One of the most common architecture designs of the 1930s was Streamline Moderne. Art Deco’s less flashier cousin, it features designs and materials like stucco, chrome, straight-lines, rounded corners, and glass.

4028 Ovid Avenue (1939):

The land in Ashby Woods was originally owned by Newton B. Ashby and B.C. Hopkins. In the 1920s, developers parceled off the land, advertising the area as having many trees and being close to Beaverdale and local schools. The neighborhood was subject to restrictive covenants: only a white person could purchase a lot and build a house with as little as $50 down and 1% interest.¹

3940 Beaver Avenue (1939):

The Hoyt Sherman Trust Estate began parceling off land in Kimble Acres in 1912. Located at Beaver and Douglas Avenues, real estate agents advertised easy access to the area via main roads (Beaver and Douglas) and close proximity to the Urbandale streetcar. Buyers could purchase a tract with no interest, no taxes, just $10 down and a small monthly payment. The advertisements did not specify whether the area had restrictive covenants.²

1900 44th Street (1939):

The property was originally owned by the Hickman family. The original 160 acres were parceled and sold, with Hickman Acres being one such section platted in 1922. Developers advertised the area as “Acreage for Modern Homes.” The land was well-drained and had sewer, electricity, and easy access via the paved Hickman Avenue. It was also close to Perkins Elementary School, a high school, colleges, and churches. Buyers could purchase a lot for $10 down, $10 a month, with 6% interest. Guy B. Brunk was the realtor. The advertisements did not indicate whether the area had restrictive covenants.³

4816 Grand Avenue (1937):

This tract of land was developed by L.P. Brown of Des Moines in 1923. It was bordered by Grand Avenue to the north and Greenwood Park to the east. Advertisements labeled the division “Westwood.” Selling points included Greenwood Park, close proximity to Roosevelt High School, and access to the Ingersoll streetcar loop. The area was subject to restrictive covenants.⁴

2027 Nash Drive (1938):

The property was originally used to house visitors and entertainers during the early days of the Chautauqua circuit. Des Moines College purchased the land for development prior to World War I, then sold it to a St. Louis developer in 1923. The area was subject to restrictive covenants.⁵

2633 Fleur Drive (1934):

H.S.M. said of this house in 1935, “A 19-gun salute to Earl Butler and the modernistic house he’s building—that’s the sort of pioneering we need right now.” Earl Butler wanted a home that would withstand the Iowa elements and be economically sound. Some of the amenities this house provided were heating, air conditioning, a freezer, a refrigerator, and an ‘electric eye’ for opening each of the three-stall garages. The house also had a ramp connecting all three floors to limit accidents on stairs. Today, the Butler mansion is home to the Italian American Cultural Center of Iowa.⁶

900 Mulberry Street (1937):

The old Lincoln Grade School was demolished in favor of a “modern structure” in the 1920s. Until the fire department headquarters was built, the property served as a parking lot, generating revenue for the city. The headquarters, designed by Proudfoot & Rawson, was part of the New Deal’s Public Administration project.⁷

Additional Sources:

• “Iowa’s Concrete Houses of the 1930s.” Architectural Observer. 16 May 2020. Accessed: 30 August 2025.
• “Des Moines Breaks Ground on Italian-American Culture Center.” KCCI. 10 July 2025. Accessed: 30 August 2025.

Sources:

1. “4028 Ovid Avenue.” Polk County Assessor. Des Moines, Iowa. 2005. Accessed: 30 August 2025. “Going Fast!” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 27 May 1927, 35. “Lots for Sale.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 15 July 1934, 50. “Rain Delay Opening.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 13 May 1927, 5. ↩︎
2. “3940 Beaver Avenue.” Polk County Assessor. Des Moines, Iowa. 2025. Accessed: 24 May 2025. ”City’s Business, The.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 2 April 1924, 5. “Kimble Acres.” Official Plat of the South 1/2 of the S.E. 1/4 of Section 19 T. 79. R24. 27 June 1912. Polk County Accessor. Accessed: 30 August 2025. ”Kimble Acres.” The Register and Leader. Des Moines, Iowa: 11 May 1913, 6. ”Real Estate Transfers.” The Register and Leader. Des Moines, Iowa: 19 February 1913, 9. ↩︎
3. “1900 44th Street.” Polk County Assessor. Des Moines, Iowa. 2005. Accessed: 30 August 2025. ”Don’t Fail to see Hickman Highlands.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 05 May 1922, 25. “Hickman Highlands an Official Plat of the N.E. 1/4 o f the N.E. 1/4, of Section 31, Twp. 79N., R. 24W of the 5th P.M. Iowa.” 25 April 1922. Polk County Accessor. 2025. Accessed: 30 August 2025. McLaughlin, Lillian. ”Charming Old Home on ‘Hickman Farm’.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 01 July 1967, 18. ”See Hickman Highlands.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 25 April 1922, 17. ↩︎
4. “4816 Grand Avenue.” Polk County Assessor. Des Moines, Iowa. 2025. Accessed: 24 May 2025. “L.P. Brown Dead at 78.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 18 June 1958, 16. ”L.P. Brown’s Official Plat of Lot 1 Westwood, Section 12, 78-75.” 22 March 1923. Polk County Accessor. Accessed: 30 August 2025. ”West End.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 03 June 1923, 36. ”Westwood.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 25 November 1923, 44. ”Westwood.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 19 April 1924, 11. ”Westwood.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 15 June 1924, 51. ↩︎
5. “2027 Nash Drive.” Polk County Assessor. Des Moines, Iowa. 2025. Accessed: 24 May 2025. Elm, L.M. “Land Deed Restrictions (1930s).” L.M. Elm, Historical Novelist. 24 April 2022. Accessed: 30 August 2025. ↩︎
6. H. S. M. “Over the Coffee.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 25 June 1935, 16. “House for Earl Butler, Des Moines, Iowa.” Architectural Forum 67, no. 3 (1937): 179–86. Bolten, Kathy A. ”Italian American Cultural center of Iowa Purchasing Iconic Butler Mansion for $3.3 Million.” Business Record. 20 December 2020. Accessed: 20 April 2020. ↩︎
7. “City Clears Way for New Fire Station.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 06 January 1937, 13. ”Des Moines Social Club Headquarters.” Iowa Architectural Foundation. Des Moines, Iowa. 2025. Accessed: 30 August 2025. ”Farewell to Old School.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 25 April 1924, 12. ↩︎

Jujitsu for women didn’t start as a means for women’s self-protection. It was an offshoot of the Progressive Era’s views on physical education. If a woman strengthened herself physically and mentally, she’d become a better mother.¹

Women in the U.K. (white women especially) took the mental aspects of women’s advancement even further. When men refused to surrender their suffrage power, women used their newfound skills including jujitsu to gain the right to vote. Enfranchisement in the U.S. came later with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.²

What types of self-defense were women learning? It varied by instructor and location. One of my favorite photographs of young girls learning jujitsu comes from the Yoshiaki Yamashita album from the Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries (posted above).³

Des Moines, Iowa

The advertisements I was able to locate to teach women jujitsu popped up in Iowa newspapers from 1900-1930s. Then didn’t show up again until the late 1960s. Was it due to the threat of Japanese imperialism? The return to domesticity of the 1950s? Maybe all of the above? I don’t know how many women took these classes. But there must have at least been a demand. Otherwise, why advertise?³

1. Rouse, Wendy, and Beth Slutsky. “Empowering the Physical and Political Self: Women and the Practice of Self-Defense, 1890-1920.” Journal of the Gilded and Progressive Era 13, no. 4 (2014): 470–99. ↩︎
2. “The Suffragettes Who Used Jiu-Jitsu To Literally Fight For Their Right To Vote,” All That’s Interesting. April 23, 2017. https://allthatsinteresting.com/jujutsu-suffragettes. ↩︎
3. Senryuken, Noguchi. Jujutsu. (1913). Translated by Eric Shahan, 2020. Darrell Max Craig. Japanese Jiu-Jitsu. Rutland, Vermont: Tuttle Publishing, 1995. ↩︎
4. “Jiu Jitsu School.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: February 27, 1923, 13.
   “Jiu Jitsu Club.” March 12, 1923. Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 12.
   “Draws ‘Oofs’ Of Sheriffs By Jiu-Jitsu.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: December 12, 1935, # 17. “Jiu-Jitsu Expert to Teach Self-Defense.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: January 29, 1924, 3. “Masters of Self-Defense.” Iowa Bystander. Des Moines, Iowa: April 11, 1913, 2. ↩︎

When writing my latest novel, the thing that struck me the most was the amount of time my characters spent in cars. The Middle West (using the 1930s term here) is so spread out. An automobile is a necessity. Then or now.

By the late 1920s, nearly 1 out of 3 people owned an automobile in Iowa.¹ A bond initiative in the 1920s kept the expansion of paving roads a possibility throughout the Great Depression.² Making getting from point A to point B that much easier (Safer is for a different post). However, building roads was one thing maintaining them was another. Many cash-strapped counties had difficulty keeping up with maintenance.³

With the increase of car traffic on Iowa roads, crime followed. Ola Babcock Miller, was Iowa’s first woman secretary of state, elected in 1932. One of her champion projects was pushing the legislature to pass a law creating an agency to monitor state road traffic. In 1935 the legislature formed the Iowa Highway Patrol.⁴

Per a 1936 Iowa travel map⁵, there were a lot of U.S. and Iowa highways available in 1937. Here are a few I’m highlighting:

US Highways

• Highway 6: Runs east and west and is considered the longest highway created in the U.S. It cuts through the south-central portion of Iowa. While it reached coast to coast in 1937, not all of it was paved.⁶
• Highway 65: Runs north and south. Originally christened Jefferson Highway until the number system superseded the name in 1926. This road ran from Louisiana all the way to Minnesota. The road used a viaduct cutting over railroad lines located on 7th street in Des Moines, Iowa, before moving north out of town.⁷

State Highways

• Iowa State Highway 7: Was decommissioned in 1939 and replaced with US Highway 32. In its infancy, the only section paved was at Johnston Station (now Johnston, Iowa) to Des Moines. By the end of the 1930s, it stretched east to west across the state.⁸
• Iowa State Highway 60: Was decommissioned in 1969. It connected towns in north central Iowa with Des Moines.⁹

Sources:

1. ^{“Peverills and the Automobile 1906-1952.” Amherst College Digital Collection. Accessed: 7 November 2023.} ↩︎
2. ^{Thompson, William. Transportation in Iowa. Iowa: Iowa Department of Transportation, 1989, p. 155.} ↩︎
3. ^{Ibid, p. 180.} ↩︎
4. ^{Nebbe, Charity. “History of the Iowa State Patrol.” Iowa Public Radio. 23 July 2014. Accessed: 10 November 2023. Location: https://www.iowapublicradio.org/show/talk-of-iowa/2014-07-23/history-of-the-iowa-state-patrol. I would recommend a visit to the Iowa Gold Star Museum where one wing is devoted to the history of the Iowa State Patrol.} ↩︎
5. ^{“Iowa Highway Map, 1936.” Ames, Iowa: Iowa State Highway Commission, 1936. Accessed: 10 November 2023. The WPA Guide to Iowa is also a good source, especially their “Travel” chapters which highlight which paved roads to take for touring the state.} ↩︎
6. ^{“Historic U.S. Route 6.” Travel Iowa. 2023. Weingroff, Richard F. “U.S. 6 – The Grand Army of the Republic Highway.” Highway History, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Commission. 27 June 2017. Accessed: 10 November 2023.} ↩︎
7. ^{Henry, Jr., Lyell D. The Jefferson Highway. Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 2016, pp. 129-138.} ↩︎
8. ^{Hancock, Jason. “Iowa Highways: 1 to 9.” Iowa Highways. 3 June 2023. Accessed: 10 November 2023.} ↩︎
9. _{Ibid. “Iowa Highways: 60 to 69.” Iowa Highways. 3 June 2023. Accessed: 17 May 2021.} ↩︎

“Ask the Man Who Owns One” Packard Advertising 1937

The economy was looking a little better by the spring of 1937.¹ The Packard Automobile Company decided to cash in on the prosperity. “From 1930 until World War II, Packard was the foremost luxury automobile, not only in America but internationally as well.”² This time around Packard advertisers turned their attention to the female market. Especially with the introduction of lower-cost models such as the Six and One-Twenty.³

An upper-middle-class woman in the late 1930s needed a Packard for the following:

1) Shopping 2) ‘Jitneying’ aka dropping the kids off at school 3) A social life 4) Save money.⁴

The advertising ploy apparently worked. Packard saw an increase in production from 1936 (80,699) to 1937 (109,518). Due to the Crash of 1937, much of the previous years’ prosperity was lost (50,260).⁵

Des Moines, Iowa

One of the lead Packard Dealers was Hudson-Jones Automobile Company, located at 1408 Locust Street. This area of Des Moines was known as “Auto Row” on the west side of downtown as early as 1916 until post-WWII when many of the auto dealers moved to the east side of the Des Moines River.⁶ One historian suggested the garages became too small to accommodate the length of the cars.⁷ The Hudson-Jones Dealership property was owned by the Hubbells who provided a long-term lease to the auto dealer. By the late 1920s, Hudson carried a wide range of cars. Later, it operated as a wholesale distributor to many rural towns in Iowa. For example, a dealer would bring his customer to Des Moines for purchase, and the dealer would then provide the ongoing maintenance. The building was expanded in 1933 and later demolished to make way for new construction in 2002.⁸

A Packard is my favorite pre-World War II car. I felt they had a refinement and elegance that a lot of cars of the era couldn’t match. I was fortunate enough to sit in one at the Gilmore Car Museum. I’m very short, but I was able to adjust the seat and sit comfortably (the giant steering wheel takes some getting used to).

Sources:

1. ^{“Depression of 1937.” Digital History. 2021. Accessed: 6 November 2023.} ↩︎
2. ^{“Peverills and the Automobile 1906-1952.” Amherst College Digital Collection. Accessed: 7 November 2023.} ↩︎
3. ^{Arthur W. Einstein. “Ask the Man Who Owns One”: An Illustrated History of Packard Advertising. New York: McFarland & Company, 2016.} ↩︎
4. ^{Heitmann, John. “1937 Packard 120 — The Perfect Car for a Woman’s Personal Use.” The Automobile and American Life. 21 April 2018. Accessed: 6 November 2023. “Three Reasons Why Women Leave Home.” Good Housekeeping, 3. Volume 104 (March 1937): 13. Cornell University Library Digital Collections. Accessed: 6 November 2023. “Our Chauffeur Wears Skirts.” Good Housekeeping, 5. Volume 104. (May 1937): 13. Cornell University Library Digital Collections. Accessed: 6 November 2023.} ↩︎
5. ^{Einstein. “Ask the Man Who Owns One”. Most women didn’t have access to available credit to purchase a car. And if they did they needed a male co-signer until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act was passed in 1974. Sandberg, Erica, and Claire Dickey. “The History of Women and Credit Cards.” Bankrate. 1 March 2023. Accessed: 23 November 7.} ↩︎
6. ^{Jacobsen, James E. “D.S. Chamberlain Building.” National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. 13 March 2007. Accessed: 7 November 2023.} ↩︎
7. ^{James, Jennifer. “G.W. Jones Building.” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. United States Department of Interior, National Park Service. 29 April 2016. Accessed: 7 November 2023.} ↩︎
8. ^{“Peverills and the Automobile 1906-1952.” Amherst College Digital Collection. Accessed: 7 November 2023. “The Des Moines Public Library building turns 15 with a look back at the past.” Des Moines Register. Online. 8 April 2021. “Hudson-Jones Leases Building.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 16 June 1933, 17.} ↩︎

History

Chinese food was one of the first ‘fast food’ alternatives in the early twentieth century. It was cheap, incredibly tasty, and wholly an American invention. In the 1920s people were flushed with extra cash. Chop suey houses were often open late to serve the partying crowd. Or patrons who desired a taste of something more exotic than what they served at home.¹

Des Moines, Iowa

Considered by many to be Des Moines’ oldest Chinese restaurant, King Ying Low opened its doors on 5th and Locust Streets in 1902. After a stint in the Minnesota important business, Lee Dinn was persuaded to travel south because “Des Moines people are good with whom to deal.” The restaurant moved to its second location on the second floor of 618 Mulberry Street where the business remained until a reality company purchased the building and demolished it for a parking lot in 1940.²

The stairs leading to the second floor of the Mulberry Street location were rickety and treacherous in the winter. When guests finally arrived on the second floor, they were greeted by waves of grease and fried food. Marble table tops offered chopsticks rather than silverware. Staff dressed in black trousers, white shirts, and black bow ties. If you couldn’t afford to venture up to the restaurant, they had their own delivery service which mixed everything and placed the food in narrow, paper boxes with cut-out folded tops.³

Menu:

Steaks ($ .70 which is what people came in for), salads, ice cream, chop suey (hash style broth with bits of veggies and meat), chow mien, fish (cooked in a brown sauce), egg rolls, egg foo (Kid’s menu). Drinks – Tea or ‘no-mas-das” or rice liquor.⁴

Sources:

Dorothy Schwieder, a renowned historian, summed up late 1930s Iowa scholarship in one brief paragraph (while entire chapters of this book were devoted to 1929-1932 in extensive, exhaustive detail, but I digress…):

By 1937 economic conditions had improved for both rural and urban dwellers in Iowa. The Agricultural Adjustment Act, passed in 1933, had brought improved conditions for Iowa’s farm families. In 1932 national farm income had totaled $5.5 billion, and that amount had risen to nearly $8.7 billion in 1935. Though participation in the A.A.A. was voluntary, approximately 75% of Iowa farmers took part. Many Iowans talked in terms of the Depression coming to an end in 1938.¹

Dorothy Schwieder. Iowa the Middle Land. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1996, p. 272.

If this is the extent of late 1930s Iowa scholarship, where does a writer of historical fiction go in search of sources?

WPA Guides:

History:

48 state guides were published. Each guide provided general state history and offered suggested tours through varying parts of the state.²

Iowa:

Originally published in 1938 as Iowa: A Guide to the Hawkeye State, this tome covers Iowa in detail. General history, cities, maps, and suggestive travel guides. There are places in Des Moines that were either glossed over or intentionally excluded (see Maps: redlining).³

Newspapers:

Des Moines Register:

Gardner Cowles, Sr purchased the Register and Leader in 1903. By 1915 newspaper’s name changed to The Des Moines Register. Cowles, Sr. pushed distribution via train and truck (Or any transportation necessary to get his newspapers into readers’ hands). This newspaper focused on world and state-wide issues. It was Des Moines’ morning newspaper.⁴

Des Moines Tribune:

This was Des Moines’ evening newspaper. While it was also owned by the Cowles family, the newspaper maintained its own staff and was often considered a rival of the Des Moines Register. This paper covered Des Moines and the surrounding towns exclusively.⁵ (5).

Bystander:

Was the state-wide Black newspaper. Originally published as the Iowa State Bystander in 1894. By 1937 the newspaper was known as The Bystander. It was owned by James B. Morris a lawyer and political leader.⁶

Maps:

Regular Map:

One of my favorite maps to reference is The Official Map and Guide of Des Moines. Des Moines, Iowa: Midland Map & Engineering, Co., 1920. It has wonderful details of parks, official buildings, and call-out locations. While this map is a decade earlier than my story (there are lots of places I know did not exist in 1920 but did in 1937), this map is still a great resource for getting a visual clue of Des Moines, Iowa.⁷

Redlining:

Midland Map & Engineering’s 1920 map tells only part of the story. Where people lived and why is another. The mortgage industry and the U.S. government developed redlining maps from 1934-1938. Government agencies used and strengthened local segregation practices by establishing a color-coded system to highlight reinvestment possibilities. Areas deemed unfit for investment (predominately non-white neighborhoods), were given a red status. One such redlining map may be found here.⁸

One of the joys and frustrations of historical fiction is the hunt for details. It can also be an excuse to avoid writing. There are a couple of rules I follow so I don’t fall into the research trap. (1) 1:2 Rule: One primary source for two secondary sources. (2) I stop digging when secondary sources cite books I’ve already read. The setting is an important fiction element and should be a character of its own. Its job should be to shape the character(s) and establish the rules of society. Will the characters follow society’s rules? Or break them? What are the consequences of doing either one? Maybe answering those questions is why I love reading and writing historical fiction.

My own personal map of Des Moines in 1937 is found here.

Sources:

---

1. Schwieder, Dorothy. Iowa the Middle Land. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1996, p. 272. ↩︎
2. Corrigan, Maureen. “‘Republic of Detours’ Revisits A Group of Quirky, Depression-Era Guides to the States.” NPR. 16 June 2021. Accessed: 03 August 2022; Elm, L.M. “Reviews.” L.M. Historical Novelist. 2022. Accessed: 00 August 2022; Elving, Ron. “In the 1930s, Works Program Spelled HOPE for Millions of Jobless Americans.” NPR. 4 April 2020. Accessed: 03 August 2022. ↩︎
3. WPA Guide to 1930s Iowa. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 1995, pp. 227-246, 389-390. ↩︎
4. Friedricks, William B. Covering Iowa: The History of the Des Moines Register and Tribune Company, 1849-1985. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press, 2000. ↩︎
5. Ibid. ↩︎
6. Cotten, Sally Steves. “The Iowa Bystander: A History of the First Twenty-Five Years.” Masters Thesis. Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University, 1983. Accessed: 03 August 2022; La Brie III, Henry G. “James B. Morris Sr. and the Iowa Bystander.” The Annals of Iowa, 42 (1974), 314-322. Accessed: 03 August 2022; 1894-1921 is available through an online subscription service; 1921-1972 is available on microfilm at The State of Iowa Historical Society archives in Des Moines & Iowa City. ↩︎
7. The Official Map and Guide of Des Moines. Des Moines, Iowa: Midland Map & Engineering, Co., 1920. Accessed: 03 August 2022. ↩︎
8. Johnson, Lauren and Kendly Larson. “Iowa’s Maps.” Redlining in DSM. 2022. Accessed: 03 August 2022. ↩︎

United States

Home ownership was an American Dream. While it was attainable for whites, it was not for nonwhites in the first half of the twentieth century. Corrigan V. Buckley, a Supreme Court decision, made segregation in real estate legal. Many discriminatory practices were established through land developers who placed restrictive covenants clauses into deeds as the land was subdivided and sold.

The language varied. But its goal was to exclude. “Hebrews” meant Jews; “Ethiopians” meant African ancestry; “Malays” meant Filipinos; and “Asiatic” meant anyone from the Asian continent.” Real estate agents, even though they had a fiduciary responsibility, funneled their clients into segregated neighborhoods. Many real estate agents wanted to do the right thing. Yet, doing so could mean loss of their jobs, or a potential risk of violence to themselves or their families when they attempted to ‘block bust’ or diversify an all white neighborhood.

Congress enacted the National Housing Act of 1934. This law used federal money to back home mortgages. Federal agents, using segregation practices already in place at local levels, set about defining individuals access to credit by where they lived. Places that barred everyone but whites, received blue and green colors on these new federal maps. Those areas not deserving of reinvestment where given yellow or red designations.

Access to little or no credit for those living in theses “redlined” areas, opened up individuals to unscrumptious speculators. White homeowners could sell to speculators instead blacks outright. Shadier agents could split the profits with the speculator once they sold a house on contract for exorbitant prices. “Articles of Agreement for Warrant Deed” were what contract loans were legally called. They had all the requirements of home ownership, with the vulnerability of payment. If one payment was missed they could be evicted and lose out on all of their premium payments.

And all of this was perfectly legal.

Today, many homeowners have had to confront these racial practices from the past. Removing racial exclusion language from deeds is often difficult or impossible. Some state legislatures are passing laws to begin repairing the wrongs of the past.

Des Moines, Iowa

Early History

Sixty-two acres on the northwest side of Des Moines once housed speakers, singers, and entertainers during the early days of the Chautauqua circuit. Des Moines College, a Baptist organization, purchased the property in hopes of building a new university. Funding and building material became scarce during World War I. The idea of a new college was abandoned. The property was not.

Developers

Chautauqua Park developed into residential property by Des Moines University was auctioned off in 1923. Louisville Real Estate and Development Company of Louisville, Kentucky was in charge subdividing the property into 150 lots with serpentine drives, and seven acres set aside for a park. Various architects and developers built Tudor and Colonial revivals from 1923-1941. Peak construction occurred from 1925-1930 & 1938-1941. 1925-1930 29 homes 1931-1937 just a dozen dwellings; 1938-1941 51 homes were built. 26 more after 1942.

Restrictive Covenants

Des Moines University sale of the property in 1923 included this restrictive covenant, “This property is not to be sold or leased to any person of African descent. This however, does not prevent its occupancy as servants.” This restriction would be in place until a successful black engineer, Archie Alexander, challenged it in an Iowa court and won. Restrictive covenants were illegal in Iowa before the federal challenge two decades later.

All the action being reported in the newspapers propelled Catherine Switzer to write an editorial in 1944:

“We are strange people. We will dash clear across the world to fight for democracy and the underdog, while on our own shores, we, in part, lack that democracy.”

Switzer, Catherine B. “Sooty Skirts.” Editorial. Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 27 January 1944, p. 20

SOURCES:

• “1,200 Attend Auction at Chatauqua Park.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 18 July 1923, 14.
• “Absolute, Genuine Auction Sale.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 13 July 1923, 15.
• “Alexander Reports A Threat by Phone.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 22 January 1944, 7.
• “Auction!” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 17 July 1923, 10.
• “Chautauqua Park.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 09 July 1923, 19.
• “Chautauqua Park to be Sold by School” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 06 July 1923, 17.
• City Map of Des Moines, Iowa. Des Moines, Iowa: American Lithographing and Printing, Co., 1931. “Redline Map.” Redlining in Des Moines. 2020. Accessed: 01 January 2021.
• Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “The Ghetto, Public Policy, and the Jewish Exception.” The Atlantic. Online. 28 February 2013. Accessed: 01 January 2022.
• “Drop Action on House of Alexanders.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 20 December 1944, 9.
• “FDR and Housing Legislation.” FDR Libary. Accessed: 01 January 2021.
• “Home.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 17 January 1944, 1.
• “House Sale Challenged in Court Action.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 26 January 1944, 11.
• “House Sale Questioned by Group.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 17 January 1944, 1.
• Landis, Leo. “Archie Alexander Built Equality Across the Nation.” Iowa Life. Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 28 February 2021, 1E, E4.
• Lutz, Renda. “Ownership of Des Moines Home was in Dispute.” Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa: 16 February 2000, 9AT-SO.
• “National Housing Act (1934).” The Living New Deal. 18 November 2016. Accessed: 01 January 2022.
• Rothstein, Richard. The Color of the Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America. New York: Liveright, 2017.
• Satter, Beryl. Family Properties: Race, Real Estate, and the Exploitation of Black Urban America. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2009.
• Silva, Catherine. “Racial Restrictive Covenants History.” Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project. 2020. Accessed: 01 January 2021.
• Spiegel, Robert H. “Price, Too, Is a Big Factor in Negro Housing Here.” Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 25 June 1956, 13.
• Switzer, Catherine B. “Sooty Skirts.” Editorial. Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa: 27 January 1944, 20.
• Thompson, Cheryl W., Cristina Kim, and Natalie Moore. “Racial Covenants, A Relic of the Past, Are Still on the Books Across the Country.” NPR. 17 November 2021. Accessed: 01 January 2022. Location:
• United States Department of Interior National Park Service. “Chautauqua Park Historic District.” January 1989. Accessed: 18 December 2016.

Felix Underwood testified before Congress in 1938 regarding his experiences managing Mississippi’s Board of Health. One patient murdered his wife and his mother-in-law then killed himself. Tragic–yes. Even more tragic because the man had lost his mind due to syphilis (1).

What did doctors know in the 1930s?

• Caused by the corkscrew bacteria spirochaeta pallida
• Spread through contact with sores
• Higher percentage of cases found in cities
• Rates of infection for Negros was higher than Whites
• Prostitution played a larger role in its spread
• Treatment took 6 months to a year but it didn’t guarantee a cure
• Children were not treated for congenital syphilis (2)

Stages:

1. Primary: A chancre develops after several weeks at the initial infection site. There may be only one, or several, or simply not visible. The chancre is painless and heals roughly between 3-6 weeks.

1. Secondary: Several months after the chancre heals, a rash appears all over the body and may include fever, aches, and swollen lymph nodes. These symptoms may last several weeks or on and off for over a year.

1. Latent: Considered the ‘silent stage’ where the bacteria lays dormant for years or awakened to destroy other areas of the body

1. Tertiary: 15%-30% of those infected develop damages to ocular, neurological, or pulmonary issues from the disease (3)

Diagnosis:

Wassermann Test:

First developed in 1906 as a means to diagnosis 80% of primary stage syphilis cases. Blood was drawn from a possibly infected patient and examined under a microscope. However, the rate of diagnosis plummeted after the patient moved out of the primary stage (4). The cost to administer and have the blood tested was $25.00, which put a simple diagnosis out of reach for many (5).

Kahn Test:

Developed in the mid 1920s by a immunologist working for the Michigan Department of Health. It was another means to test syphilis (6). The test didn’t prove any better at diagnosing second stage syphilis anymore than the Wassermann Test did (7).

If the blood test returned a positive result, the patient had several options:

1. Mabel Dodge Luhan, a famous patroness of the arts in New Mexico, swore off sex all together after becoming infected for a third time by her third husband (8). Let’s be honest, not everyone would devote themselves to celibacy
2. Do nothing (run the risk of infecting children, spouse, or other sexual partners)
3. Wear a condom
4. Option for Cure

Condoms:

Danny McGoorty hated wearing condoms. He equated it to, “jacking off with boxing gloves.” Prophylactics could be purchased for around $ .25 and came in a little tin. Mary Crosby’s boyfriend didn’t share Gooty’s sentiment and preferred Merry Widows. However, during post-coital bliss, Mary recounted her boyfriend holding the spent condom up to the light (she was never sure if he was marveling at his ejaculation or checking for leaks) (9).

Condoms by the 1930s were made with varying degrees of rubber and fell under the radar of government regulation. The wearer had to basis their purchase on trial and error. However, by 1937 the federal government shed its reluctance and got into bed with the condom industry.

Option for a Cure:

The 1930s saw a dramatic rise in reported syphilis cases. FDR appointed a Surgeon General with his main focus in eradicating syphilis through education, diagnosis, and treatment (10).

The first part was easy. Surgeon General Parran wrote a book and flooded local newspapers with articles from 1936 to 1937 making readers even more aware of the S.T.D. Diagnosis in the late 1930s became free to anyone willing to take the Wassermann Test. (11) Treatment, however, was not.

Treatment didn’t guarantee a cure. It was also long (six months to two years depending on the type of treatment). And pricy (running anywhere from $50.00 to $500.00) (12). One had to hope they could trust their doctor to cure them and not gouge their pocket book.

Arsenic/Mercury:

One received 20 injections over a twenty month period supplemented with mercury, creams, and sodium bismuth. Side effects included constant pain at the injection site, vomiting, and headaches (13).

Salvaran:

A hypo-thermotic treatment where the solution was highly unstable when exposed to air, needed to be refrigerated, and diluted with water before usage. Possible side effects were kidney failure, seizures, rash, infections, and death. It’s cousin, Neo-Salvaren was more stable and offered up the same side effects. Both were ineffective in treatment of second stage sphyilis. (14)

Fever:

Also called the Wagner-Jauregg Cure developed in 1917. It amounted to getting the body to 103-107 degrees to kill the bacteria. The means could be done via a machine or giving a patient malaria to induce the high level of constant fever. It was also ineffective with treating anything beyond first stage syphilis (15).

Penicillin:

Did not become in steady use for the curing of syphilis to the masses until WWII even though it was first discovered in 1928 (16). Danny McGoorty said, “Think how easy it is today. The doctor just gives you a shot of penicillin and you don’t have clap or syph [sic] anymore. Kids today don’t know what hell is.” (17)

IOWA

By 1937 Iowa had 7,500 reported syphilis cases (18). The state of Iowa in 1937 did not require a blood test as a perquisite for getting a marriage license. Many couples in Illinois simply hoped the boarder to get one (19). The Wassermann Test was still the basis and the results were sent to the University of Iowa laboratories for testing. Results were then sent privately to a physician who would share the results and discuss treatment with the patient (20).

SOURCES:

1. Lord, Alexandra D. Condom Nation. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010, 52.
2. Even the Assistant Surgeon General to the United States couldn’t help but play the race card when trying to explain his reasoning behind Iowa’s lower syphilis rates when compared to other states (“Syphilis Rate Low in State.” Des Moines Register, 29 Apr. 1936, p. 3). His superior left out race in his “The Reasons for War on Syphilis.” Des Moines Register, 31 Jan. 1937, p. 16; Do a google search on Tuskegee Syphilis experiment and you’ll see how race bias controlled how doctors justified the spread and treatment of syphilis. 
3. “Syphilis.” Mayo Clinic. 2021. Accessed: 18 April 2021. Location:
4. Hemarajata, Dr. Peera. “A Brief History of Laboratory Diagnostic for Syphilis.” America Society for Microbiology. 6 January 2020. Accessed: 18 April 2021. Location:
5. Poirier, Suzanne. Chicago’s War on Syphilis, 1937-1940. Chicago: University of Illinois, 1995, 62.
6. Shapiro-Shapin, Carolyn. “‘In the Course of Routine Analysis’: Re-Envisioning Research in State Departments of Health, 1920–1940.” Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, vol. 70, no. 3, 2015, pp. 333–364.
7. Osmond, T. E., and Douglas McClean. “A Comparison Of The Kahn And Wassermann Tests On 500 Serums.” The British Medical Journal, vol. 1, no. 3301, 1924, pp. 617–618. 
8. Ropper, Ph.D., Allan H. How the Brain Lost Its Mind. Peguin Random House, 2019, 130.
9. Both Danny McGoorty and Mary McCarthy recount their experiences with sex in the 1920s and 1930s. Byrne, Robert. McGoorty: A Pool Room Hustler. Broadway Books, 2004, pp. 23, 24; McCarthy, Mary. How I Grew. Harcourt, Brace, Joranovich, Inc., 1987, pp. 77-78.
10. Lord, Alexandra D. Condom Nation. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010, pp. 49, 52, 56, 67.
11.  “The Reasons for War on Syphilis.” Des Moines Register, 31 Jan. 1937, p. 16. Newspapers.com accessed 17 April 2021, displayed 252 articles combined in The Tribune and The Des Moines Register referencing syphilis from January 1, 1936 to December 31, 1937. Articles ranged anywhere from what Iowa was doing as well as neighboring states, doctors, symptoms, cures, testing, statistics, and editorials regarding syphilis.
12. Poirier, Suzanne. Chicago’s War on Syphilis, 1937-1940. Chicago: University of Illinois, 1995, p. 52.
13. Ropper, Ph.D., Allan H. How the Brain Lost Its Mind. Peguin Random House, 2019, p. 131.
14. Ibid, pp. 119, 123, 130, 131.
15. Ibid, p. 139.  Grant, Donald. “Fever Device to Fight Two Diseases.” Des Moines Register, 14 Oct. 1936, p. 3.
16. Firth, John. “Syphilis — It’s Early History and Treatment Until Penicillin and the Debate on its Origins.” History, 4. Volume 20. Accessed: 18 April 2021.
17. Byrne, Robert. McGoorty: A Pool Room Hustler. Broadway Books, 2004, p. 27.
18. “New Cases of Syphilis in Iowa.” Des Moines Register, Morning, 27 Sept. 1937, p. 10.
19. Poirier, Suzanne. Chicago’s War on Syphilis, 1937-1940. Chicago: University of Illinois, 1995, pp. 55, 67.
20. Owens, Herbert G. “Calhoun County Drive Against Syphilis.” Des Moines Tribune, 9 Dec. 1937, p. 20.