Historian Leland Sage: Iowa Time Machine February 16, 1989

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On February 16, 1989, an important scholar of Iowa’s history, Leland Sage, passed away. A long-time professor of history at the University of Northern Iowa (then Iowa Teachers College), Sage’s 1974 work “A History of Iowa” stands as one of the important books written on the state’s history.

Born in Arkansas, Sage attended college at Vanderbilt before completing his graduate work at the University of Iowa. Sage spent some time teaching high school and college before ultimately arriving to teach in Cedar Falls in 1932. 

Sage soon developed a deep passion for Iowa’s history and started helping to advance the study of the Hawkeye state. His first book, focused on important early Iowa politician William Boyd Allison, came out in 1956. Sage soon turned his attention to the state of Iowa as a whole. By 1974, his politically-oriented “A History of Iowa” hit bookshelves.

Although Sage retired in 1967, he continued to teach a course on Iowa history through 1981. He also continued to advise student work until 1986. Serving UNI for over fifty consecutive years, Sage left an imprint not only on his students but also on how Iowans understand their shared history. #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar