Charles Irwin, DMACC, Boone Junior College Centennial, March 16, 2026

On our program today, we're joined by Professor Charles Irwin of the DMACC History Department, Supreme Allied Commander, and much more, much more. Charles, thanks for joining us. Thank you, Jim. Here we are. Nice to have you on our program.

It's been a while since we've had things to talk about, but again, related to DMACC, and I always kind of set aside a time each month to visit with folks from DMACC and find out what's going on, and we know we've got like great basketball, but for those that haven't followed along, we'll touch on that in a little bit.

But one of the things that besides teaching classes out there, you're kind of leading the way on some of the history of DMACC and Boone campus in particular. Yes, Jim. So next year will be the 100th anniversary of the Boone Junior College formation of the Boone Junior College.

And as you know, a celebration in Anniverses is a terrible thing to waste. Oh, absolutely. And of course then, for my days with the historical side of yes here, then that obviously we want to celebrate this. Sure.

And the Boone Junior College's role and the Boone community then, and of course subsequently then as the Boone campus of DMACC as well. So, I can envision back some of the things on just Boone Junior College. DMACC itself, what? This year is 60. 60.

Yeah, so the community college system is 60 years old this year. Wow. And when that started, so that started, but then was it right away when DMACC or when we got a campus in Boone or it was Boone Junior College, it was what, at the old Franklin school or? It could be allowed.

It could be some history about this. Okay. So, it started like 99 years ago. In the fall of 1920, 1927 then, that 60 students men in the third floor of the high school. And the idea was to provide higher education close to home. And that they really wanted to do that.

Now community colleges really started developing in Iowa even before that. And the early ones were the early 1900s. Okay. So, yeah, see.

And that there was probably at the high point, give or take, there was probably about 25 different community college over the time periods across Iowa. And the idea would be, you know, really kind of similar to today in many cases.

It was the idea then that people could have education at a cheaper rate than or at a more cost effective rate. That students could live at home.

The idea would be then that it would be especially for the students that are not ready for the big college experience yet at that point in their lives. And they could stay at home so they could reduce their housing costs as well with that. Sure.

And get a start towards developing higher education. Exactly right with that. And so in 28th then with a second year, a curriculum was added. And the first graduate, class ring numbered 18. 18. And it would have been located on the top floor of the high school.

So in this case, it was part of the Boone School district at that point. So look at from the, who operated it, it would be from the school district. So the Boone School District would have operated it.

And many of the first faculty members would have also been founding members of the Boone High School as well. Sure. Okay. And they would have actually had to have the same qualifications then as a professor at Iowa State, you and I.

So I mean they would have had to have higher education on their end. Exactly. And then one front footnote was then that in 29, the first and only season of Boone Junior College football was played. The first and only. First and only, yeah. We did have it at one time.

We did have it at one time then. On the junior colleges and stuff like that, so it was really started in the individual school districts. Yes. I mean, we're not all that far away from Iowa State, so that was around at the time. Exactly.

But it just didn't fit for what a lot of people wanted to do to get started. So in this statewide, I mean, I'm guessing the legislature. Yeah, they had to permit it. Yeah, yeah. They would be, and there would be different, where the state became more and more involved. Okay.

And of course that's a trend that we're going to see then in the 20th century as well, where the state and of course later on the federal government is going to get more involved in public education. Okay. All right.

So at least at the local level, so the people in the Boone School District said, we need this. Yep. And they had 18 graduates that first time. So in 1948, Boone's, the golf team won the National Junior College Golf Tournament. Oh, right.

That would have been our first championship. You know. It was there. And so basically, the former Franklin Elementary building, then when they built the current Franklin building in 1955 then, then that that building became available.

So then the junior college is going to move then from the high school to the Franklin Elementary that was referred to as the Franklin Center. Okay. All right. So we can move that to 155. And basically folks, that is now Franklin Park. Yes.

So the community college system, as mentioned Jim, the community college system then was created 60 years ago. Okay. And they set up districts. Okay. So the district then that Boone was in or still is in was District 11. All right.

Now at that point then, so towns and people were vying for, they call it attendance centers. Yeah. And that's where campus is.

And since the Boone Junior College is already existing then, that the residents of Boone and the people there, they wanted to be considered to be one of these attendance centers. Sure. The problem was our facilities needed a lot of work.

And they were probably not inadequate for being an attendance center in this new District 11 community college system. Sure. And they do in mid 60s folks. Remember this is what was coming in the mid 60s.

And at that point then, that actually, it outgrown basically the Franklin Center. Sure. So there was classes and there was, they were offered throughout the Boone community. Wherever they could find a spot. Okay. From what I understand. Yeah.

And then, so the residents said that let's see if we could build a new facility then. And that would help to strengthen our argument. Okay. So at this time, we had our community college areas that were starting up. But we still had, again, Boone Junior College. Yes.

So operating independently from this new system. And that, and eventually then most of those community college, all of them were all merged into one of these districts. Sure. And they also had, they also had vocational training in schools as well during this time. Okay.

And they also had a balance of vocational training with that. Like Ames had one. Boone never had that because in the Boone High School, because we actually had the junior college here. Sure. But some of the other schools. So we had the bond issue then. Oh, the bond issue.

So we had a bond issue that was going to be then to build a new building. Okay. And actually what the superintendent of the Boone Junior College did was, he recruited students to go out and they went door to door.

Knocking on the door then and selling this bond issue to the residents and why it was important. To build a new building. A new building. Would have been, at that time I'm guessing, would it be just like for Boone Junior College? Yes.

To be able to move into this facility and also make it appealing to what was going to be Des Moines Area Community College. Now it was a real gamble actually for the community to do this because we had no idea whether they were going to pick Boone to be the attend center.

And they said, well let's do this. Now the fascinating thing about it was in reading some of the reports in the time period and information on that, that they kind of sold as well then. Well if it doesn't work to be part of DMAK then, that could maybe be a new Boone High School.

Oh, okay. So he did have a contingency plan. It appears to be during this. And the bond was for just a little under a million dollars. 925,000. And that would be the current campus, the beginning of the current campus we have.

And of course at that point then, you know, it was basically on the edge of town. Which is kind of crazy now you think about how much Boone has grown out towards Highway 30 now. And of course at that point then it was out kind of at the edge of town.

Well we still had the old Lincoln Highway going through town and all of that stuff was happening. Because that was about the time I think weren't they looking at bypassing then? That's when 30 was being done? Yeah, 30 was basically part of the Interstate Highway Defense Act.

It was done in the 6th, yeah. And yeah, it was completed basically in the, if I remember right, in the late 60s. Yeah, so it was part of that. Alright. Now get this Jim, it passed with 96% approval. Whoa. Yes, you heard that right folks. 96%.

And I always tell people at DMACC, I always tell administrative, this is well then, that the community really, really, really supports our community college here. And really supports it. And I have evidence of this, how much they support it. 96% and it's just huge.

And like I mentioned, it was a real gamble because they had no idea what it was going to be. So in 68 then moved to the new, so in 68 they moved to the new 23 acre campus and in 69, we became part of DMACC or merged with Air 11.

And we were basically going to be basically the second campus really with it. I mean DMACC actually started down in Des Moines, that's a potential train down in Des Moines. And then they started building the Ankeny campus and then it was the Boone campus.

And then Boone after that and continued just to grow too. And so a lot of times we get the questions, why does the athletics for DMACC or housed at the Boone campus? It's because the Boone Junior College had athletics.

And it just made sense now that the athletic program would be worked into what would be DMACC and so that is why we actually have athletics then on the Boone campus. That's why I came here. Yeah, because it's already existing there. Yes. All right. Okay.

So built, what I'm guessing, what year was the vote? 65, 66? 64. 64 they voted. And the Iowa Community College was 65 and then it really, it was signed into the legislature, it really kind of started in 66. And that 67, 68.

They were watching all along and saying this is happening, this is going to happen across the state, this is going to give us an opportunity to be a location, a attendance center. Exactly right, as they would call it first.

So basically today then, you know, one of my goals is going to be just number one to let you know what's happening. Yeah. We're going to be celebrating in the fall of 2027 then as well. And we're still in the playing stages of that. Okay.

And so we're, so we want to make this a community celebration because obviously the community has supported us greatly over the years and that we want to make this and we're proud to be in Boone, we're proud to have the community support then and we want people, so we're, basically we're soliciting ideas.

What would the community like to see us do? How would you like to see us celebrate that as well? Now in conjunction with this, we're actually going to be doing a couple of projects then on the Boone campus. Okay. Number one, we're going to be doing a history wall. Okay.

That's going to trace the history of our origins at the Boone Junior College up to becoming the Boone campus of DMACC. Now this is where people can help us now is unfortunately, we're looking for objects. We don't have a lot of objects from the Boone, three dimensional objects.

From the Boone Junior College. So if anybody has anything that they'd be willing to loan or to donate to us for our cause then, we would love to incorporate that into the display because it makes it more and more interesting to visit if we have some three to match up besides.

I mean, obviously we have photographs and we have some material that way but we would be interested in that. So that's a way that you can kind of help two ways then with this. I mean, if you have any ideas, you can contact me.

If you want to help with it, we're always looking for volunteers as well then. And number two then, if you have any objects that would be with especially with the Boone Junior College.

That's really the, yeah, going back to the pre-60s, the information that like if you have golf clubs that were used on that championship team. Yeah, that would be really nice. Even if you have like a shirt or anything like that.

Yeah, and that, now the second way, the second thing that we're going to be doing on the campus is we're going to be, we're exploring the possibility of putting up some bare statues. Yeah, we're going to bear down. Oh yeah. All right. And that's some statues as well.

So we're kind of exploring that as well then. There we go. Yeah, I got my DMACC shirt on too. Exactly, you're representing. Just did this for you. So we're looking at doing that.

Now one of the long range goals of this would be the, first off to put a couple around the gym then as well. And that second would be then we've started talking about exploring the idea of putting some bare statues around the community. People could sponsor a bear.

That was well then. You know dovetailing on what Ames has done. With the cyclone. With cyclone. I think UNI has done that with the Panther as well. Yeah. And it just, you know I think that people really have liked that. They have fun.

And again to connect, you know whenever we can connect the community to our campus and what we're doing, everybody succeeds. Yeah. Everybody wins.

So, yeah, so you guys would be, well the idea would be, would you be looking for donations to help get these bare statues and then might be painting them or whatever? Yes, exactly. That would kind of be the long term goal, yes.

So kind of, so at some point then kind of keep on the lookout for that. So there might be, yes there would definitely be more pieces. So as more comes out, please be ready to help support the effort. Yes. Yeah, okay. And that would be exciting, yeah.

Yeah, so people are excited about that. Yeah, and they're really excited about how they're doing. It's kind of one of the long-held goals that we've had.

Yeah, and you can go back and basically you just say, because I don't know what we had for any kind of, when it was back at Boone Junior College, I don't know if they had a mascot. Actually, it was the Bears. I'd be minding Jim too if they may own it.

The one thing I have not found any reference to why it was the Bears. I've had that question from people over the years, why the Bears? I do not know, I've not found any reference to it. So it was always the Bears.

Really early on though, if you look at some of the Boone Junior College yearbooks, I think it was in like 29, maybe 30, fairly soon into the history then of the Boone Junior College that I started using the term Bears.

All of a sudden they would talk about the Bears, the Bears did this or the Bears had a good season or all of a sudden it just – The Bears only had one football season though. Exactly.

Well, but okay, so they always – So if anybody knows why that was the case then, I would love to hear from you. Yes. And I would love to hear from you. Boone Junior College Bears. The Bears, and of course it was kept on then by DMACC as well then. Okay.

A couple of other kind of events that are coming up then that the viewers, the listeners might be interested in. The men's basketball team. The number one seed. Number one seed in the country. Yep. Yep. And so they'll be playing then next Tuesday, March 17th, 11 a.m.

And the women's basketball, speaking of history then, they made history then. They did make history. The women's basketball team. So the first national tournament appearance in 60 years of basketball. All right. The first one then. So that's like so cool.

So everybody's very excited for them and happy for Jaws and the ladies there from that standpoint. She came through the program. She did. She did. She was through that program. Yeah. So again, they're seeded 13th I think weren't they? 13th, yes.

And they're playing then on Monday. They're playing on Monday then, March 16th at 9 a.m. All right. And the other event then to kind of keep on your calendar as well then would be then in my boots, the Ron Walkruck. Okay. And that would be on April 25th. And that's this year now.

That's really cool. They're going to be raising funds then from the Boone Area Veterans Center. Okay, yeah. So they're going to be raising funds for that as well then. And that's at 10 a.m. in McCose Park. And Sean's been doing that for a while.

We've got a coin around here too from it. But he does get a lot of students pulled into this. He does. Yep. And they work on it as well then. And he does a wonderful job. He's a veteran then. So we want to recognize veterans issues dealing with veterans as well.

And they do the 22 push-up challenge as well. And the 22 is important because it's actually, that's the number of veterans that commit suicide a day. Which is a really, really sad stat. That is just a horrible stat. But bring awareness to this.

So he does a great job of bringing awareness to these issues that relate to veterans. I know he gets a lot of students involved. But the big thing is it's coming up in April, the actual walk is.

And it's going to be out again representing what a century there for McCose Park this year. And again, you can do the rock if you want. I remember Drew Nelson always telling me, take the cornflakes and marshmallows. You know, do those. Take for the rock.

He said the younger people that are in shape, they can do the canned goods. Exactly. But yeah, they'll do the rock march. That's a big part. Yeah. And they fill it up. So they fill it up then with things for the food pantries. Yeah. So that's, yeah.

And again, it's going to be, again, a big fundraising opportunity again this year for the new Veterans Center that's being planned. So. Yeah. And again, there's ways to get yourself signed up for it. Exactly. And put it out there and let you know. It'll be there. So.

And I guess my last final shout out to the boot camp is if you haven't been out to the cafe, come out there and eat. It's probably one of the best deals in town.

And it's nice to see a lot of community members coming out there having coffee and having breakfast or having lunch out there. It is, again, community college. Yes, exactly. You're welcome. Come in. Come into the Quarter Center and yeah, enjoy yourself.

And you know, as people that probably know me, I'm a rather social person. Okay.

And so it's funny because a lot of times I get, if I have classes in that part of the building, I usually end up almost getting late for class at times because I see somebody and I want to talk to them and I want to talk to them. So it's always fun. I'm going to do this.

Yeah, exactly. So it's always fun that way. So again, he is a professor of history at Des Moines Area Community College on our Boone campus. But again, what does a junior college mean to you? That was a big campaign back in 64. And that's when voters 96%. I know. Wow.

That's pretty impressive. And I think it's one of the highest ever. I think it's actually one. I remember saying some stat on that. You know, certainly one of the highest, you know, ever on issues. I can't imagine there'd be many that would be higher than that.

People definitely wanted it and wanted to have it and wanted it to be a growing part of the community. Exactly right. Again, the history. So again, right now we're looking for if you have actual physical artifacts dating back.

I don't know when Boone Junior College would like to Charles would like to know about it. You know, make contact with them. Is it easy best to email you at DMACC or is that the easy way? Yeah, it's cw or one at DMACC dot edu. OK. And that's the easiest way to do it.

Or stop by, check out the restaurant and if you see them in the hall there. Yeah, you'll see them around. I walk around lots of you'll see me around. OK. Come out to your puppy room. And people get involved. Help us.

Yeah, we want to get involved as well then with it as well then and there probably will be some sponsorship opportunities as well then for people as well then.

You know, we might be even exploring some ideas of AB to help with some scholarships as well that may tie that into the event as well. The 100th anniversary of Boone Junior College coming up in 27. 27, yes. Charles, thanks for joining us. It's been epic. Yeah, as always.

As always. Thank you very much.