Old high school in Center Point, Iowa was demolished on April 18, 2015.
https://paul-marlow.squarespace.com/random-thoughts/2015/4/19/ode-to-an-old-high-school-building
Old high school in Center Point, Iowa was demolished on April 18, 2015.
https://paul-marlow.squarespace.com/random-thoughts/2015/4/19/ode-to-an-old-high-school-building
Stuart Ansala Mahuran was an Iowa-based journalist, educator, orator, and World War I-era military instructor. He served as city editor of the Mason City Daily Globe-Gazette and earned awards for public speaking and fiction. His career intersected education, patriotism, and literary ambition.
Background
Ethnicity:
Anglo-American, with family rooted in the agrarian Midwest and Great Plains
Mahuran was born in Colwich, Kansas in 1892 to a family of Anglo-American heritage with ties to agriculture and rural education. His upbringing in Kansas and Iowa was shaped by the values of Midwestern Protestant communities that emphasized public service, discipline, and personal advancement. His parents instilled a sense of purpose, moral clarity, and ambition that guided his future in oratory, journalism, and education.
Education
Mahuran’s educational path was defined by his dedication to rhetoric, communication, and civic instruction. After graduating from Center Point High School in Iowa, he enrolled at Upper Iowa University and pursued studies in oratory and dramatic art. His early success in public speaking culminated in winning the Fawcett Oratorical Contest and Boyce Debate Prize in 1914. He continued his teacher training at Iowa State Normal School, followed by studies in journalism at the State University of Iowa and legal training at the University of Wisconsin.
His education cultivated a belief in the moral function of language and the civic obligation of teaching. He was influenced by Progressive Era educational ideals and regional reformers who championed character, clarity, and community engagement. His university experience was grounded in the Midwestern republican tradition of rhetorical service and public virtue.
Stuart Mahuran began his career as superintendent of schools in Fayette and Hazleton, Iowa (1912–1915), then Kamrar in 1916. In 1917, he served as news editor for the Creston Advertiser. During World War I, he was appointed mathematics instructor at the Field Artillery Central Officers’ Training School at Camp Zachary Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky.
After the war, he became city editor for the Mason City Daily Globe-Gazette and Times, where he led civic and cultural reporting. In 1920, he was awarded first prize in the Des Moines Register Short Story Contest for his story "A Roll of Copper Wire." His writing emphasized narrative clarity, moral reflection, and rural realism.
Mahuran was an active member of the Authors’ League of America and the American Legion, uniting literary achievement and public service. His career embodied the Progressive Era ideal of the citizen-scholar, balancing journalistic precision, literary aspiration, and national duty.
Achievements
Mahuran won the 1920 Des Moines Register Short Story Contest and two collegiate oratorical awards. He trained military officers in mathematics during World War I and promoted civic literacy through editorial leadership in Iowa newspapers. His participation in both the Authors’ League of America and the American Legion demonstrated his standing in literary and veteran circles.
Religion
Mahuran’s religious views reflected the civic Protestantism of early 20th-century Iowa. He believed in service, discipline, and moral education as expressions of faith. His career upheld the Protestant ethic of public vocation—using communication, teaching, and national service to shape a more just and articulate society.
Politics
Stuart Mahuran advocated the principles of Midwestern Republicanism: civic responsibility, constitutional fidelity, and public morality. He admired Abraham Lincoln's eloquence, Theodore Roosevelt’s progressive nationalism, and Calvin Coolidge’s institutional dignity. His editorials emphasized self-governance, national service, and the moral role of education.
Views
Mahuran viewed education as a moral duty, journalism as a public service, and citizenship as a calling. His worldview united rhetorical precision, patriotic instruction, and civic virtue. He promoted personal integrity, cultural literacy, and national unity as the foundations of a strong republic.
Quotations:
“Words must serve the public good, not private applause.” “Education is not an end, but a duty to the commonwealth.” “Patriotism is the daily labor of honest men.”
Membership
Member of the Authors’ League of America and American Legion. The Authors’ League connected Mahuran to national literary circles. The American Legion affirmed his civic credibility as a wartime instructor and cultural figure.
Personality
Mahuran combined precision with principle. He was known for clear speech, disciplined habits, and unwavering dedication to public service. Colleagues respected his balance of modesty and excellence.
Quotes from others about the person
"Mahuran brought eloquence to duty and dignity to prose." "A teacher who demanded clarity and lived by his lessons." "He wrote as he spoke: with purpose and pride."
Interests
Public speaking, civic literature, American history
Philosophers & Thinkers
Ralph Waldo Emerson; Abraham Lincoln
Politicians
Abraham Lincoln; Theodore Roosevelt; Calvin Coolidge
Writers
Ralph Waldo Emerson; James Whitcomb Riley; Edward Everett Hale; Mark Twain
Artists
Grant Wood; Howard Chandler Christy
Connections
Mahuran married Marne Gerstenberger in 1917. They had one daughter, Betty V. Mahuran, who continued the family’s public-spirited values.
Wife:
Marne Gerstenberger
Marne supported Stuart’s career as a teacher, writer, and soldier.
Daughter:
Betty V. Mahuran
Betty won a college oratorical contest, reflecting her father’s legacy.
