Our Iowa Heritage: An Introduction. We might suggest you start here! Here’s how & why I got started collecting stamps, coins, and other Iowa memorabilia.
Iowa City Neighborhood Grocery Stores -1933. In one of his newspaper columns, published by The Iowa City Press-Citizen in 1986, Iowa City historian Irving Weber took his readers back to 1933 in order to re-visit Iowa City’s neighborhood grocery stores. According to Weber’s report, our community of 15,000 residents had 41 different grocers to choose from! Come check out these Ma and Pa shops with us, and be sure to bring your shopping bag!
Revisiting 1933 Iowa City Neighborhood Grocery Stores. Return with us to Iowa City of 1933. Back in the 1980’s, when Irving Weber wrote his story on this subject, he believed there were 41 different grocers bidding for your business. Our deeper dive finds that there were actually 50 neighborhood stores, and that today, while half (25) of the buildings still stand, there’s only one that’s still functioning as a traditional grocery store. Wanna guess what store still survives all these years later?
The Oldest Taverns In Iowa City – 1933 To Today. When Prohibition officially ended in 1933, Iowa City, after seventeen ‘dry’ years, began issuing liquor licenses once more. While dozens of new taverns opened for business over the next six years (1933-1939), today, only four of those taverns still remain. Can you guess which Iowa City watering holes have survived all these 85+ years?
Join guest columnist Derek (D.K.) Engelen for The Origins Of Iowa City’s Hilltop Tavern. When Joseph A. Helmer opened Helmer’s Grocery at the turn-of-the-century, there were plenty of taverns around Iowa City. But by 1933, after 17 years of Prohibition across Iowa, Helmer realized that obtaining a Class B liquor license could push his sales through the roof. By 1936, he opened Helmer’s Tavern, renaming it, in 1937, The Hilltop Tavern, and now, here we are, nearly 90 years later, and The Hilltop is still going strong.
U.S. Post Office Brings Their ‘Stamp Show’ To Iowa. In the 1930’s, the Great Depression was in full gear, but that didn’t stop Iowans from celebrating with special U.S. Post Office Stamp-Day celebrations. On August 17, 1933, one such party came to Nira, Iowa – a tiny Washington County village of twenty people – making for one big stamp celebration like none other.
Ozzie Simmons + Racial Targeting = Floyd of Rosedale. In 1933, a young black man from Texas showed up in Iowa City, looking to follow in the footsteps of Duke Slater. Before he graduated in 1936, he had become an All-American football player, but more importantly, he blazed a trail for other people of color and is remembered each year with Floyd of Rosedale – going to the winner of the Iowa/Minnesota game.
Remembering Helen Lemme – Grinnell’s Golden Girl. In the 1930’s, a proud black woman from Grinnell, Iowa, who was denied an 8th grade gold-medal in scholarship because of skin color, came to Iowa City and helped transform it by opening doors for people of color. When prejudice closed SUI dorms to African Americans, Helen and Allyn Lemme freely opened their home, setting in place an example of servanthood that touches people’s hearts even to today.
Harriet P. Macy – Iowa’s Own Teaching Artist. An art graduate from Drake University, the widely-celebrated artist – Harriet P. Macy – taught art for 38 years at East High School in Des Moines. Along the way, she and her students won numerous art awards, but more importantly, Macy instilled, through her life’s work, the beauty of diversity in God’s creation. One year after her death, the Iowa Art Guild celebrated her life by publishing a book of her sketches of historic sites around Iowa.
Grant Wood – Iowa’s Iconic Artist. Born in 1891 on a farm near Anamosa, Grant Wood went on to become one of the world’s best-known artists. Working out of a small studio located above a Cedar Rapids mortuary garage, Wood created one of the most familiar images in 20th-century American art: the iconic American Gothic.
Mildred W. Pelzer – An Iowa City Artist. Meet Mildred Pelzer and her amazing collection of Iowa-related artwork. A student of Grant Wood, Mildred gained fame with her oil paintings of flowers – with one of her pieces appearing on the cover of Better Homes & Gardens in July 1934. Later that year, her eight 4′ x 12′ murals depicting important events in Iowa City history debuted in the lobby of the Jefferson Hotel – becoming a city-wide favorite for many years.
The Mildred Pelzer Iowa City Murals. In 1934, the Jefferson Hotel commissioned this Iowa City artist to create eight murals that represented our rich Iowa City heritage, focusing on the theme of transportation. For fifteen years, these murals were proudly displayed in the hotel lobby until a ill-fated remodeling effort nearly sent these beauties to an early demise. Today, five have been rescued and remain as a beautiful tribute to both Mildred Pelzer and Our Iowa Heritage.
1936 – Aviatrix Amelia Earhart Comes To Iowa City. Not many know that America’s famous female aviator had a strong Iowa connection. Moving with her family to Des Moines in 1907, it was at the Iowa State Fair where Amelia had her first encounter with an aeroplane. Records indicate that in 1911, the Wright Brothers brought a biplane to the fair, and according to Amelia, her first response was less than enthusiastic. That all changed, of course, and on March 31, 1936 – fifteen months prior to her untimely death – the world-renowned aviatrix came to Iowa City – speaking to a sellout crowd at the SUI Memorial Union.
May 22, 1937 – The Iowa City Press-Citizen Celebrates. Seventeen years after Iowa City’s two major newspapers merged to form The Press-Citizen, owner Merritt Spiedel hired one of Iowa City’s first registered architects – Henry L. Fisk – to be the local agent in designing and the construction of one of the finest state-of-the-art newspaper production facilities in the Midwest. Opening in May 1937, The Press-Citizen celebrated by publishing a 92-page special edition packed with everything you’d want to know about this new building on East Washington Street in Iowa City.
Roosevelt’s New Deal – The WPA & Iowa City. In a concentrated effort to stir the U.S. economy during the Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt initiated numerous federally-funded projects throughout the 1930’s – all under the larger theme of offering struggling Americans a New Deal. Come check out some of the WPA – Works Progress (Projects) Administration – programs that literally transformed Iowa City in the mid-to late 1930’s.
1938 – Iowa Celebrates Our Territorial Centennial. One hundred years ago – in 1838 – Iowa became a U.S. Territory. On August 24, 1938, at the State Fair in Des Moines, the U.S. Post Office issued a beautiful 3-cent commemorative stamp honoring this special one-hundredth anniversary.
Iowa City 1839-1939 Centennial. In July of 1939, the good citizens of Iowa City took time out of their summer schedules to celebrate 100 years of existence. And quite the party it was – with three days of celebration – July 2-3-4. A party well worth remembering.
The Press-Citizen Celebrates Iowa City’s Centennial. As Iowa City prepared to celebrate its 100th birthday, the Press Citizen got in on the act by publishing a huge 76-page Centennial Edition on Saturday, July 1, 1939. Come take a look at a few of the pages from this special edition.
The Old Stone Capitol Remembers – Benjamin F. Shambaugh. Professor Shambaugh was born in 1871 near Clinton, growing up as an Iowa farm boy yet always with a deep hunger for education. Over time, he became a dynamic administrator and teacher, authoring three books – the best known of which is The Old Stone Capitol Remembers (1939), editing nine more, and writing scores of articles as the first Supervisor/Editor of the State Historical Society of Iowa. Here at Our Iowa Heritage, his writings have served as a cornerstone to all we have published.
Benjamin Shambaugh – Some Interesting Facts – Volume I. Here, we share some of Shambaugh’s writings that focused on Iowa City’s first year of existence – 1839. From its inception by declaration of law in January 1839 to the sale of the first plots of land in August & October 1839, here’s a brief overview of Iowa’s new capital city.
Benjamin Shambaugh – Some Interesting Facts – Volume II. Here, we share some of Shambaugh’s writings that focused on Iowa City’s first years of existence – 1839-1841. From the very limited transportation options getting into the city to the very first businesses that opened their doors, here’s a brief overview of Iowa’s new capital city.
Benjamin Shambaugh – Some Interesting Facts – Volume III. Here, we share some of Shambaugh’s writings that focused on Iowa City’s first years of existence – 1839-1842. From the very first spade of dirt dug out of the ground in July 1839 to the opening of the first Territorial Legislative session in December 1842, here’s a brief overview of Iowa’s new capitol building (today’s Old Capitol).
Nile Kinnick – Iowa’s Heisman Winner. 1939 was a banner year for Iowa City. Under the leadership of Coach Eddie Anderson and the athleticism of one young man from Adel, Iowa, the Iron Men of Iowa shocked the college football world. As a result, that one young man won the Heisman trophy and went on to become a legendary figure in Iowa football – Nile Kinnick.
1939 – Nile Kinnick’s Big Ten. As intercollegiate football rapidly increased during the 1890s, so did the ruthless nature of the game. Tempers flared, fights erupted, and injuries soared, and between 1880 and 1905, college football players suffered more than 325 deaths and 1,149 injuries! To deal with these issues, seven college presidents from around the Midwest met in Chicago to deal with the problem. The result, in 1896, was the birth of the Western Conference, with Iowa coming on board in 1899. By 1939, when Nile Kinnick won the Heisman Trophy, this elite conference had become the nation’s leader in collegiate academics and sports. Come meet The Big Ten of 1939.
Iowa PBS – Kinnick: The Documentary. In 2023, Iowa-PBS aired the beautifully-done documentary on Nile Kinnick. This one-hour overview takes us back to Adel, Iowa – the hometown of Iowa’s only Heisman Trophy winner – and offers insight into the life of one very humble Iowan who is, today, our best known football star.