Iowa History Timeline: Text Version
B.C.E. = Before Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
- 1920:
U.S. Event
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Women Vote
- 1920s:
U.S. Event
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First Radios
- 1920s:
U.S. Event
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Movies Come to Rural America
The first movies came to rural America when movie houses opened in small towns. The first movies were silent films.
Find out about arts and culture in Iowa. - 1920-21:
U.S. Event
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Farm Recession
Farmers experienced a deep recession as overseas markets dried up with the end of World War I. This signaled the beginning of the Great Depression for many farmers.
Find out more about farm economics. - 1920:
Iowa Event
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Iowan Elected President of United Mine Workers of America
Born in Cleveland, Iowa, in 1880, John L. Lewis grew up in a family of Iowa miners. He became one of the most influential individuals in the country's labor movement
Find out more about John L. Lewis. - 1920:
Iowa Event
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Iowa's Population: 2,404,021
- 1920:
Iowa Event
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First Air Mail Flight Lands in Iowa
The first sack of air mail delivered by a military pilot arrived in Des Moines. Air mail was a refinement of the communications system of the day. Iowa was on the first transcontinental air mail route.
Find out more about the beginnings of air mail in Iowa. - 1920:
Iowa Event
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Iowa's First State Park
Backbone State Park was dedicated in 1920. It was Iowa's first state park. Backbone is named for its narrow and steep ridge of bedrock carved by a loop of the Maquoketa River. Folklore named this high ridge of rock the "Devil's Backbone." Many of the buildings on the park were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) from 1933 to 1941 as part of an effort by the Roosevelt administration to provide work for unemployed Americans during the Great Depression.
Find out more about Iowa parks. - 1920:
U.S. Event
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Gandhi Leads Nonviolent Protest in India
- 1920s:
Iowa Event
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Farm Families Get Phones
- 1920s:
U.S. Event
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Golden Age of Sports
The 1920s are often referred to as the Golden Age of Sports.
Find out more about sports and recreation in Iowa. - 1920:
U.S. Event
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Nineteenth Amendment Passed
- 1920:
U.S. Event
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Ku Klux Klan Resurgence
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) gained strength after WWI. In 1920 the KKK hired a paid recruiter and started a serious movement.
Find out more about the Ku Klux Klan in Iowa. - 1920s:
Iowa Event
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Radios are Popular
By the 1920s most families in Iowa owned a radio.
Find out more about the communications industry in Iowa. - 1920s:
Iowa Event
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Health Insurance for Hospital Care
One of the nation's earliest forms of health insurance for hospital care started in Grinnell, Iowa. Grinnell College offered hospital care to students and faculty for a fixed monthly fee.
Find out more about the insurance industry in Iowa. - 1920:
Iowa Event
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Eskimo Pie Invented
Christian Nelson created the Eskimo Pie in Onawa, Iowa.
Find out more about an ice cream treat invented in Iowa. - 1921:
Iowa Event
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First High School State Wrestling Tournament
The first high school state wrestling tournament was held when Cedar Rapids Washington defeated 19 other schools to become state champions.
Find out more about wrestling in Iowa. - 1922:
Iowa Event
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Black Newspaper Expands
Black businessman J.B. Morris bought The Iowa Bystander. With the help of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), his wife and brother, Mr. Morris launched the Bystander statewide.
Find out more about The Iowa Bystander - 1922:
Iowa Event
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State Parks
- 1922:
Iowa Event
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First Woman Elected to Statewide Office
When May Francis was elected Iowa Superintendent of Public Instruction, she became the first woman elected to a statewide office in Iowa.
Find out more about government in Iowa. - 1922:
Iowa Event
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First Commercial Radio Station in Iowa
Iowa's first radio station, WSUI, began operating at the University of Iowa in 1919. Station WOC in Davenport became the earliest commercial station in the state in 1922.
Find out more about the communications industry in Iowa. - 1923:
U.S. Event
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The Cotton Club Opens
Harlem's Cotton Club in New York opened and presented all-black performances to white-only audiences.
- 1923:
Iowa Event
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Wrestling at University of Northern Iowa
- 1924:
U.S. Event
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Ku Klux Klan's Peak
The Klan's peak year was 1924, when it influenced many elections across the country, including an Iowa race for the U.S. Senate.
Find out more about the Ku Klux Klan in Iowa. - 1925:
Iowa Event
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National Bar Association
A group of attorneys, including two Iowans--George H. Woodson and Samuel Joe Brown--founded the National Bar Association. The NBA was the first association of African American legal professionals.
Find out more about Buxton. - 1926:
Iowa Event
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First Girls Basketball High School Tournament
The first girls' high school basketball tournament was held in Hampton, Iowa, with teams from Audubon, Ida Grove, Mystic and Hampton.
Find out more about high school basketball in Iowa. - 1926:
Iowa Event
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Henry A. Wallace Starts Pioneer Hi-Bred International
Pioneer Hi-Bred International was the first major company to commercially market hybrid seed corn. This revolutionized the corn yields per acre in Iowa and led to Iowa's position as provider of food to the world.
Find out more about Henry A. Wallace. - 1926-1927:
Iowa Event
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Deadly Flood
From the fall of 1926 to the spring of 1927 heavy rains fell over the Mississippi River valley. Spring floods caused almost 250 deaths.
Find out more about natural disasters in Iowa. - 1928:
Iowa Event
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Iowan Herbert Hoover Elected President of United States
Herbert Hoover was the first person born in Iowa to be elected president of the United States. His birthplace in West Branch is preserved as a museum by the National Park Service, and his Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch is operated by the National Archives. Hoover and his wife are buried on the site.
Find out more about Iowa's presidential hopefuls. - 1928:
Iowa Event
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First Woman Elected to Iowa Legislature
Carolyn Pendray was the first woman elected to either house of the Iowa legislature. She was elected to the House in 1928 and the Senate in 1932.
Find out more about Iowa's state legislature. - 1929:
U.S. Event
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Stock Market Crashed
The Stock Market crashed in October. The crash didn't cause the Great Depression, but many people lost their entire life savings when banks closed as a result of the crash. The crash is generally considered the beginning of the Great Depression.
Find out about the Great Depression in Iowa.
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