The Pentacrest at the University of Iowa is the historical heart and public interface of the university. I’ve pulled together some images of various events, both formal and improvised that have taken place there. The post is a light break for me and a chance to showcase University Day and to highlight the resources available in the Iowa Digital Library. I hope you enjoy them!
The first image is from the 1839 plat map of Iowa City showing the Capitol Square, which is the Pentacrest that surrounds Old Capitol Today. There were public celebrations held at the construction site of Old capitol with the first on July 4, 1839 and the next for the cornerstone ceremony on the same date the following year. Both occasions had gatherings of Euro-American settlers who gave speeches, played music, and ate a meal. These celebrations are covered in the 1883 and 1912 Johnson County, Iowa histories.
The second image is a photo taken by Isaac Wetherby, a photographer and portrait painter of some notoriety. It shows the first Johnson County fair that was held on the Capitol Grounds in June 1853. The exhibition is mentioned in the 1912 county history. The east portico is not completed on Old Capitol and there is scaffolding up around the base of the lantern.
The next image is a crowd of people attending a memorial service for Abraham Lincoln held at the east steps and portico of Old Capitol in April, 1865.
The fourth image, below, was made by Timothy Townsend, another local photographer around 1869. It shows the early layout of the State University campus. An ornamental iron fence was installed and trees planted in a grid. Old Capitol served as the main building and it was flanked by the appropriately named North Hall and South Hall. There were at least three appropriations for fences around the capitol and university grounds, the first of which was in 1842 and was expressly to keep “trespassing animals” from the grounds. The progress of the bill was tracked by the Iowa Capitol Reporter (Iowa City) through January into March, when the bill was enrolled on March 12.
The next few images show academic ceremonies that took place on the Pentacrest. Class photos, convocations, and commencements made use of the original part of the campus, even after the campus had long spread beyond its original border.
Sophomore Class Photo, 1874. Nathan Leonard is the faculty member in the center with a top hat in his hands.
Convocation parade in 1923 walking along Madison Street on the west side of the Pentacrest.
Commencement in June, 1918 on the lawn east of Schaeffer Hall.
Commencement on the lawn west of Maclean Hall, sometime in the 1920s.
From 1864, The State University had a military department for training officers. This became the ROTC program of today. A small gun shed was used to store a cannon for drills that were conducted on the Pentacrest.
A Civil War gun crew training with a cannon.
Military Department formation east of Old Capitol in 1896.
Military Review 1918 on the south lawn of the Pentacrest. Note the lack of the west portico on Old Capitol!
From the first Fourth of July to today’s Holiday Tubas and Student Events, the Pentacrest has been the home to music performances for decades. Here are a few images.
A brass band playing on the east steps of Old Capitol in 1965.
Scottish Highlanders 1960s on the west lawn of the Pentacrest
Maypole dancers for a June Fête, 1924
The final set of photos is definitely more sombre. Like the Lincoln memorial service, local members of the community attended memorial services for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John F. Kennedy on the Pentacrest.
John Kennedy Memorial service on the east side of Old Capitol, November 1963
Memorial Service for Martin Luther King on the east side of Old Capitol, April 1968
So I’ll leave this post here. What are the major events you would add? And for a different take than my essay thesis that the Pentacrest is a primary interface between Iowa City and the University of Iowa, take a listen to this podcast: Estrada, Cesar, Kirbee Van De Berg, and Rachel Zuckerman. “The Pentacrest Lawn: The Grass is NOT Always Greener on the Other Side”. Podcasts, oral history (discipline). https://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/node/624826.
Sources
The Iowa Digital Library, is part of the digitized collections of The University of Iowa Special Collections & Archives. https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/resources/digitizedcollections/
History of Johnson County, Iowa, Iowa City, 1883. https://archive.org/details/historyofjohnson00iowa/page/236/mode/2up?q=murray%5C
Clarence Ray Aurner, Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa, History, Cedar Rapids: Western Historical Press, Volume 1, 1912 https://archive.org/details/leadingeventsin00aurngoog
Volume 2, 1913, https://archive.org/details/leadingeventsinj02aurn
Historical Iowa City Newspapers, Iowa City Public Library, http://iowacity.advantage-preservation.com/
On Diverse Arts and Sciences 