On February 25, 1847, the State University of Iowa (SUI) began – but only on paper. It actually wasn’t until 1855, when SUI first began offering a small number of classes in Mechanics Academy – a privately-owned school building located across from City Park, three blocks from the Capitol building. In all honesty, between 1855 and 1860, the university was failing miserably at attracting students from across the state, with SUI actually closing down its college-level courses for a short season. During that time, it was only the Normal School – the advanced high school assigned to train up public school teachers – that kept SUI afloat. Behind this success story was one young man – D. Franklin Wells – the dedicated teacher from Muscatine who oversaw SUI’s first graduating class in 1858, and helped start the Iowa State Teacher’s Association while becoming a key mover-n-shaker for the advancement of state-supported public education across Iowa.

CHECK OUT THE COMPLETE BLOG SERIES – Iowa City’s Top 50 Influencers – Part II

Back in 1979 – The Iowa City Press Citizen ran a special seven-page section called Chronology 1841/1979 and it featured Iowa City’s famed historian – Irving Weber – and his look at 25 People Who Left Their Stamp On Iowa City. So, here we are – forty-four years later – and now, I’m offering these two posts – dedicated to those who have greatly influenced our city over the first 100 years or so. This page features the First 25, and as you can see, each of the 25 names has a brief overview with a link(s) to read more, if you like. Enjoy!

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