The Great Depression at The University of Iowa

Need-based Aid During the Great Depression at The University of Iowa

“Twenty-five years ago, education had no professional significance,” remarked University of Iowa President Walter Jessup to a gathering of teaching professionals, faculty, students, and staff at Teacher’s College at Columbia University on October 30, 1929 (Education To Be Different, 1929).  Jessup had been invited to speak at the college’s convocation ceremony by then-Dean of Teacher’s College William Fletcher Russel, who jokingly introduced Jessup as his “former boss” (Education To Be Different, 1929).  Remarking on what he saw as the future of the profession, Jessup asserted that education will be so different in the coming years that “educators would be afraid to look it in the face” (Education to be Different, 1929).  Just a week prior to Jessup’s speech, events had been put in motion that would trigger one of the deepest depressions the nation would ever experience.  Higher education institutions operating during the depression would face significant pressures to adapt, brought on by reduced state support and steep short-term declines in undergraduate and graduate enrollment (AAUP, 1937).  When the depression proved more lasting than anticipated, college enrollments boomed, sending institutions reeling as they struggled to accommodate more students with fewer resources (Edwards, 1932).  At the University of Iowa, strain on an already taxed system brought an increased awareness among administrators and students of existing institutional inequities as students from low-income families struggled with lack of food, unstable housing, and an enduring system of racial oppression (Breaux, 2002; Hubbard, 1999; Jenkins, 1933; Pioneers of Old, 1933).  

Many things have changed in the field of higher education and in society since Jessup’s seemingly prophetic speech, and yet, many things have also remained the same.  Following the 2008 financial crisis and the corresponding recession, there has been a significant uptick in published literature regarding the increased prevalence of food insecurity and housing instability among contemporary college students (Freudenberg, et. al, 2019; Nazmi et al., 2019).  A GoogleScholar search of the terms “food insecurity” AND “college students” by date range shows an almost 1500% increase in published articles using these terms from 2003 to 2021 (see Table 1).  The absence of college food insecurity studies prior to 2009, and their recent, exponential growth have likely contributed the current mischaracterization of food insecurity and housing instability (collectively “basic needs”) among college students as a “new”, “silent”, or “invisible” problem (Freudenberg, et al., 2019; McCoy, et al., 2022; Que, 2019).  However, as the experiences of low-income colleges students attending the University of Iowa during the Great Depression demonstrate, issues of basic needs among college students and institutional programs designed to support them are not new.  Furthermore, presenting basic needs as a “new” problem de-emphasizes how higher education has historically (re)produced issues of access for low-income and historically marginalized students.  Using a historical analysis of student accounts, letters, photographs, newspaper articles, and internal University of Iowa administrative documents, it is my intent to examine how the Great Depression impacted access to higher education broadly and at the University of Iowa.  Through this process, I will offer historical accounts that push back on the invisibility myth that positions issues of basic needs among college students as a new problem, and I will explore the lessons that history can offer to help guide contemporary basic needs initiatives towards more equitable outcomes. 

The Impact of the Great Depression on Higher Education

The business depression, as students and faculty referred to it, had a delayed effect on higher education (Caywood, 1933).  By the end of 1931, though, the effects of an extended depression had started to manifest on college campuses.  A report from the American Association of University Professors in the later years of the depression estimated that income for institutions dropped by almost a quarter between 1930 and 1934 (AAUP, 1937).  Additionally, several historians mention that state institutions had to contend with increases in enrollment coupled with a reduction in state funding (Levine, 1986; Thelin, 2019).  Tightening budgets and a reduction in income pressured public institutions to cut costs and raise tuition to stay afloat (Thelin, 2019).  Colleges and universities responded in several ways, including freezing and/ or decreasing faculty salaries, instituting hiring freezes, and reducing department-level allocations (AAUP, 1937; Caywood, 1933). The resulting inflation in college costs also placed additional pressure on students, and a growing number of them struggled to make ends meet (Thelin, 2019). The University of Iowa was not immune to these pressures.  

After an initial plateauing from 1929 to 1931, student enrollment at the University of Iowa dropped from 9902 students in 1931 to 8415 students in 1933 – a total drop of about 1400 students, or a 14% decline in two years (University of Iowa, 1942). This reduction was relatively short-lived, as the next three years saw enrollment increases of about 2500 students, peaking in 1936 at 10886 (University of Iowa, 1942). Writing to his former students in a 1933 letter, Associate Professor of Engineering Thomas Caywood noted that “a goodly number” of students returned to college “to be better prepared when economic conditions improve” (Caywood, 1933).  The financial strain this placed on the institution was felt by students and faculty alike. While construction of a new engineering building on campus was initially on track for completion in early spring of ‘31, budget shortfalls due to the depression delayed its opening until 1932 (Croft, 1932). The reduction in budget also forced the university’s Engineering department to rely on student volunteers to move equipment into the new building and help set up the new space (Croft, 1932).  

Student Impact of the Depression & the Kellogg Plan

University of Iowa students did whatever they could to make ends meet.  Many students worked multiple jobs on campus and within the Iowa City community (McKray, 1995; Miller, 1996, Rheder, 1929).  Students also shared wardrobes, school texts, and reduced their food intake (Davis, 1995; Jones, 1995; Miller, 1996; Sterner, 1995).  Increases in student enrollment coupled with budget shortfalls also contributed to a growing affordable housing crisis on campus.  Students found shelter wherever they could, including staying with families in the Iowa City community and in temporary or abandoned structures (Hubbard, 1999, Sterner, 1995).  A tent city, Camp Kellogg, was erected on campus and offered afforded students with cheap housing over the summer months from 1926 to 1935 (Tent City, 1935).   In 1929, Robert Reinow, Dean of Men, was investigating reports of students staying in an old schoolhouse at the edge of the University of Iowa campus (Sterner, 1995).  The building, formerly Kellogg School, had been abandoned in 1924 and had lain empty since (University of Iowa Archives, 192?).  According to Everett Sterner, a student at the University of Iowa from 1936-1940, Dean Reinow found the school “occupied by ten students acting as squatters with no utilities getting inadequate food” (Sterner, 1995).  Appalled by the conditions the students were living in, Dean Reinow approached President Jessup with the idea to purchase the building and convert it into a cooperative student dorm (Jones, 1995; Sterner, 1995).  In 1930, Kellogg House became the first of sixteen - four women’s and twelve men’s - cooperative dorms established on campus between 1930 and 1937 (Jones, 1995; Pioneers of Old, 1933).

Dubbed the “Kellogg cooperative plan” by local papers, Reinow’s cooperative model used student labor for the upkeep and maintenance of the dormitory grounds and building (Jones, 1995; Pioneers of Old, 1933; Sterner, 1995).  Students were responsible for cleaning, repair work, painting, cooking, landscaping, among other tasks; division of labor was done through democratic process and overseen by a senior student, referred to as a proctor (or house mother at the women’s dorms) (Sterner, 1995; Jones, 1995; Mallet, 1937).  Operating collectively as part of the Cooperative Dormitory Association, the proctors and house mothers would see to discipline in the dorms, although such need was low and rarely escalated beyond the occasional theft of a cherry pie or leftover food (Sterner, 1995; Jones, 1995; Mallet. 1937).  By relying on student labor for upkeep, the University of Iowa was able to offer students room and board at about half the rate: $1/ week for living space and $2.50/ week for three meals a day (Eyre, 1995; Hughey, 1941; Pioneers of Old, 1933; Stowe, 1933).  The dorms were specifically attractive to students from low-income families and Iowa’s farming community, who otherwise would not have been able to afford a college education (Davis, 1995; Day, 1996; McKray, 1995).  Alice Pemberton, who stayed in Coast House in the fall of ’42 while attending the university, explained in a letter that her parents lost the family farm in the depression, and she “needed an economical place to live” (Pemberton, 1995).  Co-op life offered her a chance to “live and work with many others”, learning how to “share work, responsibility”, and live cooperatively while earning her degree (Pemberton, 1995).  Francis Wall, resident of The Gables Co-op from 1937-1941, had a similar experience. Graduating from a small town in rural Iowa, Wall was attracted to the University of Iowa after hearing about Dean Reinow’s plan which offered “a partial fee exemption for certain good and needy students” in addition to the room and board (Wall, 1995).  Wall was able to attend the university thanks, in part, to the program, and, after graduating with his BA degree in 1941, joined the US Navy where he served in both WWII and the Korean war before retiring at the rank of Captain (Wall, 1995).  The “poor” dorms, as they began to be called by the campus community, built a reputation at the University of Iowa and beyond for their role in supporting low-income students (Tujetsch, 1995)

Paying For College

While the cooperative dorm system offered increased access to hundreds of low-income students, paying the $100 annual tuition was still a tall order for many, especially during a time when employment opportunities were scarce (Hughey, 1941).  Students relied on several financial sources to make ends meet.  In addition to familial support, students secured loans from the university, and many worked multiple jobs over the summer and during the semester (Miller, 1996; Hughey, 1941). Student loans were provided directly from the university, and the process was overseen by the Committee on Student Aid of which Dean Reinow was a member (Student Affairs, 1942; Hughey, 1941).  The committee reviewed applications on a case-by-case basis, and, if concerns were raised about a students’ ability to pay back the loan, they went through great lengths to support the students’ continued education (Student Affairs, 1942; Hughey, 1941).  Such was the case for Karl “Thor” Swanson, who appealed to the committee for a $64 loan to help pay for expenses during his stay at the Whetstone House co-op in 1941 (Swanson, 1996; Hughey, 1941).  Writing to Karl’s father, committee secretary William Hughey noted that Karl had already been granted an $85 loan and was the beneficiary of a partial tuition exception (Hughey, 1941). Hughey encouraged Mr. Swanson to provide more for his son, noting that the university is “perfectly willing to assist students when we feel that the parents are making every effort they possibly can to send them to school” (Hughey, 1941).  Karl would receive the support he needed, and in 1943 graduated with his BA (Swanson, 1995).  After serving in the US Navy during WWII, Karl eventually received his PhD, becoming a professor at Washington State College (Shostrom, 1995; Swanson, 1995). As in Karl’s case, many students were granted partial tuition exemptions to support their educational pursuits at the university.  The exemptions cut the $50 per semester tuition to $20 for the most financially needy students, which included a large potion of those living in the co-op system (Hughey, 1941; Shostrom, 1995; Swanson, 1995; Wall, 1995).  Children of WWI military veterans could also qualify for an additional $75 exemption (Shostrom, 1996).  

The Employment Bureau

In 1929, an individual by the name of Ted Rehder would take over management of the student Employment Bureau which had been founded in 1924 to support the placement of students in open positions throughout the university (University of Iowa, 1924; University of Iowa, 1939).  Rehder had been a student at the university prior to his appointment, and he later withdrew from the university to oversee the bureau full-time (University of Iowa, 1927;  University of Iowa, 1929).  In a letter to R.H. Fitzgerald, a faculty member at Iowa State University, Rehder emphasized that the bureau’s priority were students “who absolutely need work in order to continue in their university work” (Rehder, 1929).  Originally funded through the Iowa Memorial Union, the Employment Bureau placed hundreds of students, primarily based on financial need, in positions throughout the university yearly, including in the university hospital (Rehder, 1929).  Pay was far from glamorous, with wages of 15 cents per hour, but students were generally grateful for the work during a time when little else was available (Wall, 1995; Miller, 1996).  Many of the students in the co-op dorms depended on the student Employment Bureau to help fund their education.  Student Russell “Russ” Miller, a resident of Grover House co-op from ’39 to ‘41, jokingly wrote that he “majored in working my way through college… I became well known at the Employment Bureau. I ‘d take any job, anytime, almost anyplace” (Miller, 1996).  Miller also noted that the employment often came at the detriment to his own studies, as he would occasionally miss assignments and exams in order to work to pay tuition (Miller, 1996).  In 1934, funding for student employment at the University of Iowa would receive an added boost via the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and later under the National Youth Administration (NYA), which both offered funds to establish work-study programs (FERA Ends Troubles, 1934; Mallett, 1937).  Students in the co-op dorms would continue to fill positions funded through the NYA to support their education throughout the program’s lifespan (Shostrom, 1995; Jones, 1995; Nelson, 1995). 

Diversity & Exclusion in the Co-ops

Throughout the depression, the co-op system and the Employment Bureau supported thousands of students on the basis of financial need, greatly broadening access to higher education (Rehder, 1929; Jones, 1995).  While, initially, housing was provided primarily for domestic students - mainly from Iowa -, this was later broadened to include the University of Iowa’s international student population (Davis, 1995; Pemberton, 1995; Tujetsch, 1995; Jones, 1995).  Few official records exist regarding the number of international students housed within the co-op system, however, first-hand accounts reference students from India and South American countries like Panama as well as several from the then-US territories of the Philippines and Puerto Rico (Davis, 1995; Pemberton, 1995; Tujetsch, 1995; Jones, 1995).  One account tells of a Speech and Radio Broadcast major by the name of Mina M. from Calicut, India who was known for their “cooking of curry dishes” and the “sitar recordings” they would play on the portable record player (Jones, 1995).  Despite the relative access of the co-op dormitories, however, one group remained excluded from the campus dormitory system: students from the African American community, who, due to unofficial policy, were not allowed to live in university housing (Breaux, 2002; Hubbard, 1999; Jenkins, 1933). 

Despite the long history of African American students at the University of Iowa –Alexander Clark, Jr., one of the first to graduate, received their degree in 1879 - it is difficult to find accurate enrollment numbers as the university did not start reporting demographic data prior to 1966 (Office of the Registrar, 2021; University of Iowa Libraries, 2022).  The university actively recruited African American athletes to play on varsity teams, many of whom went on to be recognized as All-Big-Ten and All-American (Breaux, 2016; Hubbard, 1999).  Additionally, Hill & Hill (2016) have collected numerous stories regarding the history – including the depression era - of Black excellence at the University of Iowa in the areas of Music, Drama, the Arts, and Literature.  A master’s thesis, written by Herbert Jenkins in 1933, placed the number of African American students attending the university during the depression era between 100 to 150 using data from the registrar’s office, although, they too recognize that these numbers are likely inaccurate (Jenkins, 1933).  Jenkins (1933, p. 29) went on to state that, while there was no official rule banning African American students from university living spaces, Dean Reinow and Adelaide Burge – the Dean of Women – feared that “prejudiced students might object to the presence of Negros in their midst, therefore it is customary to suggest that colored students find accommodation in the fraternity houses and approved homes”. 

Writing about his experiences as a student at the University of Iowa in 1940, Phillip G. Hubbard noted that, while he chose to live with a family in a private home due to financial reasons, “it was the norm for African America men because we were not permitted to live in housing provided by the university” (Hubbard, 1999, p. 41).  Being fully aware that “the university viewed [African American students] as visitors rather than full members of the general community”, Hubbard persevered, becoming the first African American faculty member at the University of Iowa, and, later, the first African American Vice President at a Big Ten university (Hubbard, 1999, p.42).  Denied access to university housing and most sanctioned events, African American students built their own belonging by living with African American families in the Iowa City community, or as members of one of the two unaffiliated fraternity houses or the sorority house run by the Iowa Federation of Colored Women (IFCW) (Breaux, 2002; Hubbard, 1999, Jenkins, 1933).  Lack of affiliation with the university, however, also meant lack of steady funds to support the educational pursuits of African American men and women.  Both fraternities struggled to provide regular meals for their members due to the difficulty and cost of procuring goods, and African American students regularly faced discrimination in Iowa City’s white-owned restaurants and diners (Breaux, 2002; Hubbard, 1999; Jenkins, 1933).  In 1929, both fraternities sought membership with the campus’ Inter-fraternity Council but were denied on a technicality (Jenkins, 1933).  The IFCW also pushed on multiple occasions for the University of Iowa to establish a dorm for the university’s African American students and were rebuffed each time by administrators citing lack of funds and limited resources (Breaux, 2002).  On one such occasion in 1919, the Dean of Women Nellie Aurner, responding to the IFCW’s request, wrote in a letter that, while the university recognized the vital importance of adequate housing “the legislature has made no appropriation for additional dormitories for girls” (Breaux, 2002). Yet, a decade later, when the university was establishing new living spaces to accommodate the neediest among the student body, none were created to house African American students. 

Times of economic hardship have a way of stressing the system and revealing existing inequities.  As demonstrated throughout this paper, neither food insecurity nor housing instability are new to the US college student experience.  The economic pressures created by the Great Depression exacerbated existing issues of access at the University of Iowa, and the university responded in various ways to ensure affordability for low-income students.  However, while the cooperative housing model, Employment Bureau, and need-based tuition discounting broadened access for low-income white students and non-domestic students, these programs were also exclusionary.  In the case of the University of Iowa’s African American student population, access to food and university supported housing was actively used by the university’s administration to limit and/or deny access to higher education.  Despite these exclusionary practices, the university’s African American students left a legacy of excellence as well as a powerful lesson.  Basic needs initiatives have a history of exclusion.  As scholars, practitioners, administrators, and students currently work to address the most current iteration of the college student basic needs crisis, we must be mindful of how the initiatives and policies we craft might act exclude as much as they include.  

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