The Land That Was Granted: Colonization and the Financing of Iowa State Agricultural College and Model Farm

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Historicizing Postsecondary Education Policy and Reform

Abstract

This paper uncovers the history of the federal land leased and sold by Iowa State Agricultural College and Modern Farm (Iowa State University), as part of Iowa’s acceptance of the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1862. Specifically, the paper focuses on acknowledgement of the Wahpeton and Yankton who lived on the land before forced removal by the United States federal government and documentation of the ways in which money acquired by the lease and sale of this stolen land funded the college. This paper exposes a history of the land-grant legacy that has significant implications for the way scholars write about the history of land-grant colleges and the ways in which land-grants understand and portray themselves.

Authors

• Isaac Gottesman, Connecticut College

• Lorenzo Baber