Around the turn of the twentieth century, aging Union veterans leveraged their membership in the powerful Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) fraternity to influence the reform and improvement of their communities. Register to join Jonathan Neu to learn about GAR veterans’ promotion of educational reform activism in the nation’s institutions of learning—particularly colleges and universities—and their efforts to mold a rising generation of well-educated and civically engaged young citizens who would internalize a GAR-endorsed memory of the U.S. Civil War. The culmination of this GAR advocacy was the short-lived but visionary Memorial University in Mason City, Iowa.
The Iowa History 101 webinars share Iowa stories and the history of the state through a cultural history lens on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. Registration is required for each event and to receive a link to the recorded program.