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Preserving Black History in Iowa City:
Tate Arms and the Iowa Federation Home
Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission
Residents of the Iowa Federation Home
The Need for Safe and Decent Housing for Students of Color
Although the University of Iowa had accepted Black students since the 1870s, Black
students were excluded from campus dormitories until the 1940s. During this period of
segregated housing, members of Iowa City’s small Black community, along with a state -
wide organization of Black women, took it upon themselves to provide places for Black
students to live.
Iowa Federation Home
The Iowa Federation Home, located at 942 Iowa Avenue, was a dormitory for Black
female students. In 1919, a group of students sought help from the Iowa Federation of
Colored Women’s Clubs. The organization responded by conducting an ambitious
fundraising campaign that raised enough to purchase a house. The Federation Home
opened in 1920. Prior to its establishment, these students struggled to find housing in
Iowa City. Many property owners refused to rent or sell to persons of color and housing
was hard to come by for Black university students. Some served as live-in domestic
workers as they pursued their education and others found housing with members of
Iowa City’s small Black community. At its peak, the Federation Home provided housing
for 17 women and acted as a social center for Black students housed elsewhere. The
dormitory was home to many trailblazers; residents included some of the first Black
women to graduate from the University of Iowa’s College of Law and College of
Pharmacy. The Federation Home closed in 1950, four years after campus dormitories
integrated.
Sue M. Brown served as the chair of the Federation
Home, 942 Iowa Avenue, from 1920-1941
Photo 2016
Residents of the Iowa Federation Home
Tate Arms
From 1940 through the mid-1960s, many Black male students lived at the Tate Arms,
located at 914 S. Dubuque Street. Tate Arms was a private boarding house owned
and operated by Elizabeth “Bettye” Crawford Tate and Junious “Bud” Tate. Bettye
worked at the University of Iowa’s cardiovascular laboratory and Bud owned a
janitorial service. The Tates were one of several Black families who provided housing
to students. Today, both the Federation Home and Tate Arms are privately owned
apartment buildings.
National Register of Historic Places
Iowa City recently received a grant from the National Park Service to help preserve
these two homes and develop educational material about their history. The Iowa
City Historic Preservation Commission is currently working towards getting these
properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This will solidify their
importance as historic landmarks associated with the struggle for housing equality
for Black students in Iowa City. Grant money will also be used to install plaques in
front of each building, conveying their historical significance to passersby.
Elizabeth “Bettye” Crawford Tate and her husband,
Junious, owned and operated the Tate Arms,
914 S. Dubuque Street
Photo 2017
Information drawn from ‘”‘Maintaining a Home for Girls’: The Iowa Federation of Colored Women’s
Clubs at the University of Iowa, 1919-1950” and “Facing Hostility, Finding Housing: African American
Students at the University of Iowa, 1920s-1950s” by Richard M. Breaux and “Sowing Seeds of Kindness—
and Change: A History of the Iowa Association of Colored Women’s Clubs” by Anne Beiser Allen.
“On that front porch, we talked of our dreams, laid out
future plans, told each other how many kids we wanted to
have. I won’t ever forget that house.”
-Barbara Brown James,
speaking about her memories
of living at the Iowa Federation Home
Students outside the Federation Home, 1938
If you have stories you’d like to share about Tate Arms or
the Iowa Federation Home, please contact
Bob Miklo at bob-miklo@iowa-city.org or 319-356-5240
For more information, visit www.icgov.org/hpc
From an article in the Daily Iowan