Historian Ben Shambaugh: Iowa Time Machine January 29, 1871

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On January 29, 1871, Benjamin Shambaugh was born. The first Superintendent of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI), Shambaugh, helped to turn the organization into one of the leading state historical organizations in the country.

Born the youngest of seven to a farming couple near Elvira, Clinton County, Iowa, Shambaugh attended country school before eventually finding his way to the Iowa City Academy for two years to prepare for college. Shambaugh entered the State University of Iowa (University of Iowa) in 1888. Graduating with a bachelor’s degree, Shambaugh headed east to the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed a PhD in Political Science.

Even before graduating from Penn, Iowa offered Shambaugh the opportunity to return to Iowa City to teach history and political science. Shambaugh helped form a productive partnership between the UI and SHSI. As a member of the SHSI's Board of Curators, he voluntarily assumed the duties of editor and set scholarly standards for the society's publications.

Shambaugh launched the Iowa Journal of History and Politics, a scholarly journal that became a vehicle for publishing policy studies and substantive digests of state legislation. Shambaugh’s concept of ‘applied history’ helped historians find purpose, and his work laid the foundation for historical study in Iowa and beyond. #Iowa #OTD #History #Historian #Memory