New Digital Archive of a Scrapbook of a 1927 Black Alumnus of the University of Iowa
Filed in African-American History on February 21, 2014
The Archives and Special Collections unit of the University of Iowa Libraries recently made a scrapbook of a 1927 African American alumnus available online. The scrapbook was the work of Patrobas Cassius Robinson, who enrolled at the university in 1923 when he was 17 years old. Four years later, he earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. His scrapbook offers a rare snapshot of African America life at the University of Iowa in the mid-1920s.
The scrapbook, which contains photographs, a register of Robinson’s fraternity brothers and other documents, was discovered at a rare book dealership in Boston. Hal and Avril Chase, longtime supports of the University of Iowa Libraries, made a gift that allowed the university to purchase the scrapbook. The contents have now been digitally preserved and made available to researchers and the public.
Robinson, a native of St. Louis, taught high school science classes in the St. Louis public schools from 1927 to 1963. He also founded his own real estate company and managed the enterprise for 35 years. Robinson died in 1984 at the age of 78.
Friends of Patrobas Cassius Robinson on the steps of the Old Capital Building.
I am a graduate of the University of Iowa, BS ’67 in Speech Pathology and Audiology. My father was one of the early African American graduates of the University of Iowa Dental School , receiving his DDS ’27 , exactly forty years to the date of my graduation. I would be elated to obtain a digital copy of this scrap book. Please tell me how I may obtain this document.
Regards,
Judith Bush Dickerson
Hello, Judith. You can access it at http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/pcr/id/44/rec/1
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Hi Judith,
What is your father’s name?
What an excellent piece of Iowa history! As an alumnus of the university, it thrills me to see this. I will share with other alumni.