish-Belcher, T. (. (2006). Retrieved July 2014, from Iowa State University:
http://www.add.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/exhibits/150/

The History of Iowa