With few public objections and almost no mention of Iowa State alumnus and suffragist, Carrie Chapman Catt’s alleged racist and xenophonbic beliefs, ISU’s Old Botany Hall was renamed Carrie Chapman Catt Hall during the week of Oct. 1-6, 1995. Soon after the dedication and an article in the student newsletter, Uhuru, the campus, the state and even the nation were stirred by the controversy throughout the year.

September 29, 1995

An article in an African-American campus newsletter, Uhuru, revealed alleged racist, classicist and xenophobic remarks made by Carrie Chapman Catt.

October 1-6, 1995

Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics was dedicated to the public in a week long celebration to honor Catt, Women’s Week and the 75th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

The week included several programs and panel discussions, including a speech on the steps of Catt Hall by ISU President Martin Jischke, who said, “I am very proud to have Carrie Chapman Catt as part of Iowa State’s history. This building is a symbol of Iowa State’s commitment to equality.”

October 17, 1995

Director of the Women’s Center and advisor of the Women’s Week Committee, Celia Naylor-Ojurongbe, wrote an editorial to the Iowa State Daily expressing her disappointment in the brief discussion of the racism and ethnocentrism issue during the panel discussion entitled, “Race, Ethnicity and Gender in the Suffrage Movement” held during the Catt Hall and Women’s Week celebration.

October 24-25, 1995

An ISU student, Benjamin Glispie, and English professor, Joe Geha, wrote letters to the editor in the Daily questioning the appropriateness of renaming Old Botany Hall after Catt.

November 3, 1995

The Daily ran a story quoting Catt’s published works, including the statement, “White supremacy will be strengthened, not weakened, by woman suffrage … ” from Catt’s book, Objections to the Federal Amendment.

Naylor-Ojurongbe and Jane Cox, an ISU associate professor of Theatre who routinely portrays Catt, each discussed their views on the issue in the Daily article.

Cox defended Catt’s alleged racist and xenophobic statements be saying it is important for those remembering Catt to look at the circumstance each of Catt’s speeches were given under and the reason they were given.

Naylor-Ojurongbe said she was disappointed the racism issue didn’t surface more during the dedication week.

November 8, 1995

Cox wrote an editorial to the Daily that discussed and defended the controversy surrounding Carrie Chapman Catt and race.

“On the day the 19th Amendment was signed into law, Catt said in her short speech, ‘Women have undergone agony of soul which you may never comprehend, in order that you and your daughters might inherit political freedom.’ All women had won the right to vote by the Constitutional Amendment,” Cox said to help explain controversial statements made by Catt during her campaign for the vote.

February 26, 1996

A letter writing campaign to President Jischke requesting his support in a name change for Catt Hall was begun by students and faculty. Allan Nosworthy, a graduate student and leader in the campaign, said, “This is not a ‘beat-up’ President Jischke campaign.’ This gives support for the changing of Catt Hall.” As of May 3, 1996, 196 letters were delivered to Jischke, said Meron Wondwosen, an ISU student and spokeswoman for the campaign.

March 7, 1996

A silent march of nearly 100 students and faculty across campus to the steps of Catt Hall attracted media attention from local TV stations and newspapers.

Students and faculty protesting against the naming of Catt Hall label their movement, “The September 29th Movement” in honor of the date of publication of the article in Uhuru alleging Catt to be a racist.

March 22, 1996

The Government of the Student Body voted to pass a resolution urging the Board of Regents to change the name of Catt Hall back to Old Botany Hall.

March 27, 1996

Government of the Student Body Sen. Matthew Goodman said he plans to ask the Senate to reconsider the resolution that called for the renaming of Carrie Chapman Catt Hall at the next GSB meeting.

Goodman had voted for the resolution that passed 18-9 on March 21, but later changed his mind on the basis that he did not believe the controversial statements made by Catt that were given to him were racist.

Also, the organizers of the movement to change the name of Catt Hall called for the support of civil rights activist Rosa Parks, First Lady Hillary Rodman Clinton, talk show host Oprah Winfrey, feminist author Betty Friedan, and writer/director Elaine May.

Wondwosen said the movement wanted to make the women aware of not only their brick, but also the history of Catt.

“Everyone knows who they are,” Wondwosen said. “They would bring so much emphasis to the cause.”

None of the five women had yet responded to the movement on May 3, 1996.

April 12, 1996

Twenty-six female State of Iowa lawmakers gave their formal support for maintaining Old Botany Hall as Carrie Chapman Catt Center.

Also, that day the president of the Ames’ chapter of the NAACP, George Jackson told a crowd of about 100 students and faculty gathered on the steps of Beardshear Hall that “the university needs to publicly acknowledge that it made a mistake[in the naming of Catt Hall].”

While Jackson was speaking out against Catt Hall near Beardshear, workers began laying 84 additional bricks in the Plaza of Heroines in front of Catt Hall.

April 17, 1996

Two women covered their personalized bricks with black cloth on the Plaza of Heroines in front of Catt Hall. Blue Maas, an ISU secretary, and Phyllis Harris, a graduate student in human development and family studies said they wanted the bricks to be covered until the name of Catt Hall is changed.

“I don’t feel [the brick] is an honor any longer. It’s been disrespected by Catt’s comments and the reaction of the university,” Harris said.

May 1996

Former Old Botany Hall, remains named Carrie Chapman Catt Hall, but the September 29th Movement has not given up.

“We’re definitely going to continue the fight until it is renamed,” Wondwosen said. “I think we gained a lot of momentum, especially with the support of the NAACP, faculty and staff.

The Catt controversy appeared in many state and national publications including; the Des Moines Register, the Omaha World Herald, Time magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, U.S. News and World Reports, Rocky Mountain News, Charleston Gazette, Washington Times, the Courier Journal-Milwaukee, and USA Today.