Home of Katrina Benning and Jeremiah Hopkins When Katrina Benning and Jeremiah Hopkins bought their 1959 home on the edge of Bever Park in Cedar Rapids six years ago, both had been homeowners before. But this was their first home together. Their blended family, which brought together her two children and his four in what […]
Cedar Rapids history
Posted inCommunity/News
Art “Superman” Pennington, a Negro Leagues legend and longtime Cedar Rapidian, may soon be recognized as a Major League All-Star
There’s a few key facts about Superman that are pretty universally known. He’s more powerful than a locomotive. He’s able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. And Superman is renowned for being faster than a speeding bullet. Cedar Rapids had its own Superman. And Art “Superman” Pennington — who lived there from the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘It really made an impact on much more than just this family’: Harris home added to National Register of Historic Places
The home of Cedar Rapids civil rights pioneers Dr. Percy and Lileah Harris was added to the National Register of Historic Places earlier this month, almost 60 years after the family challenged discriminatory housing practices to create that home. The house is the fourth site in Iowa honoring African American civil rights. “The site is […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Save CR Heritage rescues 115-year-old home, which will become its headquarters
Save CR Heritage has not only saved another older home from demolition, but this time it gained its first headquarters. Officials at Mercy Medical Center agreed to sell the house on 606 Fifth Ave SE to Save CR Heritage for $1 with a three-year lease on the land. The nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness about […]
Posted inCommunity/News
One of the most important sites in Muslim-American history still stands in Cedar Rapids
In early July 2020, Turkey’s supreme court issued a verdict to revert the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul into a mosque. The 1,500-year-old structure was built during the Byzantine Empire in the Greek Orthodox tradition, and served as a church until the rise of the Ottoman Empire, when it was first converted into a mosque. With […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Families fight to keep a Cedar Rapids fortress standing
A rare example of Egyptian Revival architecture stands strong on a sloping hillside in northeast Cedar Rapids. Imposing stone columns loom tall at the entrance of Garfield Elementary School, 1201 Maplewood Dr NE, while hardwood floors and natural woodwork add a sense of warmth inside. Built in 1914, the style reflected a growing interest in […]
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Understanding who you are and where you’re from’: Cedar Rapids’ Czech School has been keeping traditions alive for 150 years
When Mandy Vaughn’s two children became old enough to attend the Cedar Rapids Czech School, she was excited for them to learn the culture, songs and traditions that have been in her family for generations. Mandy went to Czech School as a child, as did her mother, Mary Haster. “It’s kind of come full circle in a sense,” Mandy said about her daughter
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Don’t let this remarkable story ever die’: The Dr. Percy and Lileah Harris Building in Cedar Rapids is now open
When his mother was growing up, she vowed she’d never marry a doctor, Peter Harris said. Lileah Furgerson was the daughter of a doctor, and knew the long hours they worked. The audience at the dedication ceremony for the new Dr. Percy and Lileah Harris building laughed when Peter mentioned his mother’s vow. Lileah did, in fact, end up marrying a doctor: Percy Harris, the first black physician in Cedar Rapids. The couple
Posted inCommunity/News
School bus tour will showcase historic Cedar Rapids elementary schools scheduled for demolition
A tour hosted by the nonprofit group CR Heritage will highlight the historic qualities of Cedar Rapids Community School District (CRCSD) elementary schools — 10 of which will be demolished and replaced. Cedar Rapids historian Mark Stoffer Hunter will be leading the tour on Friday, Oct. 11.
Posted inCommunity/News
‘Quite a little fight’ — the Harris family’s move to Bever Avenue was an early step forward in Cedar Rapids integration
At Percy Harris’ Memorial Service on Jan.30 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, Ted Townsend, the president of St. Luke’s Hospital, began his eulogy for Dr. Harris by saying that before he met him, he’d heard so many good things about him that he was surprised to find out he was still alive. It was a funny line and on the edge of inappropriate for a memorial, but would have tickled Harris’ famous sense of humor. It would be difficult to find someone in Cedar Rapids who has a bad word to say about Harris. He devoted his life to serving Cedar Rapids, becoming its first black physician in 1957. He later served as the Linn County Medical Examiner, President of Medical Staff at St. Luke’s and for two terms as a member of the Iowa Board of Regents.
One of the most famous incidents of Harris’ life was the controversy that surrounded the 1961 decision of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church — where he was, according to fellow parishioner Carolyn Wellso, the only African American member — to sell him a lot on which to build his home. Robert Armstrong, owner of Armstrong’s Department Store, had donated land adjacent to his Bever Avenue home to the church as a contribution to its building fund; he proposed to the board that they sell a lot to Harris.
