Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Thursday, October 24, 2024
The Governor for Rural Schools. More from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. Election Day is Tuesday November 5th. Now is the time to make a plan. Whether you plan to vote absentee by mail in person at your County Auditor's Office before Election Day or at your polling place on November 5th, it's important you take steps now to make your plan at voterready.iowa.gov. Remember Election Day is Tuesday November 5th. Buy more information at voterready.iowa.gov. This message presented by the Iowa Secretary of State. Given his birth name, he was probably destined to be in politics. George Washington Clark was born in Shelby County, Indiana, on October 24th, 1852. He and his family moved to a farm near Drakesville in Davis County, Iowa when George was four years of age. He worked on the farm in the summer and went to school in the winter, including later walking the four miles to and from high school in Bloomfield. He became a teacher and then went on to the state University of Iowa and obtained a law degree. His political career began in 1900 when he was elected to the state legislature, ultimately becoming Speaker of the House. He was then twice elected as the state's lieutenant governor. George Clark was the Republican candidate for governor in 1912, a year when Teddy Roosevelt's Progressive Party split traditional Republican vote. But Clark overcame that and was elected to the first of three terms. Remembering his own childhood, Governor Clark was concerned about the quality of rural schools. Since as he once said, the necessities of farm life almost preclude the farm boy from the town high school. If he cannot come to the high school in town, then the high school must go to the country. His solution was consolidating country schools to make those that remained stronger. The plan led to more children in school, highest pay ever to that point for teachers and newer school buildings. Clark retired as governor in 1917 and served as dean of the Drake Law School for a year before returning to private law practice in Adele. Iowa's 21st governor and one of the early advocates for rural education, George Washington Clark, was born on this date in 1852. And that's Iowa Almanac for October 24th. There's more online at IowaAlmanac.com. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.