Unit 7: The Progressive Era in Iowa

How To Use This Page

On this page, you will find a curated collection of videos, resources, guides, and opportunities for exploration that are tied specifically to reform movements in Iowa during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (1870 to 1920). Educators and lifelong learners can use the compelling and supporting questions to guide their learning and focus their exploration on the major topics. The lectures, videos, featured content, and readings can be completed at each learner's own pace and will provide necessary knowledge and background to craft and deliver Iowa History lessons in a K-12 classroom.

Compelling and Supporting Questions

Compelling and supporting questions are designed for each unit and the materials below will provide content and context for teachers, students, and lifelong learners.

Compelling Question

How did Iowa’s politics and institutions develop between 1870 and 1920?

Supporting Questions

1. Why did Iowa have such religious diversity?
2. How did Iowa’s education system develop?
3. What institutions were created in Iowa to improve people’s lives?
4. How did women in Iowa contribute to the suffrage movement?
5. How did Prohibition affect people’s lives?

Overview

Iowa’s population rapidly grew after the Civil War, creating a need for an expanding public school system. Immigrants brought a wide variety of faiths to Iowa, and set up Protestant and Catholic churches, Jewish synagogues, and Muslim mosques. Two main political issues dominated Iowa in this period, temperance and suffrage. The Progressive Era saw many national political reforms, as well as the spread of public libraries and state parks.

Iowa’s diverse immigrants brought a variety of religions with them. Catholicism was the first non-Native religion to arrive, followed by many Protestant churches such as the Baptists, Methodists, and Quakers. Iowa’s Jewish population reached 16,000 by 1920 and thousands fled massacres in eastern Europe. A small number of Muslims settled near Cedar Rapids. Dozens of African American churches existed as well. 

Iowa’s public school system began in 1858. Taxes supported the construction of thousands of rural schools. These were the famous one-room schoolhouses which provided a basic education to generations of Iowans. High schools were rare and attendance only really took off in the mid-twentieth century. By the late 1800s most teachers were female and paid little. But Iowa’s schools were very successful and the state had one of the highest literacy rates in the nation.

The battle to outlaw alcohol consumption in Iowa was a long one, lasting from the 1830s to the 1920s. The temperance campaign was often led by women, who fought against alcoholism because of the awful effects it had on families. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was active for decades. Alcohol was outlawed in the state several times (1855, 1884) and Prohibition was a key political issue for more than fifty years.

The campaign for female suffrage took off after the Civil War, following the Fifteenth Amendment that gave Black men the right to vote. In the early 1870s suffrage came close to becoming a reality, but did not. In 1894 women gained the right to vote in some local elections but it was not until 1920 that most women gained the right to vote. Carrie Chapman Catt was the most famous suffrage leader from Iowa, one of many outstanding women from the movement. Other political reforms from the period led to the construction of many public libraries, state parks, the expansion of public education, and many political reforms at the state level. Rural Free Delivery of mail became widespread.

Think Like a Historian

In this video, historian Sara Egge discusses historical thinking skills like research processes, developing historical arguments, and sourcing. 

Major Topics of Study

When learning about the Progressive Era in Iowa, some of the key areas to cover might include:

• Women’s suffrage movement
• Education → one-room schoolhouses → public school system → colleges/univ.
  • Scattergood Quaker School
• The Des Moines Plan - Commission Government
• Highways/Good Roads
• 4-H - Jessie Field Shambaugh
• State parks and conservation
• Iowa State Extension Services 

Notable Iowans

Exemplary and significant people in Iowa history from this time period could include many of the below figures. Wherever possible, links to Iowa's digital biography provide opportunities for further exploration.

Historic Sites

Iowa is full of valuable historic sites. The below sites provide opportunities to explore the value of place-based learning and the importance of storytelling through historic sites.

• Montauk
• Boone suffrage parade
• Backbone State Park (first state park in Iowa, 1920)
• Templeton, Iowa (prohibition)
• Jefferson County Library in Fairfield (Iowa's 1st Carnegie Library)

State Historical Society Objects, Documents, and Photos

Objects, documents, and photographs from the State Historical Society of Iowa are excellent catalysts for further inquiry in the classroom or for independent lifelong learners. 

Video Resources

If you are looking for longer, more detailed discussions or lectures related to the themes discussed in this unit, the following resources provide further context and information.

Further Reading

This curated collection of readings allow teachers, students, and lifelong learners to explored a curated collection of primary sources, articles, books, and essays that supplement and provide depth to the topics covered in this unit.