Allamakee Co. IAGenWeb - School Records

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Waukon Junior College

The Waukon Junior College was accredited by the Iowa State Department of Education for two years' college instruction.

It was open from the early 1920's through 1947. Any graduate of an accredited or standard four year high school was eligible to attend without examination. Declining enrollment and lack of community support caused the Junior College to be closed in May 1948.

Note: unless otherwise credited, the information was contributed by Cindy (Maust) Smith

1925

E.C. Elkema will be head of the Junior college at Waukon next year, and Anna Corbitt will head the history department. It is expected that the attendance will be about seventy-five. Last year it was twenty-eight.
~Fayette County Leader, Thursday, July 31, 1924, Fayette, Iowa, pg 5
Note: full name is Emil Carl Elkema

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1929 Junior College Enrollment roster

Meryl Baxter
Frances Bieber
Ivan Brown
Roberta Clark
Alice Collins
Calvin Dravis
Florence Arnold
Arlynn Elsheimer
Anna Hager
Margaret Hutchinson
Malcolm Hart
Adeline Helms
Donus Houlihan
Donald Hegeman
Mary Ellen Hart
Carlton Johnson
Arthur Jacobson
Lucille Lusk

Earl Mahoney
Lester Olson
Amy Olson
Miriam Opfer
Mary Pigott
William Reddy
Horace Roggensack
Vincent Ryan
Irma Robey
Emmett Sullivan
John Stilwell
Karl Simmons
Edwin Sullivan
Earl Thomas
Lloyd Thompson
James Taylor
Angie Teeple
Vivian Walters
Alphonse Uppena

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1929 Junior College Basketball team

Back row: Horace Roggensack, Coach Orr, Meryl Baxter
Front row: Edward Sullivan, William Reddy, Earl Thomas, Emmet Sullivan

~source of enrollment roster & basketball team photo: 1929 Walk-on (Waukon) High School yearbook
~contributed by Jan Miller; student pictures are available upon request from Jan

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Waukon Junior College Speech winners, February 1930

Waukon Junior College won the first Junior College Festival held in this corner of the state, here last week Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Elkader Junior College placed second and Lenox, of Hopkinton, placed third.

Independence and Maquoketa Junior colleges were also entered, but only in the original oratory class.

The extempore contest was held during the afternoon. In this department three colleges were entered -Lenox, Elkader and Waukon. Noble Pugh, of Elkader won first place; Horace Roggensack of Waukon second and Louis Heirington of Lenox third.

Original Oratory
All five of the colleges were represented in the original oratory class. Arthur Jacobson, of Waukon, won first with "A Step Toward Peace," Paul Ahlers, of Maquoketa, won second with "A Plea for Peace," and Irene Kishman of Elkader won third with "Our Manifest Destiny."

Readings
Only three of the colleges were entered in the reading class - Elkader, Lenox and Waukon. In this division Mary Elizabeth Mason of Lenox was awarded first place with "The Valiant," Evelyn Quandahl, of Waukon, won second with "No 'Count Boy," and Eleanor Henkes, of Elkader, "Joint Owners in Spain."

Vocal music interspersed the speaking program and this was furnished by the Junior College Girls' Sextette, the High School Girls' Glee Club and the High School Boys' Glee Club. For winning first place in the festival Waukon Junior College received a large shield and each of the speakers winning first place were given medals. It is expected that this event will become an annual affair for the junior colleges in this section of the state. Prof. A. Craig Baird, of the University of Iowa, was the critic judge of the contests.

~Clayton County Register, Thursday morning, February 27, 1930, Elkader, IA, pg 1

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Waukon Junior College Class of 1931

Class Roll

Harriette M. Schneider
Cleoma J. Schneider
Kathryn Joyce Oleson
Joyce Kathryn Heiser
Gordon L. Vaughn
Kermit L. Buntrock
John Stilwell

Alice Dorothea Wheat
Edward J. Quillen
Edward P. Sullivan
Clark R. Rominger
M. Alice Collins
Alyce Margarete Gast

~contributed by Dale Vaughn, son of Gordon L. Vaughn

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Waukon Junior College Class of 1933

Helen Atall
Marian DeWitt
Florence Faegre
Mary Grimm
Kenneth Kiesau
Howard Kosbau
Ruth Kosbau
Kenneth Lesan

Lorrine Ludeking
Marjorie Martin
Alice McCabe
Kenneth O'Brien
Patrick O'Malley
Ruth Rominger
Betty Taylor
Opal Thompson

~source: Waukon Republican and Standard, May 24, 1933
~contributed by S. Ferrall

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Most Popular Girl
1934

WAUKON - Gladys Hagen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Hagen of Waterville, Ia., was chose Friday evening by local students and townspeople as being Waukon's most popular school girl. Miss Hagen is a freshman in the Waukon junior college. Her election entitled her to be crowned queen of the Waukon school circus, which event, Friday evening, attracted more than 1,600 persons to the high school building. Miss Hagen polled 6,910 votes, runner-up honor going to Miss Shirley Griebel of Waukon with 6,580.
~source: Cedar Rapids Gazette, Tuesday, November 20, 1934, Cedar Rapids, IA; pg 3

Note: Gladys Hagen taught in Allamakee co. schools after attending the Junior College, later she married David Flage.

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Waukon Junior College Graduates of 1935

The annual commencement exercises of the Waukon high school and junior college will be held Monday, May 27. The senior class numbers 73. The class colors are blue and white; the lily of the valley is the flower and the motto "In Ourselves Our Future Lies."

The junior college will graduate nineteen: Paul Hendrick, Helen Hermanson, Walter Howe, James Intlekofer, Margaret Kaveny, Helen Kelly, Gertrud King, Irene McWilliams, Ellen McCullough, Mercedes McGeough, Robert Nelson, Theresa Palmer, Alice Peterson, Olphil Schneider, Truman Slitor, Arlene Thoma, Mary Toney, Ruth Webster, and Catherine White.
~Cedar Rapids Gazette, Wednesday, April 10, 1935, Page 11

Coach Resigns, 1935

L.D. Orr, athletic coach of the Waukon junior college and instructor in mathematics, has resigned to become assistant director of athletics at Traverse City, Mich. ~Cedar Rapids Gazette, Thursday, May 23, 1935, Cedar Rapids, pg 12

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1936

Waukon Junior College Graduates
WAUKON - Seventy-nine students will be graduated in May from the Waukon high school and 27 from junior college. The Junior college graduates are: Herbert Anderson, Kenneth J. Bigelow, Leo F. Byrnes, James S. Collins, Robert Collins, John J. Danaher(?), Marjorie Duggan, Merlin T. Erickson, Norman J. Gates, Donald J. Goede, Gladys V. Hagen, Vivian E. Heiser, Charles Intelkofer, Marian C. Keenan, Gretchen A. Mandercheid, T.J. Monroe, Alf Odegard, John R. Rominger, Charlotte Rumph, John C. Rumph, Helen Betty Sandbeck, Lloyd W. Schneider, Paul Senneff, R.H. Stilwell, Richard R. Stilwell, Miriam Whelan and Bernard H. Wellendorf.
~Cedar Rapids Gazette, Friday, May 1, 1936, Cedar Rapids, IA, pg 11

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Class officers of [the] Junior College were elected Wednesday as follows: Marjorie Meiners, president; Lawrence Anderson, vice-president; James Cassidy, secretary-treasurer
~Cedar Rapids Gazette, Friday, October 9, 1936, pg 19

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1938

A Waukon scholarship committee has chosen Miss Bernice Folsom, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.A. Folsom of this city, to receive the junior college scholarship for the ensuing year, the funds contributed by the following clubs of Waukon: Browning, New Century, Normandia, Thursday, Searchlight, V.O.V., Kiwanis and Nineteenth Century.
~Cedar Rapids Gazette, Thursday, August 25, 1938, pg 15

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1939

James Martin has been elected president of the Waukon Junior College students. Miss Sylvia Wild is vice-president and Donald Lesan, secretary-treasurer.
~Cedar Rapids Gazette, Saturday, February 18, 1939, Page 3 (Eastern Iowa News column)

Waukon Junior College Players To Give "Peg O' My Heart" Tuesday
The three-act comedy, "Peg O'My Heart," will be presented by the Waukon Junior College players at the high school auditorium Tuesday evening. Miss Dorothy Hastings, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. E.W. Hastings, has the leading role, taking the part of Peg. Others in the cast are Genevieve Griebel, Mary Ragsdale, Keith Mason, John Wadsworth, Robert Nelson, Charlotte Glemstad, Kermit Kirkeby and Harlan Kirkeby.
~Cedar Rapids Gazette, Sunday, April 16, 1939, pg 27

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1940

The Waukon Junior College players will present "Death Takes a Holiday," Tuesday evening, April 16, under the direction of Miss Phyllis Jacobson. The leading roles will be taken by Harlan Kirkeby and Gwendolyn Prestemon, others in the cast are: Kermit Kirkeby, Keith Mason, Harry Sander, Paul Kosbau, Gorden Rumph, Marie Prestemon, Harriet Hanson, Kathleen Griebel, Lila Kolsrud, Jeanne Davis and Kathryn Pluemer.
~Cedar Rapids Gazette, Sunday, April 7, 1940, pg 3

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Waukon Junior College - 1944

Freshmen

Top: Delores Bergeson, Donna Mae Fossum & Phyllis Gast
Middle: Catherine Hegeman & Genevieve Rumpf
Bottom: Clara Schmidt, Bette Selberg & Arleen Shogren

Graduates

Top: Mary Intlekofer
Middle: Merlin Kruger
Bottom: Catherine Piggott

~Waukon High School “THE ARROW” - 1945, belonging to the late Forest D. “Toey” Kelly
~contributed by Connie (Kelly) Ellis, Toey's daughter

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Waukon Junior College Graduates - 1945

Top: Phyllis Gast, Dorothy Briar & Florence Hanson
Middle: Lorna Herman, Curtis Huffman & Alyce Smedsrud
Bottom: Kathleen Spinner, Alice Evanson & Mary Lou Welsh

~Waukon High School “THE ARROW” - 1945, belonging to the late Forest D. “Toey” Kelly
~contributed by Connie (Kelly) Ellis, Toey's daughter

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