Waldorf Dedication Day: Iowa Time Machine October 11, 1903

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On October 11, 1903, a large crowd gathered to celebrate the opening of Waldorf College in Forest City. Forerunner of today’s Waldorf University, the college grew out of a local hotel war to offer educational opportunities for Iowans.

It was born of Forest City’s ‘Great Hotel War’, which began when two investment groups sought to build luxury hotels in the seat of Winnebago County in 1900. Once completed, the Waldorf Hotel and the Summit Hotel competed for visitors, and both operated at a loss in the early months of 1901. By summer, the hotel owners met and agreed that the Summit owners would buy out the Waldorf investors and close the hotel.

The Summit operated until a fire destroyed most of the hotel in 1915, and the Waldorf stood largely empty for over a year. In early 1903, local Lutheran minister C.S. Salveson assembled a group of local church leaders to buy the Waldorf for $28,000, intending to establish an educational institution to meet North Iowa's needs. Salveson named the school “Waldorf College” to harken back to the hotel's roots while also invoking the Forest City location with a name translating to “Forest Village (Wald Dorf) in Old High German.

Starting as an academy and business school, the college began to evolve a liberal arts influence by 1920. Operating for much of the 20th century as a private junior college, Waldorf expanded in the 1990s to offer four-year degrees. In the 2010s, Waldorf added Master’s degree programs and was renamed Waldorf University. #Iowa #OTD #History #College #HigherEd