April 3, 1951.

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Meet the Iowa City Mayor – William J. “Bill” Holland – Iowa City’s 44th Mayor (1951-1954). Read more at our website.

April 3, 1951 – The Iowa City Press-Citizen reports that William J. “Bill” Holland becomes the first Iowa City mayor to be elected under the new council-manager system, where the mayor is no longer chosen by the citizens, but appointed by the City Council.

In the 1951 City Election, voters chose from a slate of Council members, of which Bill Holland was one, and then, once elected to the council (for two years), Holland was elected mayor – by the council – for the remainder of 1951. Eventually, Holland was appointed for three one-year terms as mayor from April 2, 1951 to January 1, 1954.

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April 2, 1902.

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Hey Iowa City – Let’s Go To The Movies! Read more at our website.

April 2, 1902 – The first theater built specifically to show “movies” opens its doors in Los Angeles.

It all begins in the late 1890’s. Thomas Edison had invented the Vitascope – a creative, new way of projecting pictures onto a large screen – and by the turn-of-the-century, “movie houses” were beginning to pop up around the country. The first theater built specifically to show “movies” opened its door on April 2, 1902, in Los Angeles, and it was an instant success. In 1905, Pittsburgh movie theater owners – Harry Davis and John Harris – introduced 5-cent Nickelodeon movies, and two years later, by 1907, Iowa City had at least three “movie” theaters to call her own.

But that was just the beginning. By 1917 – ten years later – downtown Iowa City had experienced thirteen different movie houses in eleven different locations – all within just a few blocks of each other!

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April 1, 1917.

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SUI & ICWRS – Helping Children Grow.
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April 1, 1917 – With the help of SUI Professor Carl Seashore, child advocate Cora B. Hillis finally convinces the state to set up the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station in Iowa City.

When child advocate Cora B. Hillis campaigned for $25,000 for state-sponsored research on child development, the Iowa State Legislature said no – spending the money instead on a new sheep barn at the State Fairgrounds! But a diligent Hillis kept the faith, and on April 1, 1917, with the help of SUI Professor Carl Seashore, the state finally set up the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station in Iowa City. Over the next fifty-seven years, ICWRS became known as the nation’s finest research center on childhood development.

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This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

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