Iowa History Timeline: Text Version
B.C.E. = Before Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
- 1930-35:
U.S. Event
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Hybrid Corn
- 1930s:
U.S. Event
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Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl covers the Midwest as topsoil was whipped across the country.
Find out about the Dust Bowl in Iowa. - 1930:
Iowa Event
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Iowa's population: 2,470,939
- 1930s:
Iowa Event
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Grant Wood's Style
Iowa artist Grant Wood and a group of fellow Midwest artists developed style of art known as "Regionalism."
Find out more about art in Iowa. - 1930:
Iowa Event
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First School for Disabled in Iowa
Dr. D. W. Smouse donated money to start a school for disabled children. The Smouse School was built in Des Moines and was the first school in the nation built specifically for disabled children.
Find out more about Americans with Disabilities Act. - 1930s:
U.S. Event
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Decline of the Ice Industry
Because most homes now had electricity and a refrigerator, the need for the ice industry started to decline rapidly.
Find out more about the ice industry in Iowa. - 1931:
Iowa Event
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Fireworks in Spencer
The Iowa town of Spencer was nearly destroyed by fireworks.
Find out more about the insurance industry in Iowa. - 1931:
Iowa Event
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Death of Jazz Great Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke was considered one of the greatest jazz musicians of the 1920s. His hometown of Davenport still honors him, erecting memorials, preserving his boyhood home, establishing a museum showcasing his life and work and has held the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival for many years.
Find out more about Bix Beiderbecke. - 1932:
Iowa Event
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Farmers' Holiday Association Organized
The Farmers' Holiday Association was in response to the suffering of farmers during the depression of the 1920s and 1930s. Its goal was to reduce production and marketing, and thereby increase prices. Efforts were made to convince farmers to withhold products, sometimes by persuasion and sometimes by force. The New Deal under Franklin Roosevelt and his secretary of agriculture, Henry A. Wallace of Iowa, used some of the same goals to end the agricultural depression after 1933.
Find out more about the economics of agriculture. - 1932-36:
U.S. Event
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Dust Bowl
Terrible dust storms resulted from drought and unusually high winds.
Find out more about the Dust Bowl in Iowa. - 1932:
Iowa Event
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First Woman Elected Iowa Secretary of State
Viola (Ola) Babcock Miller was an early leader in the state for women's suffrage. In 1932 she was elected as Iowa's first female secretary of state. In 1935 she convinced the legislature that a statewide law enforcement agency was needed, particularly to enforce highway safety laws. The Iowa State Patrol was created in 1935 and placed under Viola Babcock Miller's control. One of the first such agencies in the nation, the Iowa State Patrol grew from a force of 50 patrol officers to 150 officers by 1938 under her leadership.
Find out more about the Iowa State Patrol and highway safety in Iowa. - 1933:
Iowa Event
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Iowan Elected President of Temperance Union
Iowan Ida B. Wise Smith was elected president of the national Women's Christian Temperance Union, a post she held for 13 years.
Find out more about the early temperance movement in Iowa. - 1933:
Iowa Event
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Iowans Vote to Repeal Prohibition
The Iowa Legislature ratified the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment which had mandated nationwide Prohibition. The new amendment essentially gave the states control over the sale of alcohol.
Find out more about prohibition in Iowa. - 1933:
Iowa Event
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Eastern Goldfinch Becomes Official State Bird
The Iowa Legislature designated the Eastern Goldfinch, also known as the Wild Canary, as the official state bird. It was chosen as the state bird because it is commonly found in Iowa and often stays through the winter.
Find out more about plants and animals in Iowa. - 1933:
Iowa Event
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Bank Holiday Begins
The day after President Franklin Roosevelt took office he declared a bank holiday. This closed all banks for four days. People all over the country had been taking their money out of their banks. Many banks failed because of this. The bank holiday prevented people from taking their money out of the banks. A new law was passed that allowed the federal government to review the accounts in all banks.It was learned that most of the banks had plenty of money to operate and that people didn't have to worry about losing their money. At the end of the bank holiday, many banks reopened and people were reassured about their deposits.
Find out about the Great Depression in Iowa. - 1933:
U.S. Event
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New Deal Legislation Passed
A series of bills were sent to Congress by President Franklin Roosevelt in an attempt to provide immediate relief to struggling Americans. One program that affected many farm families was the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA). It paid farmers to destroy crops in order to reduce crop surpluses. It was later declared unconstitutional.
- 1933:
Iowa Event
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Segregated Football Teams
Black players were no longer hired for professional football--a practice that lasted for 13 years.
Find out more about football in Iowa. - 1933:
U.S. Event
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Wallace Becomes Secretary of Agriculture
Henry A. Wallace, an Orient, Iowa native, became the secretary of agriculture under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Find out more about Henry A. Wallace. - 1933:
U.S. Event
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Farmers Get Help
Congress passed the Agricultural Adjustment Act giving the secretary of agriculture the power to pay farmers to lower their crop production. It was hoped this step would help farmers get better prices for the crops they grew.
Find out more about farmers and farm life. - 1934:
U.S. Event
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First Mosque in North America Built in Iowa
The first permanent mosque in North America as built in Cedar Rapids. It became known as "The Mother Mosque."
Find out more about Islam in Iowa. - 1934:
Iowa Event
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Christian Petersen is Named Artist-in-Residence
Christian Petersen, an Iowan native, participated in Iowa's Works Projects Administration (WPA) and was named artist-in-residence at Iowa State College.
Find out more about art in Iowa. - 1935:
U.S. Event
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Social Security Act Passed
This act provided monthly benefits to retirees and the unemployed and a lump sum benefit at death.
Find out more about programs to help disabled and elderly. - 1935:
Iowa Event
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Iowan Wins first Heisman Trophy
Jay Berwanger was born in 1914 in Dubuque, Iowa. He played many sports in high school, including wrestling and track, and was an all-state halfback in football. Although he was recruited by Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Purdue, he chose to accept a college scholarship from the University of Chicago. Berwanger won the Heisman trophy in 1935. At that time, football players were expected to play both offense and defense. Berwanger called plays, ran, passed, punted, blocked, tackled, kicked off, kicked extra points and returned punts and kickoffs. Berwanger is also known as the first player chosen during the National Football League's first draft, although due to a contract dispute he never played a game professionally.
Find out more about the early days of football in Iowa. - 1936:
U.S. Event
-
Electricity Comes to the Farm
Congress passed the Rural Electrification Act which provided funding for the development of a system to get electricity to rural areas.
Find out more about the first electricity in Iowa. - 1936:
U.S. Event
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University of Iowa Writers' Workshop Established
This workshop at the University of Iowa was the first creative writing degree program in the United States.
Find out more about Iowa literature. - 1936:
World Event
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Basketball at the Olympics
For the first time basketball was played at the Olympic Games.
Find out more about basketball in Iowa. - 1936:
Iowa Event
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Refrigerators Made in Iowa
George Foerstner of Amana, Iowa, founded a company that made refrigerators.
Find out more about the industries in Iowa. - 1938:
Iowa Event
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Iowan Heads Up National Labor Group
John Llewellyn Lewis was elected first president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations.
Find out more about John L. Lewis. - 1939:
Iowa Event
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Iowan Develops First Computer
The Atanasoff-Berry Computer was the world's first electronic digital computer. It was built by John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University during 1937-42. It incorporated several major innovations in computing including the use of binary arithmetic, regenerative memory, parallel processing, and separation of memory and computing functions. Their experimental work laid the foundation for the modern computer industry.
Find out more about Iowa innovators. - 1939-45:
U.S. Event
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World War II
- 1939:
World Event
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War in Europe
The start of World War II in Europe helped pull the United States out of the Great Depression.
Find out more about World War II.
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