#VoicesfromtheStacks
Dora Lee Martin: Elected Queen of the Campus
Although originally from Texas, Dora Lee Martin entered the University of Iowa (then the State University of Iowa or SUI) as a Freshman in 1955.
The same year she won the “Miss SUI” title and becoming the first African American student elected to that position: also called the ‘Queen of Campus’. The story became national and even international news, with articles everywhere from ‘the Saturday Evening Post’ to papers from London and New Delhi.
She said about the experience:
“Never before had I been a part of anything where there was such single-mindedness and such dedication – it really felt special to have all these people working together for the same goal. And there was such harmony and unity. It made me appreciate what it meant to be a proud Black American in 1955. What we could accomplish if we all . . . put our efforts together and work for something.” (IWA0331 Oral history transcription, page 19)
Not everyone was happy about her victory unfortunately, as Martin stated that many events that previous queens had participated in on campus were quietly cancelled without explanation.
Martin left Iowa after graduating, obtained her master's degree in 1959 at Rutgers' School of Social Work in New Jersey, and went on to a career as a social worker in schools.
Pictures from the 1956 Hawkeye Yearbook, and quotes from ‘Giving Voice to Their Memories: Oral Histories of African American Women in Iowa’
See also this blog post from UI Libraries Special Collections about Dora Lee and Arthurine for more details and background.
--Diane R.
