116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Brooklyn recognizes boyhood home of ‘The Duke,’ John Wayne
BROOKLYN, Iowa — A new historical marker unveiled here May 28 pays homage to a movie star who lived in the community as a child.
John Wayne, who was born Marion Morrison, moved with his family in 1909 to a privately owned home at 717 Jackson St. in Brooklyn.
His father, a pharmacist, moved the family to Earlham that year, but they returned to the Brooklyn home in 1913.
Wayne attended first grade in the community before his family moved to California in May 1914, according to the 1995 biography 'John Wayne: American.'
Over the past year and a half, four people from the Brooklyn Historical Society raised more than $10,000 for a commemorative plaque, John Wayne silhouette and a rock with the saying 'Howdy Pilgrim!' to place outside Wayne's former home.
Waukee resident Carol Carpenter Hanson, a Brooklyn native, helped raise the money, primarily through private donations.
'It's really to honor him as a person — the fact he was influenced by his Iowa roots, and to honor Brooklyn and its role in his early childhood years,' she said.
Steve Rhoads, the president of the Brooklyn Historical Society said other features will be added to the memorial site such as a hitching post leading to a vintage-brick sidewalk. A flagpole with an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol — a gift from U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa — also will be erected.
Wayne, known for his leading roles in several films, such as 'Stagecoach,' 'They Were Expendable,' 'Red River,' 'Fort Apache' and 'The Searchers,' died at age 72 from stomach cancer in 1979.
A museum dedicated to Wayne opened in 2015 in Winterset. The building is opposite the home where Wayne was born on May 26, 1907.
The boyhood home of John Wayne Historical Site is seen May 28, 2016 at the Brooklyn house where the movie star lived as a child. He attended first grade at the nearby school. (Photo by Carol Carpenter Hanson)
Grace Ecklund Noonan of Cedar Rapids and Don Brannian of Brooklyn pose beside the silhouette of John Wayne Saturday. Earlier in the day, both Noonan and Brannian attended an alumni reunion of their 1948 Brooklyn High School graduation class. (Photo by Carol Carpenter Hanson )
(From left) Andy McCulley of Brooklyn, Rand Hanson of Waukee, Steve Rhoads of Brooklyn, and artist Jeff Kreitz lift the 300 -pound silhouette of John Wayne from a pickup before installing it at John Wayne's boyhood home at the John Wayne Historical Site in Brooklyn, Iowa. Kreitz bolted the stainless steel piece to the bottom of his truck for the nine-hour trip to Brooklyn from his studio in Minnesota, receiving many stares from passersby and applauding horns from semis. (Photo by Carol Carpenter Hanson)
John Shields of Grinnell struck up a friendship with 'the Duke' while trading in hereford bulls at the Wayne ranch in Arizona. Wearing a bolo tie, a gift from Wayne, Shields reminisced about get-togethers and conversations they shared over the years on May 28 in Brooklyn, Iowa. (Photo by Carol Carpenter Hanson )
(From left) Grace Ecklund Noonan of Cedar Rapids, and the current owners of John Wayne's boyhood home, Jean and Lyle Oswood of Brooklyn, enjoy a lively conversation with silhouette artist Jeff Kreitz following the opening ceremony May 29, 2016 at the boyhood home of John Wayne at the John Wayne Historic Site in Brooklyn. Noonan's grandparents moved into the house six months after John Wayne's family moved out in spring of 1914, so she spent a lot of time in the house while growing up. Her mother was married there in 1923. (Carol Carpenter Hanson photo)
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