In 1843, eleven Congregational ministers, all of whom trained at
Andover Theological Seminary in
Massachusetts, set out to preach on the frontier. The group also sought to establish a college, which followed in 1846, when they collectively established
Iowa College in
Davenport. The first 25 years of Grinnell's history saw a change in name and location. In Davenport, the college had
advocated against slavery and
saloons, leading to conflict with the Davenport city council, which retaliated by constructing roads that transected the campus. Iowa College moved farther west from Davenport to the town of Grinnell and unofficially adopted the name of its new home, which itself had been named for the
abolitionist minister
Josiah Bushnell Grinnell. The name of the corporation, "The Trustees of Iowa College", remained, but in 1909 the name "Grinnell" was adopted by the trustees for the institution.: one of the four founders of Grinnell, Iowa, and benefactor of Grinnell College In its early years, the college experienced setbacks. Although two students received Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1854 (the first to be granted by a college west of the
Mississippi River), within 10 years the
Civil War had claimed most of Grinnell's students and professors. In the decade following the war, growth resumed: women were officially admitted as candidates for degrees, and the curriculum was enlarged to include then-new areas of academic studies, such as
natural sciences with laboratory work. In 1879, the first African American graduated from Grinnell College. Hannibal Kershaw became a teacher, minister, and a South Carolina legislator. Kershaw unfortunately died in 1883, only four years after his graduation. A residence hall was named in his honor in 2005. Kershaw Hall is a white limestone building on East Campus. In 1882, Grinnell College was struck by a tornado—then called a cyclone, after which the college yearbook was named. The storm devastated the campus and destroyed both college buildings. Rebuilding began immediately, and the determination to expand was not limited to architecture: the curriculum was again extended to include departments in
political science (one of the first in the United States—the
University of Minnesota's department was founded in 1879, three years earlier) and modern languages. Grinnell became known as the center of the
Social Gospel reform movement, as Robert Handy writes, "The movement centered on the campus of Iowa (now Grinnell) College. Its leading figures were Professor
George D. Herron and President
George A. Gates". Other firsts pointed to the lighter side of college life: the first intercollegiate
football and
baseball games west of the Mississippi were played in Grinnell, and the home teams won. As the 20th century began, Grinnell established a
Phi Beta Kappa chapter, introduced the departmental "major" system of study, began
Grinnell-in-China (an educational mission that lasted until the
Japanese invasion and resumed in 1987), and built a women's residence hall system that became a national model. The social consciousness fostered at Grinnell during these years became evident during
Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency, when Grinnell graduates
Harry Hopkins '12, Chester Davis '11,
Paul Appleby '13,
Hallie Flanagan '11, and
Florence Kerr '12 became influential
New Deal administrators. Concern with social issues, educational innovation, and individual expression continue to shape Grinnell. As an example, the school's "5th year travel-service program", preceded the establishment of the
Peace Corps by many years. Other recent innovations include first-year tutorials, cooperative pre-professional programs, and programs in quantitative studies and the societal impacts of technology. Every year, the college awards the $100,000
Grinnell College Innovator for Social Justice Prize, which is split between the recipient and their organization. In 1937, the first African-American woman graduated from Grinnell College. Mrs.
Edith Renfrow Smith majored in
psychology and minored in
sociology and
economics. Following graduation, Renflow moved to Chicago and worked at the YWCA, the
University of Chicago and then as a public schoolteacher in Chicago for over twenty years. In 2024, Grinnell College honored Renfrow Smith by naming and dedicating a residence building, which includes the Civic Engagement Quad (CEQ), as Renfrow Hall. In 1975, Grinnell College through their Grinnell Communications subsidiary purchased NBC affiliate
WLWD from
Avco Broadcasting Corporation for about $13 million. The station changed its call letters to WDTN once the sale closed. Shortly after WDTN became an ABC affiliate, the station was sold off to
Hearst Broadcasting for $45–$48 million. In 2022, Grinnell became the first fully unionized undergraduate school in the U.S., when student workers voted to expand their dining hall workers union to include all student workers. The move was supported by the president of the college. == Campus ==