Ernest Hemingway’s memoir of Paris in the 1920s is aptly named. The “moveable feast,” according to Hemingway’s friend A.E. Hotchner, is the experience of living in Paris at a young age, and keeping it with you for the rest of your life, no matter where you live.

Old Gold likes this sentiment, both literally and figuratively, to describe Shambaugh House, the stately home at the southeast corner of Clinton and Fairchild streets in Iowa City. Since 2002 the house has been the home of the acclaimed International Writing Program, where authors from abroad meet to share and discuss their literary works. But even before IWP became its current occupant, the house served the university in other ways, and at another location.

Built in 1900 by Benjamin and Bertha (Horack) Shambaugh, the house stood originally at 219 N. Clinton St., between Old Brick and Daum Residence Hall. It was moved two blocks north in 2002 to make way for construction of the new Blank Honors Center and Pomerantz Center. The Shambaughs were prominent figures at the university during the first half of the last century. Benjamin (1871-1940) was head of the UI political science department for most of his academic career, from 1900 until his death. He was also the superintendent of the State Historical Society of Iowa for many years. His wife, Bertha (1871-1953), was head of the biology department for the Iowa City schools, meeting her husband at a student literary society meeting. They married in 1897 and settled in the new home just three years later.

From the start, 219 N. Clinton was a social hub for the university community, for four decades the setting for hundreds of functions and events. Mrs. Shambaugh faithfully maintained a set of journals, or “house books,” as she called them, spanning 1902 to 1941, and these journals are today housed in the University Archives. They offer a fascinating glimpse into university life, with photographs, creative sketches (Mrs. Shambaugh, a talented artist, designed an early Hawkeye yearbook cover), newspaper clippings, and handwritten entries reflecting on the day’s activity. The cover of volume 17 (1929-1930) is graced with the quotation:

“As a rule — a man’s a fool
When it’s hot — he wants it cool
When it’s cool — he wants it hot
Always wanting what is not!”

Six years following Benjamin Shambaugh’s death, in 1946, the house was deeded to the university for use as a guest house. In 1952 it became the International Center and remained so until at least 1968. From 1982 until its move in 2002 it was home of the Honors Center. A moveable feast, indeed.

To see home movies of Benjamin Shambaugh and the Shambaugh home taken during the 1930s, check out these online film clips from the Iowa Digital Library.

—David McCartney, University Archivist

Portraits of Benjamin Shambaugh, 1939, and Bertha Horack Shambaugh, 1938 [The Shambaugh Family Papers (RG 99.0152), University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries]

Image of Shambaugh House Book, 1929 [The Shambaugh Family Papers (RG 99.0152), University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries]

Shambaugh House as it appeared at 219 N. Clinton St. in the 1950s [F.W. Kent Collection of Photographs (RG 30.01.01), Buildings Series, Folder “Shambaugh House,” University Archives, Department of Special Collections, University of Iowa Libraries]