Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Friday, September 13, 2024
so that others may see. More from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. Make plans to attend the annual Camp Courageous Waffle Breakfast and Open House Sunday, September 29th from 8 a.m. until noon at the Camp Courageous Main Lodge. Enjoy made-to-order Belgian waffles and pork sausage, and tour this unique facility. Train rides, live music, zip-line rides, and more. See you for the waffle breakfast and open house Sunday, September 29th at Camp Courageous near Monticello, Iowa. Camp Courageous.org Back in the early 1950s, Ruth Fisher was having problems seeing clearly. An ophthalmologist at the University of Iowa concluded that her best hope was a cornea transplant. But there was a problem. A successful operation had to be conducted within 36 hours of receiving a donor cornea, and by law, at the time, those all had to come from outside our state. It took weeks before a donor could be found in Buffalo, New York, and three more months before another donor was found so surgery could be done on her other eye. Doctors saw a need for a new system, so during a speech to the 1954 state convention of Iowa Lions Clubs, Dr. Alson Brailey of the University of Iowa convinced the Lions to expand their well-known site conservation program. Lions from across Iowa contacted lawmakers, and got state law amended to allow Iowans to will body parts to a medical school or I-Bank. On September 13th, 1955, the Iowa Lions I-Bank was established with an office in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Iowa. The first staff member and executive director, Ruth Fisher, who served in the post until 1983. From those humble beginnings, the Iowa Lions I-Bank has called a 14,000-square-foot space at the U.I. Bio Ventures Center home since 2013, and thousands have been helped thanks to the Iowa Lions I-Bank, which opened on this date in 1955. And that's Iowa Almanac for September 13th. Follow us on Twitter @IowaAlmanac. Until Monday, I'm Jeff Stein.