Iowa State College in the 1890s: A Visual History

Date/Time:	Monday, 11 Mar 2013 at 8:00 pm
Location:	Sun Room, Memorial Union
Cost:	Free
Contact:
Phone:	515-294-9934
Channel:	Lecture Series
Categories:	Lectures
Actions:	Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder

Douglas Biggs is a native of Ames and a graduate of Iowa State University. This talk, which includes a slide show of historic photographs, will highlight the Dinkey, a steam engine that ran between campus and downtown Ames from 1891 to 1907. A scale model of the Dinkey, complete with track, will be on display in the Parks Library until the end of May.

---

The son of a geology professor, Douglas Biggs spent much of his youth exploring the campus and later earned both a BA and MA in history from the university. His interest in the history of Ames and Iowa State was renewed when his wife, Gloria Betcher, a faculty member in the English Department and then chair of the Ames Historic Preservation Commission, asked him to help determine the historical significance of the derelict bridge that spanned the Squaw Creek just south of the Union Pacific bridge. His research in the University Archives resulted in an article about Iowa State in the 1890s that was published in the Annals of Iowa.

Biggs is currently associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. He earned his PhD in history at the University of Minnesota.