creator:

William Miller Beardshear

title:

Papers

dates:

1884-1980

extent:

1.68 linear feet (4 document boxes)

collection number:

RS 2/5

repository:

Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

access:

Open for research

publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department

preferred citation:

William Miller Beardshear, Papers, Dates, RS 2/5, (University Archives) Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

Biographical note

Born in Ohio in 1850, William Miller Beardshear joined the Union Army at the age of 14 and served throughout the Civil War.  He studied for the ministry at Otterbein College and Yale Divinity School. He filled several pastorates before coming to Iowa in 1881 as the President of Western College in Toledo.  In 1889, he was appointed Superintendent of Schools in West Des Moines.

In 1891, Beardshear was appointed President of Iowa State, and during his tenure, ISC truly came of age.  Beardshear developed new agricultural programs and was instrumental in hiring premier faculty members such Anson Marston, Louis B. Spinney, J.B. Weems, Perry G. Holden, and Maria Roberts.  He also expanded the university administration, and the following buildings were added to the campus:  Morrill Hall (1891); the Campanile (1899); Old Botany (now Catt Hall) (1892); and Margaret Hall (1895).

While Beardshear was President, the following events also occurred at Iowa State:  the school colors of cardinal and gold were named, Iowa State became known as the Cyclones (1895), and the first Bomb (the university yearbook) was published in 1893. He died in 1902 of complications following a heart attack.  In his honor, Iowa State named its central administrative building (Central Building) after Beardshear in 1925.

Collection Description

This collection contains reports, biographical data, newspaper clippings, family materials, correspondence, published items, ISC catalogs and a Bomb, and a Bible. 

Included are Beardshear’s annual reports to the Board of Trustees for Iowa State; correspondence with Iowa State faculty, staff, and students about a variety of topics, such as finances, excuse from military drills, and the resignation of faculty members; and newspaper clippings which describe an accusation against Beardshear for plagiarism.   The remainder of the collection consists of biographical information about Beardshear and Beardshear family members, Iowa State ephemera, and 2 publications by Beardshear.

Organization

This collection is currently unarranged.