Benjamin's wife, Bertha, bequeathed the home to the University of Iowa in 1953. The Shambaugh House, while a private residence, was host to Amelia Earhart and to Roald Amundson, among others, as part of the University Lecture Series, which Benjamin Shambaugh chaired. After becoming University property, the building at 219 Clinton Street housed the Honors Program. In planning for the new Blank Honors Center in 2001, it was determined the home should be moved to its current location, three blocks to the north. The Shambaugh House now welcomes visitors again as the home of the International Writing Program.
Benjamin F. Shambaugh
1871 - 1940
Achievements
- Benjamin F. Shambaugh graduated from the Iowa City Academy in June 1888
- Shambaugh earned his B.Ph. in 1892 and his M.A. the following year at the State University of Iowa (as The University of Iowa was then called, or SUI)
- He took his Ph.D. in 1895 at the University of Pennsylvania and was educated in Germany from 1895-1896
- Professor of Political Science from 1896 until his death in 1940, serving as founding chair of the UI Political Science Department from 1900 to 1940
- He was the first superintendent of the State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City, from 1907 to 1940
- Served as president of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association in 1910 and a founding member of the American Political Science Association, serving as president in 1930
- Author of The Campus Course: Approaches in Liberal and Cultural Education
- Additional information
Building Information
Street Address
430 North Clinton Street
Year built
1901
Additional building information