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Sample Topics for Previous Years' Themes

"Taking a Stand in History: People, Ideas, Events" (2005-2006)

• Edward Allen, founder of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union and the free speech zone at ISU (RS 13/14/51)
• Jack Trice, first African-American athlete (football and track) at Iowa State University (RS 21/7/23)
• Carrie Chapman Catt, woman suffrage leader and political activist (RS 21/7/3.  Note: the ISU Library also holds microfilm of the Carrie Chapman Catt Papers at the Library of Congress.)
• The September 29th Movement and the controversy over the naming of Iowa State University's Catt Hall (named for Carrie Chapman Catt) (RS 21/3/0/1 and RS 22/1/8; also review committee report, ISU catalog call no. Archives LD2543 I172x 1998)
• George Washington Carver, first African-American student and first African-American faculty member at Iowa State University; educator and inventor  (RS 21/7/2.  Note: the ISU Library also holds microfilm of the George Washington Carver papers at Tuskegee Institute.)
• Farmers Organizations and Protest Groups including: National Farmers Organization (MS 481), may focus on a particular event such as the milk and meat withholding actions of 1967 and 1968
• Henry A. Wallace, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1933-1941) and Vice President (1941-45), Progressive Party leader and presidential candidate (1948)  (RS 21/7/5. Note: ISU holds a small collection related to Wallace; however, the bulk of his papers are at the University of Iowa.  The ISU Library also holds microfilm of the Henry A. Wallace collection at the Library of Congress.)

"Triumph and Tragedy in History" (2006-2007)

• Jack Trice.  The first African-American athlete (football and track) at Iowa State University, he died from injuries received during his first football game for Iowa State. (RS 21/7/23)
• George Washington Carver.  Born into slavery, he became the first African-American student and first African-American faculty member at Iowa State University, and was a renowned educator and inventor  (RS 21/7/2.  Note: the ISU Library also holds microfilm of the George Washington Carver papers at Tuskegee Institute.)
• Carrie Chapman Catt.  A leader in the campaign for woman suffrage. (RS 21/7/3.  Note: the ISU Library also holds microfilm of the Carrie Chapman Catt Papers at the Library of Congress.)
• William Van Zandt.  The Van Zandt family had members in both the North and the South during the Civil War.  William Van Zandt was a sergeant in an Iowa regiment, but did not survive the war.
• Roswell Garst and Nikita Khrushchev visit.  The Garst family hosted Soviet Premier Khrushchev at their Iowa farm in 1959; the visit helped to open doors for trade between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.

Topics for 2007-2008 NHD Theme: Conflict & Compromise in History

Oleomargarine Controversy (1940s)
During World War II, Iowa State College (now University) scholars published a pamphlet recommending the use of oleomargarine during wartime. The Iowa dairy industry pressured the college to revise the pamphlet, and several faculty members resigned from the college in protest.

• Oleomargarine Controversy Records, RS 6/3/11 box 6-7
• Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station Records, RS 9/2/17
• Theodore Schultz Papers, RS 13/9/14
• Iowa State Dairy Association Records, MS 65

September 29th Movement
Controversy over the renaming of Old Botany to Catt Hall (in honor of Carrie Chapman Catt) sparked by the charge that Catt was racist.

• September 29th Movement Records, RS 22/3/0/1
• "Catt Hall Review Committee Final Report," LD2543 I172x 1998 (in Special Collections, Archives books)
• Carrie Chapman Catt Hall Review Committee Records, RS 22/1/8

• George J. Ormsby Papers, MS 109

Evolution/Creation Debate
Could examine a specific controversy such as the 1980s Livermore (California) School District dispute about the teaching of creationism and evolution

• Evolution/Creation Archive, MS 181
• Other evolution/creation related collections

Women Scientists at the National Institutes of Health
Fann Harding was the founding President (1970) of the NIH Organization for Women (now known as SHER, Self Help for Equal Rights). In the early 1970s she filed the first sex discrimination complaint against the National Institutes of Health, and won her case in 1974.

• Fann Harding Papers, MS 320
• Rosalind Marimont Papers, MS 251

Vietnam Era Protests at Iowa State University

• Political demonstrations, RS 00/12

War as Conflict (World War II)

• Jack Shelley's papers from his work as a war correspondent in Europe and the Pacific, RS 13/13/55

War as Conflict (Civil War)

• Soldiers' diaries and correspondence (see Civil War subject guide for detailed list)

Woman Suffrage Movement

• Carrie Chapman Catt Papers, RS 21/7/3
• Woman Suffrage Collection, MS 471

Activism for Fair Prices for Farmers

• American Agriculture Movement (1970s-80s), MS 463
• Farmers Holiday Movement (1930s), MS 461
• National Farmers Organization (1950s-1970s), MS 481

Activism to Protect Iowa Farmland

• Agricultural Property Rights Association (opposition to construction of oil pipeline in eastern Iowa, 1970s), MS 415
• Farm Land Preservation Association (farmers protest against construction of interstate (I-380) between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo), MS 108
• Farmers Transmission Line Suits (efforts to prevent construction of high-voltage transmission lines), MS 89
• And others (see subject guide for agriculture-related collections)