page_title: Iowa State University
section_title: Beginnings
hierarchical_section_title: Iowa State University / History / Beginnings
caption_attribution_description: English: Adonijah Welch (April 12, 1821 – March 14, 1889), a United States Senator from Florida and the first president of Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State University).
context_page_description: Iowa State University of Science and Technology, is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. It is the largest university in the state of Iowa and the third largest university in the Big 12 athletic conference. Iowa State is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and is a member of the Association of American Universities.
  Founded in 1858 and coeducational from its start, Iowa State became the nation's first designated land-grant institution when the Iowa Legislature accepted the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act on September 11, 1862, making Iowa the first state in the nation to do so.
  Iowa State's academic offerings are administered today through eight colleges, including the graduate college, that offer over 100 bachelor's degree programs, 112 master's degree programs, and 83 doctoral programs, plus a professional degree program in Veterinary Medicine.
  Iowa State University's athletic teams, the Cyclones, compete in Division I of the NCAA and are a founding member of the Big 12. The Cyclones field 16 varsity teams and have won numerous NCAA national championships.
context_section_description: In 1856, the Iowa General Assembly enacted legislation to establish the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm.  This institution (now Iowa State University) was officially established on March 22, 1858, by the General Assembly. Story County was chosen as the location on June 21, 1859, beating proposals from Johnson, Kossuth, Marshall and Polk counties. The original farm of 648 acres (2.62 km²) was purchased for a cost of $5,379.
  Iowa was the first state in the nation to accept the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1862.  Iowa subsequently designated Iowa State as the land-grant college on March 29, 1864. From the start, Iowa Agricultural College focused on the ideals that higher education should be accessible to all and that the university should teach liberal and practical subjects. These ideals are integral to the land-grant university.
  The institution was coeducational from the first preparatory class admitted in 1868. The formal admitting of students began the following year, and the first graduating class of 1872 consisted of 24 men and two women.
  The Farm House, the first building on the Iowa State campus, was completed in 1861 before the campus was occupied by students or classrooms.  It became the home of the superintendent of the Model Farm and in later years, the deans of Agriculture, including Seaman Knapp and "Tama Jim" Wilson. Iowa State's first president, Adonijah Welch, briefly stayed at the Farm House and penned his inaugural speech in a second floor bedroom.
  The college's first farm tenants primed the land for agricultural experimentation. The Iowa Experiment Station was one of the university's prominent features.  Practical courses of instruction were taught, including one designed to give a general training for the career of a farmer.  Courses in mechanical, civil, electrical, and mining engineering were also part of the curriculum.
  In 1870, President Welch and I. P. Roberts, professor of agriculture, held three-day farmers' institutes at Cedar Falls, Council Bluffs, Washington, and Muscatine.  These became the earliest institutes held off-campus by a land grant institution and were the forerunners of 20th century extension.
  In 1872, the first courses were given in domestic economy (home economics, family and consumer sciences) and were taught by Mary B. Welch, the president's wife.  Iowa State became the first land grant university in the nation to offer training in domestic economy for college credit.
  In 1879, the School of Veterinary Science was organized, the first state veterinary college in the United States (although veterinary courses had been taught since the beginning of the College).  This was originally a two-year course leading to a diploma.  The veterinary course of study contained classes in zoology, botany, anatomy of domestic animals, veterinary obstetrics, and sanitary science.
  William M. Beardshear was appointed President of Iowa State in 1891. During his tenure, Iowa Agricultural College truly came of age.  Beardshear developed new agricultural programs and was instrumental in hiring premier faculty members such as Anson Marston, Louis B. Spinney, J.B. Weems, Perry G. Holden, and Maria Roberts.  He also expanded the university administration, and added Morrill Hall (1891), the Campanile (1899), Old Botany (now Carrie Chapman Catt Hall) (1892), and Margaret Hall (1895) to the campus, all of which stand today.  In his honor, Iowa State named its central administrative building (Central Building) after Beardshear in 1925.  In 1898, reflecting the school's growth during his tenure, it was renamed Iowa State College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts, or Iowa State for short.
  Today, Beardshear Hall holds the offices of the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Registrar, Provost, and student financial aid.  Catt Hall is named after alumna and famed suffragette Carrie Chapman Catt, and is the home of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
  In 1912 Iowa State had its first Homecoming celebration.  The idea was first proposed by Professor Samuel Beyer, the college's “patron sa
caption: Adonijah Welch, ISU's first president
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