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After receiving the degrees of B.Di. and M.Di. from the Iowa State Teacher's College, Clarence Wycliffe WASSAM taught one
year in the public schools of the state, thus acquainting himself with the problem of elementary education. He attended
the State University, receiving the degrees of B.A. and M.A., and held an honorary scholarship in the Department of
Economics. Later he attended Columbia University and received the degree of Ph.D. from that institution in 1908.
He was for three years secretary of the Iowa State Conference of Charities and Correction, being the ediotr of the publications of the Conference, and made a very extensive study of organized charity.
He held a fellowship in the New York School of Philanthropy, and was granted a diploma for efficient work in that institution. After having spent considerable time in New York City, investigating the loan sharks, he published, in 1908, the first authentic book upon this subject, "The Salary Loan Business in New York City," which marks the beginning of a nation-wide campaign. Several state legislatures have passed laws, and a large amount of remedial work has been done, as a result of this publication.
Dr. WASSAM is at present in the Department of Political Economy and Sociology of the State University of Iowa. The past several years he has been in great demand as a lecturer, and the large majority of his appearances have been return dates.
One Bureau says of Dr. WASSAM, "We advertise him strongly, we announce him as an extraordinary attractiton, and yet with it all, the almost universal comment of his audiences is, 'He is so much better than we had anticipated.' He is a winner and more than a winner every time. He will make you laugh and he will make you think. You will hear quotations from reference to his lecture in the stores, shops, and upon the streets, long after he has come and gone."
Dr. WASSAM'S lecture subjects:
| "The Boy Problem" | "The Secret of Power" |
| "The Price of Success" | "Modern Amusements" |
| "A Night in the Bread Line in New York City" | "Travel as an Educator" |
Testimonial - What the initials of Prof. C. W. WASSAM stand for, we do not know, but for a description of him as a lecturer, from the comments we have received on his lecture, they should stand for "Cyclonic Whirlwind." We are sure you never heard anyone talk so fast and so clearly and say so much, so interestingly as Dr. WASSAM. His enthusiasm is a contagious as the measles, and his lectures are as interesting as his enthusiasm is contagious. Your mind will take the most enjoyabl exercise it has had for many a day, when you hear him, and unless you are decidedly unlike most people, you will be sitting on the front edge of the seat before you know it, to be sure that no word is missed.
It does not seem to make any difference whether he is lecturing on "The Stuff That Wins" to a great audience at the Chautauqua or talking to his classes in political economy or sociology, at the State University of Iowa, everybody pays attention every minute, for he always has something worth while to say.
Dr. WASSAM'S speech in Des Moines last winter resulted in the organization of the Morris Loan Bank.
It has been said that Dr. WASSAM'S delivery of his speeches was done "with the rapid-fire of a Gatling gun." Between 1914 and 1928, he gave some 1,000 appearances in 25 states from Michigan to California.
SOURCES:
University of Iowa Libraries/digital.lib.uiowa.edu/tc
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2011.
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