DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | University of Iowa anti-war protests, January-April 1971

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University of Iowa anti-war protests, January-April 1971

Ruby Schulz to David McCartney Page 1

War Research in Psychology at Iowa

To: David McCartney 
From: Rudy Schulz [AUGUST 2010]

The attached "sign" was posted on a bulletin board in the Iowa Memorial Union during the early 1970s when students were demonstrating against the war in Viet Nam. It was brought to my attention by one of my graduate students while I was Chair of the Psychology Department. Who ever posted the sign undoubtedly had the impression that war research was being done in our department from having seen the nose cones of some Minuteman 1 Missiles  in the hall of the Spence Laboratories of Psychology outside the door to our electronics/machine shop in that building. How did missile nose cones get into Spence Labs? They were delivered by a freight hauling company and left in the hall when shop personnel failed to answer the delivery person's knock on the shop door. 
The Office of US Government Surplus had informed educational institutions that computers suitable for use in research could be obtained from that office at no cost to the institution except for the cost of shipping. This was a gift the department could not afford to pass up. We applied for these cost free computers and were approved to receive them. At no point were we told where the computers were coming from. Imagine our shock and surprise when we discovered that our surplus computers had been delivered encased in the nose cones of Minuteman 1 US Air Force missiles. The source of the computers was from Minuteman 1 Missiles which were being replaced by Minuteman 3 Missiles. The computers were part of the guidance system of the obsolete missiles. The Air Force simply unscrewed the atomic warheads from the obsolete missiles and sent us the rest of the nose cone with US AIR FORCE printed in hugh block letters down the side of it. And there they sat in hall Of Spence Labs for any passerby to see. No wonder students thought we were doing war research.

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War Research in Psychology at Iowa To: David McCartney From: Rudy Schulz [AUGUST 2010] The attached "sign" was posted on a bulletin board in the Iowa Memorial Union during the early 1970s when students were demonstrating against the war in Viet Nam. It was brought to my attention by one of my graduate students while I was Chair of the Psychology Department. Who ever posted the sign undoubtedly had the impression that war research was being done in our department from having seen the nose cones of some Minuteman 1 Missiles in the hall of the Spence Laboratories of Psychology outside the door to our electronics/machine shop in that building. How did missile nose cones get into Spence Labs? They were delivered by a freight hauling company and left in the hall when shop personnel failed to answer the delivery person's knock on the shop door. The Office of US Government Surplus had informed educational institutions that computers suitable for use in research could be obtained from that office at no cost to the institution except for the cost of shipping. This was a gift the department could not afford to pass up. We applied for these cost free computers and were approved to receive them. At no point were we told where the computers were coming from. Imagine our shock and surprise when we discovered that our surplus computers had been delivered encased in the nose cones of Minuteman 1 US Air Force missiles. The source of the computers was from Minuteman 1 Missiles which were being replaced by Minuteman 3 Missiles. The computers were part of the guidance system of the obsolete missiles. The Air Force simply unscrewed the atomic warheads from the obsolete missiles and sent us the rest of the nose cone with US AIR FORCE printed in hugh block letters down the side of it. And there they sat in hall Of Spence Labs for any passerby to see. No wonder students thought we were doing war research.