Iowa Heritage Illustrated

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Daughter of Corn: The Remembered Landscape of my Youth

Hoehnle, Peter

English

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Balducchi, David E

Iowans Harry Hopkins and Henry A. Wallace Helped Craft Social Security's Blueprint

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.92 no.3-4, Fall-Winter 2011

Holmgren, David

structed on American college and university campuses 
at the end of World War II, and, like Pammel Court, 
each was probably unique in its own way. The ap­
pearance of Pammel Court at Iowa State, literally and 
figuratively, broke new ground at the college; it repre­
sented new trends in higher education and helped cre­
ate a generation of economic prosperity for the country. 
Although Pammel Court no longer stands, it remains 
an important part of Iowa State's history as an evolv­
ing educational institution, and it is still remembered 
by tens of thousands of students and their spouses and 
children who once lived there.
Stimulated by the GI Bill and the amendments to 
the Lanham Act, places like Pammel Court, in all their 
utilitarian simplicity, transformed the meaning of a 
college education to individuals and to the nation as 
a whole. ❖
NOTE O N  SOURCES
Iowa State University has a number of records that document the construction 
and early life of Pammel Court Among the best are J. C. Schilletter's own 
account in The First 100 Years of Residential Housing at Iowa State University, 
18 6 8 -1968 (Ames: Iowa State University. 1970); Dorothy Schwieder and 
GretchenVan Houten. eds., A Sesquicentennial History of Iowa State University: 
Tradition and Transformation (Ames: Iowa State University Press. 1998); David 
Leroy Harmon, Pammel Court and Veterans Housing: An Administrative and 
Technological History of the Development of Post-World War II Veterans Housing 
at Iowa State College (Ames: Iowa State University, 1996); and background 
information by H. Summerfield Day, The Iowa State University Campus and 
Its Buildings, 1859-1979 (Ames: Iowa State University. 1980).Two master's 
theses include solid statistical information: Jeffrey William Henneman, "A 
Mamed Student Housing Development: Redevelopment of West Pammel 
Court Married Student Housing [at] Iowa State University” (Iowa State 
University, 1980): and Jason Chia-Sung Chang, "A Mamed Student Housing 
Redevelopment Analysis: Pammel Court, Iowa State University” (Iowa 
State University, 1991). A good contemporary view of the mechanics of 
construction is found in Carlos Krassa, "Housing Venture,"/owo Engineer 46:6 
(May 1946), 201 -3.The Iowa State Daily Student ran a scattering of articles on 
phases of construction and life at Pammel Court Construction photos and a 
letter from B. H. Platt to Robert Blue are housed in Governor Blue's Papers 
in the State Archives, State Historical Society of Iowa (Des Moines center). 
Annotations for this article are in the Iowa Heritage Illustrated production files 
(State Historical Society of lowa-lowa City center).
David Holmgren has zvorked as an employee and volunteer for the State Historical Society of Iowa in our Des Moines center, re­
searching Iowa battle flags and the Underground Railroad, writing for this magazine and the Iowa Biographical Dictionary, and 
preparing archival collections for cataloging. He is an alumnus of Iowa State Universih/.
Remembering Pammel Court
Charles Gradoville o f  Cedar Rapids, one o f  the early residents o f  
Pammel Court who is now 89 years old, recently reflected on the 
two quarters when he lived there with his wife and oldest child. He 
had attended Iowa State from 1941 to 1943, majoring in general 
engineering and lettering in basketball. He left Iowa State to serve 
in the U.S. Naval Reserve the last two years o f  World W ar II and 
then returned to Iowa State in the fall o f  1946 to finish his engi­
neering degree (middle photo). The family moved into one o f the 
Quonset huts that had been transferred to the campus just the 
previous spring. Their h a lf o f  the Quonset hut was approximately 
20x25 feet— only 400  square feet, an area considerably smaller 
than a standard one-bedroom apartm ent today.
Although Gradoville was fortunate to enjoy the benefits o f  
the GI Bill in returning to college, there were several problems 
with their Pammel Court Quonset hut. No w ater heater was 
provided, and he rem arked tha t their showers were always 
quite short. Their source o f  heat was a coal stove that did  
not always function properly. Occasionally coal particulates  
clogged the smokestack, and the hut would fill w ith smoke. A t 
least once he had to go outside and clean the smokestack in 
the m iddle o f  the night. W hatever his feelings a t the time, he 
re lated the story recently w ith great humor.
Gradoville did not own a car, so transportation around town 
was on the city buses. It was more difficult to get to Des A/lo/nes 
or other communities. Since individual phone service was not
FRO M  LEFT: IOWA STATE CO LLEG E B O M B  (1 * 4 3 . 1947); C O U R TESY  CHARLES GRADOVILLE
available, residents had to use the few public phones scattered 
throughout the court. Despite these inconveniences, Gradoville ap­
parently took it all in stride because he had other things to think 
about N ot only was he carrying a full load o f  classes along with 
tending to his family, but he also taught part time in the Division 
o f Engineering. Despite his busy schedule, he and his wife, Agnes, 
got acquainted with a number o f  neighbors in Pammel Court and 
became such good friends that they corresponded with them for 
many years after graduating.
Gradoville graduated in March 1947, a t the end o f  the winter 
quarter, so the family’s stay in Pammel Court was only about six 
months. But 65 years later, his memories from those days are still 
fresh in his mind. He became an avid Iowa State football fan at 
that time and remains one today. W ith only one exception, he has 
bought season football tickets every year since 1947.
—  David Holmgren
16 Iowa Heritage Illustrated


Remembering Pammel Court

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