Campustown: A Brief History of the First West Ames (Arcadia)
Campustown Corrections and Clarifications
Campustown: A Brief History of the First West Ames is full of stories that hadn’t been told. But… there were a few errors.
I tried to make sure there weren’t any mistakes in Campustown, but a small handful of errors have been brought to my attention. Here are the corrections and clarifications — and the date they were first noted online.
George Howard Champlin (Page 32, Lines 22 to 26)
“In May 1904, Miller sold his business to a new man in town, George H. Champlin. But it was his son, Albert Louis Champlin, who would be the head of the store. The two didn’t waste time, and by the fall, the general store had moved to the corner of Welch and Lincoln Way, a lot that Howard had purchased a year earlier.” In the last sentence, Howard refers to George H. Champlin.
—”Chapter 2: West Ames Is Born,” subsection The First Businessmen
I saw this immediately and knew exactly what happened. Like many parts of this book, this paragraph was originally longer and more detailed. One of the details was that George H. Champlin’s middle name was Howard, but he went by Howard — much like his son Albert Louis Champlin who went by Lou (same for his grandson). Since Howard’s presence in the book was minimal, I didn’t think the detail about his name was necessary to a “brief history.” It was cut, but one reference to him by name wasn’t caught. (18 July 2017)
Carrie Chapman Catt and Cranford (Page 60, Line 5 and 6)
“women’s suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt, who was also a member of Pi Beta Phi;” should be removed
—”Chapter 4: Between Two Wars,” subsection The Female Faculty Builds a Home
I’m not quite sure what happened here. I have in my notes that Catt didn’t live at the Cranford Building, but I guess when writing the section — which might have been one of those long all-nighters — I discarded that piece of knowledge. For some terrible reason, I also never bothered to fact check this piece of information.
Hat tip to Marilyn Alger for catching this error. (18 July 2017)
Father James Supple (Page 82, Line 5)
“Father John Supple” to “Father James Supple”
—”Chapter 5: Worship in Campustown,” subsection St. Thomas Aquinas Church and Catholic Student Center
The first name of the first pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church is incorrect. The man’s first name was James, not John. Trying to figure out how this came about, I believe it was just from having the current pastor, Jon Seda, on my mind during the writing.
Hat tip to Bob Bourne for finding this error. (28 June 2017)
James Shipley (Page 98, Line 29)
“Jason Shipley” to “James Shipley”
—Chapter 7: The Story of West Gate, subsection Building the Rest of West Gate
This error, about a longtime barber in West Gate, likely came from me seeing initials like “Jas” in a newspaper or telephone directory and supposing it to be Jason.
Hat tip to Adam Shipley, James’ grandson, for catching this error. (1 February 2019)
The Iowa State Daily Archive 