116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
History Happenings: State and local symbolism
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
This month, in an exercise of nearly lifelong Iowan pride, we thought it might be interesting to take a look at the history of some of the official state symbols of Iowa and look at a couple of symbols specific to the city of Cedar Rapids.
The state bird: The goldfinch
According to the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union (IOU), the process of Iowa naming its state bird dates to 1926 when the IOU President Walter Rosene wrote to members of the union that Nebraska had named a state bird, the western meadowlark, and as a result, Iowa should name a bird as well (that’s right — the Iowa versus Nebraska rivalry even shows up in the history of state birds!).
The IOU went through a period of brainstorming aimed at figuring out what would be the right bird to pitch to the Iowa Legislature to name as the official state bird. There were conversations about the merits of the woodpecker and chickadee, among others. However, “Althea Sherman…suggested the goldfinch as ‘a beautiful bird, easily recognized by everyone. It is of common occurrence in most parts of our state throughout the whole year,’ ” which would eventually carry the day.
On March 21, 1933, after lobbying from the IOU, state Rep. J. Wilbur Dole brought a resolution on naming the goldfinch the official state bird of Iowa, and it passed unanimously by voice vote.
The state flower: The wild rose
In 1897, the wild rose was designated by the Iowa Legislature as the official state flower. According to the Legislative Services Agency, “[i]t was chosen for the honor because it was one of the decorations used on the silver service which the state presented to the battleship USS Iowa that same year.”
However, wild roses are actually a category of flowers. The state has never officially picked a specific wild rose. However, most accept the Wild Prairie Rose, with its pink petals and yellow center, as the official flower of the state.
The history of the flag of Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids locals probably know that in 2021, a new official flag of the city was unveiled. However, we wanted to take a look at the history of its predecessor.
According to the city of Cedar Rapids, the flag flown throughout the city from 1962 to 2021 was adopted after a design contest that was held in the local high schools. The design that won was created by a senior, Fred Easker Jr. Easker is now a professional artist with studios in Lansing and Cedar Rapids whose landscape paintings, inspired by Eastern Iowa and the Driftless Area, are simply gorgeous.
The flag itself was full of symbolism, including imagery of Veterans Memorial Coliseum meant to invoke understandings of Cedar Rapids as a progressive city, a church as an homage to the many religious institutions in the community, corn stalks and a factory as a nod toward the economic backbone of the area, and more.
The Cedar Rapids ‘Song of Dedication’
Finally, as longtime patrons and employees of the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band, we would be remiss to not spend some time looking at the history of the Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication, which reliably closes every concert the band holds throughout the summer.
In the early 1950s, the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band’s first conductor, Roland L Moehlmann, felt that the Cedar Rapids community needed a song. As a result, “[t]he Band Commission created a contest for a ‘Song of Dedication,’ offering a prize of $500 to the winner,” according to the municipal band’s website.
Composer Larry Barrett’s entry won over the work of 31 other composers. “Barrett was a professional musician, dance band leader, and program assistant at radio station WSUI in Iowa City,” according to the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band’s website. ”He was a cornet player in the Iowa City Community Band, and did the public address announcing of the music for their concerts.”
Moehlmann arranged Barrett’s song for concert band, and a vocal arrangement was also created for mixed chorus. The band introduced the song during its annual Harvest Home Concert on Oct. 21, 1962, at Sinclair Auditorium on the Coe campus in Cedar Rapids. (Note: This concert is no longer a part of the band’s schedule.)
These days, the Cedar Rapids Song of Dedication is really only ever performed by the municipal band. Nevertheless, loyal attendees of the concerts often join in and sing along with that week’s featured vocalist (usually a local high school student who also opens the concert with the national anthem), no doubt a testament to the song’s place in our community.
Jessica Cline is a Leadership & Character Scholar at Wake Forest University. Her dad, Rob Cline, is not a scholar of any kind. They write this monthly column for The History Center. Comments: HistoricalClines@gmail.com
Daily Newsletters