iv. THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

The University of Iowa was founded on February 15, 1847 - 59 days after Iowa became a state.  When the university opened for classes eight years later, it was the first university to admit women on an equal basis with men.

The university comprises ten colleges - Business Administration, Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Graduate, Law, Liberal Arts, Medicine, Nursing, and Pharmacy. It has seven schools - Art and Art History, Journalism and Mass Communication, Letters, Library Science, Music, religion, and Social Work.

In 1958, the university played a major role in  a national accomplishment - cosmic ray instruments developed here were aboard Explorer I, the first US satellite.  Since then, UI space physicists have built instruments for  more than 45 satellites, rockets and space probes, including Pioneer and Voyager which have explored Jupiter and Saturn.

From those days with only one building on ten acres until 1986 with 1,880 acres and 90 major buildings, the University of Iowa has maintained a single campus committed to undergraduate, professional, graduate, and continuing education.

I had my classes at the Linquist Center on Madison Street.  The Lindquist Center was one of the most interesting buildings on the east campus. Five- and six-sided rooms were brightly decorated with Scandinavian art.  In the courtyard was a graceful sculpture by Louise Nevelson.  The center was named in honor of the late E.F. Lindquist, founder of Iowa's modern educational testing programs.  The Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) is being used in schools throughout the United States. The Lindquist Center was like a maze. A first-timer would surely find difficulty in getting into the right room. I was lost several times before I finally got accustomed to the building entrances and exits.

Being a graduate student, I had a table of my own on one of the upper levels of the Main Library, which was one of the largest buildings on campus, occupying one square block.  The five-story building contained over a million books and 20,000 periodical titles and could sit 4,000 students at tables.

One of the points of interest in the campus which fascinated me was the Old Capitol. Iowa's first permanent capitol, it was still under construction when the Fifth Legislative Assembly of Iowa convened in it on December 2, 1842. When Des Moines became the state capital in 1857, the legislature gave Old Capitol to the University of Iowa.  Now designated a national historic landmark, Old Capitol is a museum of Iowa and University history.

Specimens of exotic creatures like the panda are among numerous exhibits on display in the Museum of Natural History in Macbride Hall,  only a few steps northeast of Old Capitol.  In the Bird Hall is a collection of more than 1,000 North American birds, many of them presented in realistic natural habitat settings.  Mammal Hall contains specimens of nearly every order and family of mammal. There was an extensive series of large and small North American mammals and many of Australia's marsupials.

I walked to the Lindquist Center for my classes.  During the snowy days, I used thermal underwear, gloves, earmuffs, a scarf, winter coat, and a pair of insulated boots to protect myself from the frigid temperature. I had slipped and fallen down the snow-covered sidewalk.  After my classes in the evening, I took the bus for two quarters. The house on North Governor was along the bus route, so it stopped right in front of the house.