Editing Grinnell College (section)

== History ==
{{See also|List of presidents of Grinnell College}}
[[File:Before the June 17, 1882 tornado that destroyed these buildings, from- College before the storm, by Everett, James E., 1834- (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Before the June 17, 1882 tornado that destroyed these buildings]]

In 1843, eleven Congregational ministers, all of whom trained at [[Andover Theological Seminary]] in [[Massachusetts]], set out to preach on the frontier. The group also sought to establish a college, which followed in 1846, when they collectively established '''Iowa College''' in [[Davenport, Iowa|Davenport]].

The first 25 years of Grinnell's history saw a change in name and location. In Davenport, the college had [[Abolitionism|advocated against slavery]] and [[Temperance movement|saloon]]s, leading to conflict with the Davenport city council, which retaliated by constructing roads that transected the campus.<ref name="CollegeHistory">{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Alan |last2=Moyer |first2=Wayne W |title=Grinnell College: A History |url=https://www.grinnell.edu/about/grinnell-glance/tradition/history |publisher=[[Grinell College]] |access-date=13 February 2023}}</ref> Iowa College moved farther west from Davenport to the town of Grinnell and unofficially adopted the name of its new home, which itself had been named for the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] minister [[Josiah Bushnell Grinnell]]. The name of the corporation, "The Trustees of Iowa College", remained, but in 1909 the name "Grinnell" was adopted by the trustees for the institution.[[File:Josiah Bushnell Grinnell - Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Josiah Bushnell Grinnell]]: one of the four founders of Grinnell, Iowa, and benefactor of Grinnell College]]

In its early years, the college experienced setbacks. Although two students received Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1854 (the first to be granted by a college west of the [[Mississippi River]]), within 10 years the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] had claimed most of Grinnell's students and professors. In the decade following the war, growth resumed: women were officially admitted as candidates for degrees, and the curriculum was enlarged to include then-new areas of academic studies, such as [[natural sciences]] with laboratory work.

[[File:After the June 17, 1882 tornado, from-Brick College after the storm, by Everett, James E., 1834- (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|After the June 17, 1882 tornado]]

In 1882, Grinnell College was struck by a tornado—then called a cyclone, after which the college yearbook was named. The storm devastated the campus and destroyed both college buildings. Rebuilding began immediately, and the determination to expand was not limited to architecture: the curriculum was again extended to include departments in [[political science]] (one of the first in the United States—the [[University of Minnesota]]'s department was founded in 1879, three years earlier<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=https://cla.umn.edu/polisci/about/history |website=Political Science |publisher=University of Minnesota |access-date=7 June 2021 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517105343/https://cla.umn.edu/polisci/about/history |url-status=live }}</ref>) and modern languages.

Grinnell became known as the center of the [[Social Gospel]] reform movement,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Morgan|first=J.|year=1969|title=The Development of Sociology and the Social Gospel in America|periodical=Sociological Analysis|volume=30|issue=1| pages=42–53| doi = 10.2307/3709933| jstor = 3709933| publisher = Oxford University Press}}. see footnote 4.</ref> as Robert Handy writes, "The movement centered on the campus of Iowa (now Grinnell) College. Its leading figures were Professor [[George D. Herron]] and President [[George A. Gates]]".<ref>{{cite journal| last = Handy| first = Robert| year= 1950| title = George D. Herron and the Kingdom Movement| periodical=Church History| volume=19| issue=2| pages=97–115| doi = 10.2307/3162192 | jstor = 3162192| publisher = American Society of Church History| s2cid = 162683165}}</ref> Other firsts pointed to the lighter side of college life: the first intercollegiate [[American football|football]] and [[baseball]] games west of the Mississippi were played in Grinnell, and the home teams won.

As the 20th century began, Grinnell established a [[Phi Beta Kappa]] chapter, introduced the departmental "major" system of study, began [[Grinnell-in-China]] (an educational mission that lasted until the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Japanese invasion]] and resumed in 1987), and built a women's residence hall system that became a national model.<ref>{{cite news| last = McHale| first = Cathryn | year= 1935| title = Education for Women: The significance of Present-Day College Education for Women and Curriculum Changes| periodical=Journal of Higher Education}}</ref> The social consciousness fostered at Grinnell during these years became evident during [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s presidency, when Grinnell graduates [[Harry Hopkins]] '12, Chester Davis '11, [[Paul H. Appleby|Paul Appleby]] '13, [[Hallie Flanagan]] '11, and [[Florence Kerr]] '12 became influential [[New Deal]] administrators.<ref>{{cite web |title=About the Program |url=https://www.grinnell.edu/node/4132 |website=Grinnell College |access-date=25 June 2020 |archive-date=28 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628100254/https://www.grinnell.edu/node/4132 |url-status=live }}</ref> Concern with social issues, educational innovation, and individual expression continue to shape Grinnell. As an example, the school's "5th year travel-service program", preceded the establishment of the [[Peace Corps]] by many years. Other recent innovations include first-year tutorials, cooperative pre-professional programs, and programs in quantitative studies and the societal impacts of technology. Every year, the college awards the $100,000 [[Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize]], which is split between the recipient and their organization.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.grinnell.edu/grinnellprize|title=Grinnell Prize {{!}} Grinnell College|website=www.grinnell.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-05-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180508122204/https://www.grinnell.edu/grinnellprize|archive-date=2018-05-08|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1975, Grinnell College through their Grinnell Communications subsidiary purchased NBC affiliate [[WDTN|WLWD]] from [[Crosley Broadcasting Corporation|Avco Broadcasting Corporation]] for about $13 million.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1975-06-23|title=Now Avco unloads WLWD(TV) Dayton|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/75-OCR/1975-06-23-BC-OCR-Page-0032.pdf|access-date=2021-09-19|archive-date=2021-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919001209/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/75-OCR/1975-06-23-BC-OCR-Page-0032.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> The station changed its call letters to WDTN once the sale closed.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1976-07-12|title=Call letters|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/76-OCR/1976-07-12-BC-OCR-Page-0045.pdf|access-date=2021-09-19|archive-date=2022-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808193931/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/76-OCR/1976-07-12-BC-OCR-Page-0045.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Shortly after WDTN became an ABC affiliate, the station was sold off to Hearst Broadcasting for $45–$48 million.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1980-05-26|title=Hearst buys TV in Dayton, plans move into cable|work=[[Broadcasting & Cable|Broadcasting]]|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/80-OCR/1980-05-26-BC-OCR-Page-0039.pdf|access-date=2021-09-20|archive-date=2021-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919000924/https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/80-OCR/1980-05-26-BC-OCR-Page-0039.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2022, Grinnell became the first fully unionized undergraduate school in the U.S., when student workers voted to expand their dining hall workers union to include all student workers.<ref name=":0" /> The move was supported by the president of the college.<ref name=":1" />