Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

What Was a Ton of Manure Worth in 1920?

That was a question asked by farmers in 1920. And scientists at the Iowa State University (ISU) agriculture experiment station at Ames had an answer. Scientists at the facility tested several soil types throughout the state to find an answer to the critical question that was on farmers’ minds at the

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 3 Oct 2015

100 Years Ago, Iowa Hog Farmer Becomes University President

In 1911 a group of State University of Iowa (University of Iowa) alumni started a petition to oppose the appointment of the new president of the university. John Gabbert Bowman was only 33 years old and was about to become the youngest college president in the country. The alumni petition failed, an

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 26 Sep 2015

100 Years Ago, Iowa Hog Farmer Becomes University President

Party Line Listener Helps Capture Thief

In the morning of September 25, 1913, Leon, Iowa Sheriff F. L. Lorey received a phone call from Deputy Sheriff Bob Craig in Shenandoah. Craig had gotten word from authorities in Fremont County, Nebraska, that a horse thief was hiding out near his town. Help came in the form of a neighbor listening i

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 19 Sep 2015

Gallant Girl Rescues Friend

It was a lovely summer day in June 1901 when Caroline Jarvis’s heroic actions near the Coralville Dam caused her to make history at the University of Iowa in Iowa City where she was a student — a member of the class of ’02.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 12 Sep 2015

Prison Poet Predicts His End

"The sun-kissed walls/ Are things of awful might;/ I may but look beyond, above/ With eyes that fill with tears." The poet who wrote those words, James Gordon Stell, knew quite a bit about walls and could only dream about the world beyond them. He was known as the “Prison Poet.”

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 5 Sep 2015

Iowa At The St. Louis World's Fair 1904

A “place of enchantment” that promised to “bewilder attendees with its surpassing beauty” and “compel the admiration of all who see it.” Those flattering words described the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904 or as most people called it — the St. Louis World’s Fair.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 29 Aug 2015

Goats Add Value to Iowa Farms

In April 1910 the US Census Bureau reported 2,400 Iowa farmers raised over 20,664 goats and kids on their farms. But only 266 of those reported producing goat hair or mohair. If they weren’t raising the goats for the fleece, why did so many Iowa farmers have the animals?

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 22 Aug 2015

Strangers In Buggy Rob Bank

It was an early spring morning in 1895 when two strangers in a buggy made their way into town at Adel just west of Des Moines. By the time they left, two town folk lay close to death and the bank was short an undetermined amount of cash.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 15 Aug 2015

Carrie Nation In Iowa

Newspapers called her “a dauntless woman in a ferment” and a “militant temperance advocate.” Carrie Nation described herself as “a bulldog running along at the feet of Jesus, barking at what he doesn’t like.”

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 8 Aug 2015

Grant Wood Illustrates Children’s Book

In 1936 when the children's storybook Farm on the Hill was published, most Iowans knew Grant Wood as a famous Midwestern artist who was born on a farm near Anamosa in 1891, grew up in Cedar Rapids, and gained instant fame after painting “American Gothic” in 1930, a portrait of a stern looking couple

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 1 Aug 2015

Children’s Parade of 1934

Summertime in Iowa means countless community celebrations and parades throughout the state. Many of today’s Brat Days, Corn Days, and 4th of July festivities had their roots in 19th and 20th century events and continue in the 21st century. That’s a long tradition of summer fun across the Hawkeye sta

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 25 Jul 2015

Spritely Woman of 60 is Farmer

Farm women in 1876 were usually called “farm wives” while their husbands were called “farmers,” implying they were not an equal partner in the business of farming. But Susan H. Jennings of Henry County was a true farmer in her own right.

By Cheryl Mullenbach/Iowa Stories

/ 18 Jul 2015

What Was a Ton of Manure Worth in 1920?

100 Years Ago, Iowa Hog Farmer Becomes University President

Party Line Listener Helps Capture Thief

Gallant Girl Rescues Friend

Prison Poet Predicts His End

Iowa At The St. Louis World's Fair 1904

Goats Add Value to Iowa Farms

Strangers In Buggy Rob Bank

Carrie Nation In Iowa

Grant Wood Illustrates Children’s Book

Children’s Parade of 1934

Spritely Woman of 60 is Farmer

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