2. Willy Klein Advancement Specialist
Our Land Grant Legacy
As Iowa residents and County Extension Council members you are associated with an impressive history – a one-of-a-kind land grant legacy.
Regardless of where you live, the land-grant legacy belongs to you. It is at the foundation of your work as a council member.
You are part of the Extension and Outreach network that serves as a 99 county campus connecting Iowans throughout the state to the resources and research of the entire university.
And as the first settlers did in 1833, we want a strong Iowa. That is where this legacy begins.
Willy Klein
Advancement Specialist

3. The people in this room come to the responsibilities of a county extension council member with different experiences, similarly, each of us connect with the land grant legacy in our own way.
This is a legacy built upon more than 200,000 acres of land that was granted to our state with a purpose – to be leased or sold to fund a university for the people of Iowa.
Our lawmakers at the time, including President Abraham Lincoln, understood that in order to continue to grow our democracy, our nation needed to provide access to education.
But not just any education. It had to help build our country. It had to be education for the people, focusing on agriculture and the mechanical sciences – what we now call engineering – as well as other practical pursuits.
The great idea of the land grant was to build, in each state, a college for the people.
In Iowa, that people’s college, that land grant university, is Iowa State University.

4. Identifying the land grant parcels is an important step in understanding Iowa’s land grant legacy.
We have identified more than 1,200 quarter sections of land in northwest Iowa that were sold under the terms of the Morrill Act to fund the start of Iowa State University.
Each parcel is marked by a red square on this map.
The parcels are located in 24 counties, with 2/3’s of the parcels in Kossuth, Emmet and Palo Alto Counties
Land grant parcels map

5. Land grant parcel validation
Regional directors, campus and county staff, and extension council members are reaching out to landowners to verify the information gathered by our researchers.
At Clay County Fair and State Fair events, and county 100 year celebrations – landowners are excited to learn of their connection to Iowa State University and to the land grant legacy.
Last fall, council members in Kossuth and Jasper Counties joined regional directors and county staff to reach out and share with landowner families the unique relationship their land had to Iowa State University.
At a Clay County event, Bob Butcher (the father of an Ida County council member) realized that he owned land grant parcels and went home to organize a celebration of all the parcel landowners in his county!
Webster County is currently identifying their parcel landowners for a celebration later this month.
Land grant parcel validation

6. But, there’s more to Iowa’s land grant legacy than the actual acres that were granted. Our legacy also includes the stories – of the land and of the people.
There are stories of our nation’s lawmakers who created the Morrill Act …
of the settlers who first purchased the land grant parcels.
As we dig deeper into this legacy, we find stories of parcels that passed from owner to owner,
Parcels that transitioned from generation to generation within the same family, as their connection to the land grew stronger.
We’ll even find the stories of parcels that were incorporated into our small towns and communities.

7. Some of these stories we’ve known. Some we may have forgotten
Some of these stories we’ve known. Some we may have forgotten. But there are many we don’t know. At least, not yet.
Through this land grant legacy project we’re determined to find these stories and then tell these stories – and share the legacy of the land and the people that helped to build Iowa State University.
We need to reclaim all these stories and remember them and share them with the next generation … so we more fully understand what it means to be Iowan.

8. Our land grant legacy connects our past to our present, and encourages us as we look toward our future.
Iowans have always been forward thinking people who have seen education as a way to solve problems and prepare for the future.
That’s why Iowans were willing to step right up and be the first to accept the terms of the land grant act.
They shared a dream and a vision for a land grant university that would not only educate young people, but also serve all the people in the state … a true people’s college.
The land grant legacy is not only the legacy of Iowa State University, but it also is the legacy of all the people of Iowa.
We all can be proud of our land grant legacy.

9. Land grant legacy video 17 minute; 8 minute
8 minute version of video
Move curser over the photo to get the “play” arrow button. Click the play arrow/button to run the video.
I’d like to share a video about some of the Iowans who are beginning to discover their connection to our land grant legacy.
Krystal Doolittle and her husband, Eric, were with his father and grandfather when ISU Extension and Outreach specialists came to their farm to tell them about their connection to the land grant legacy.
Krystal is very enthusiastic and curious about the legacy. So we invited her to have a role in this video to explain and introduce the project and a few of the first county parcel landowners.
Krystal is a farming woman and mom who is raising the next generation and sharing Iowa’s Land Grant Legacy.
In the video you’ll see that Krystal shares her family’s story, and encourages others to share their stories too.
She says the way to understand the love and dedication farmers put into their families and their land – is by seeing glimpses of Iowa life.
Land grant legacy video 17 minute; 8 minute

10. Iowa has been known for people who are ahead of their time, bolstered by common sense and determined to make life better for others.
We were the first state to accept the provisions of the Morrill Act to establish a land-grant university.
We were the first to engage citizens and begin extension work.
And now we’re the first to begin identifying the actual land grant parcels, sharing the stories of the land and the people, and exploring this legacy of our forward-thinking people.
Our Land Grant Legacy belongs to all Iowans and everyone with a connection to Iowa State University. You are part of this legacy.
What’s your story?
And how do we get others excited about the project? Well, sometimes we just roll out a map and share a few stories.