Iowa Heritage Illustrated

Swaim, Ginalie

We Are Coming, Father Abraham: Iowa Responds to the Call to Arms

Plunkett, Becki

Hell Joints & Murder Shops: How Saloons Prevailed in the War for Temperance

Kernek, Clare L

Track & Field in Iowa, 1880s-1960s

Sure Signs 
of Spring
It’s never been hard to spot spring in 
Iowa— not a hundred years ago or thirty 
years ago or today.
And we expect that some signs of spring 
aren’t going to change anytime soon.
At least we hope not.
— The Editor
74 lozcii Heritage Illustrated
SHSI (IOWA CfTY) PAUL JUHL COLLECTION
O n e  sign of spring in Iowa is its dram atic  and unpredictab le w eather. It was 
May 28, 1903, w hen th e  w om an above d irec ted  a child’s gaze to  lightning 
fracturing  th e  sky near A lb ert City.
Melting snow s and blue skies give hope to  low ans hungry fo r spring— until 
a sudden blizzard o r  hailstorm  crushes o u r  spirits, o r  to rren tia l rains drive 
us to  w orry. And then  a string of w arm , sunny days arrive, calling fo rth  the  
m idw estern  w o rk  ethic in som e, and a laziness bo rdering  on sin in o th e rs .
Spring w ea th e r in Iowa ranges from  dram atic and sublim e to  breezy and 
balmy. W atching th e  w e a th e r— fickle though it may b e— is a fine excuse to  
g e t ou tside  and sam ple th e  new  season.
A n o th e r sure sign of spring? Festivals, 
ce lebrations, and com m em orations, 
all ripe w ith trad ition .
This scene from  M aquoketa— girls 
in w hite d resses and en o rm o u s hair 
bow s weaving th e ir  way around a 
May pole— w as n o t uncom m on in 
schoolyards and parks a cen tu ry  ago, 
though it is ra re  today.
But springtim e parades still abound. 
Irish A m ericans and Irish wannabees 
parade on St. Patrick’s Day, Iowa State 
University students during VEISHEA, 
and military veterans on M emorial 
Day.
W eddings and graduation  parties 
are staged outdoors, with hopes 
for sunshine. Mexican A m ericans 
dance in colorful sk irts  and sashes 
on C inco de Mayo. Som e low ans 
still d ec o ra te  the  graves of family 
m em bers w ith irises and peonies on 
the  last M onday in May.
And in a few  Iowa com m unities, 
tulips are reason enough to  sw eep 
the s tree ts  and celebrate .
76 loica Heritage Illustrated
Summer 2010 77
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SHSI (IOWA CiTY): ULTANG COLLECTION
*
A
lowans te s t them selves against th e  pow er of natu re  
in the  spring, som etim es in inconsequential ways. 
P ho tographer D on Ultang caught tw o  such m om ents, 
of th e  agony and ecstasy of kite flying.
But lowans also te s t them selves against n a tu re ’s pow er 
in far m ore  serious ways. Can a farm er bea t the  odds 
of foul w ea th er during planting season? Can a legion of 
vo lunteers with a m ountain of sandbags ou tw it rising 
rivers and creeks? Can a com m unity re su rre c t itself after 
a devasta ting  to rn ad o ?  W in te r  te s ts  o u r resilience. So 
does spring.
Summer 2010 79
SHSI (IOWA CITY). ULTANG COLLECTION
LIBRARY OF C O N G R ESS
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Playing o u td o o rs  —  may it always be a sign of spring!
Perhaps shooting  m arbles in a d irt s tre e t seem ed ¡conically 
A m erican to  p h o to g rap h er John Vachon as he traveled 
through W oodbine, Iowa, in 1940, on assignm ent for the  
Farm Security A dm inistration.
Though m arbles have given way to  o th e r  toys, the  
siren call of spring still draw s children to  o u td o o r  play. 
Skateboards rum ble dow n the  sidewalk, chalk drawings 
adorn  the  driveway, kickballs land in th e  flow er bed, and 
jump ropes slap the  pavem ent.
For p roo f th a t w in te r has truly ended and spring has 
truly arrived in Iowa, w atch fo r flashes of a particularly 
ex u b eran t liberty released in a child’s spirit.
And, fo r th a t m atter, in ours.
80 Icnua Heritage Illustrated


English

Sure Signs of Spring

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.91 no.2, Summer 2010

Buman, Stan

The Loess Hills: A Century of Change

Walch, Timothy

How Companies and Regiments Were Organized

Frese, Stephen

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.91 no.4, Winter 2010

LIBRARY OF C O N G R E SS
Rear-end History
H
istory sleuths might well deduce that this car is from 
Dubuque, Iowa. The first clue is the small Dubuque 
pennant displayed in the back window.
The second clue? Although road dust nearly obscures 
the license plate, the first two raised numbers appear to be 
31. Alphabetically, Dubuque is the 31 st of Iowa’s 99 counties.
The third clue is that John Vachon took this photo. 
Vachon was a photographer for the federal Farm Security 
Administration. In 1940, the year on the license plate, he 
shot some 500 photographs in Dubuque.
The words on the tire  cover, however, offer no clues
as to a specific location, because millions of individuals across 
the nation were enrolled in the short, focused courses offered 
by the International Correspondence Schools (ICS), founded 
in 1891. ICS courses were affordable and practical; most 
were originally designed for blue-collar workers who sought 
promotions in their factory jobs or new careers in clerical 
and white-collar work. The slogan “ Another I.C.S. Student” 
advertised this enormously successful correspondence 
school that reached Americans in Dubuque, Duluth, Detroit, 
and hundreds of other towns and cities.
— The Editor
Summer 2010 65


Rear-end History

Iowa Heritage Illustrated, vol.91 no.1, Spring 2010

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