African-American Women Students at The University of Iowa

1919

After running a successful statewide fundraising campaign, the Iowa Federation of Colored Women's Clubs (IFCWC) purchases a rooming house for African American University of Iowa women. For the first two years, the house at 942 Iowa Avenue, known as the "Federation Home," also serves as the home of the newly established Delta chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Alumnae Adah Hyde Johnson and Valetta London and students Emily Elizabeth Gross, Mamie Diggs, Ola Calhoun, Helen Dameron-Beshears, Harriette Alexander, and Helen Lucas make up the charter group. The home closes in 1950 after the university opens its dormitories to African American students.

Related Resources

Breaux, Richard M. "Maintaining a Home for Girls: The Iowa Federation of Colored Women's Clubs at The University of Iowa, 1919-1950." The Journal of African American History 87 (2002):236-255.

Breaux, Richard M. "Facing Hostility, Finding Housing: African American Students at The University of Iowa, 1920s-1950s." Iowa Heritage Illustrated Spring (2002):14-15.

Breaux, Richard Melvin. "A comparative study of African American Students' Experiences at White Colleges: Nineteenth Century to the Pioneers Who Desegregated the Southern Flagship Schools." Thesis, University of Iowa, 1998.

Breaux, Richard Melvin. "Women of 942 Iowa Avenue and Other AA Women at The University of Iowa Before 1947." Unpublished list, 1999.

Allen, Anne Beiser. "Sowing Seeds of Kindness--and Change: A History of the Iowa Association of Colored Women's Clubs." Iowa Heritage Illustrated Spring (2002):3-13.

Jenkins, Herbert Crawford. "The Negro Student at The University of Iowa: A Sociological Study." Thesis, The University of Iowa, 1933.

Silag, Bill, ed. Outside in : African-American history in Iowa, 1838-2000. Des Moines : State Historical Society of Iowa, 2001.

Giddings, Paula. In Search of Sisterhood: Delta Sigma Theta and the Challenge of the Black Sorority Movement. New York: Morrow, 1988.