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The
Iowa quarter is the fourth of 2004,
and the 29th in the 50 State
Quarters® Program. On December 28,
1846, Iowa became the 29th state to
be admitted into the Union. The Iowa
quarter design features a one-room
schoolhouse with a teacher and
students planting a tree, and the
inscriptions "Foundation in
Education" and "Grant Wood." The
design is based on "Arbor Day," a
painting by Grant Wood, who was born
near Anamosa, Iowa. He spent his
career as a proponent of small-town
values, which he celebrated in the
iconic images of small-town plain
folk and verdant Midwestern vistas
for which he is
world-renowned.
Iowans have had
a commitment to education since the
State's earliest days. When Iowa
became a state in 1846, it already
had a number of rural country schools
in each of its counties. Iowa
established its first high school in
the 1850s, although high schools
generally did not become widespread
in the United States until after
1900. Private and public colleges
also quickly took root in the new
State.
Although Iowa
has long been a leader in
agriculture, the State is unique in
that it is the only one whose east
and west borders are completely
formed by rivers - the Mississippi
and Missouri Rivers.
In May 2002, Governor Thomas J. Vilsack
established the 16-member Iowa Quarter
Commission, which worked with libraries,
banks and credit unions to solicit ideas
and concepts for the state quarter design.
The Commission received nearly 2,000
submissions, which were narrowed to five
candidate themes, including "American
Gothic," "Foundation in Education,"
"Feeding the World," "Sullivan Brothers,"
and "Beautiful Land."
In July 2003, the United States Mint
forwarded five approved candidate designs
to Governor Vilsack for final
recommendation. Three designs were
emblematic of the "Feeding the World"
theme, and the other two represented the
"Young Corn" and "Foundation in Education"
concepts. Governor Vilsack chose the
"Foundation in Education" design, which was
approved by the Secretary of the Treasury
on August 26, 2003.
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The state quarter of Iowa
features a one-room schoolhouse with
a teacher and students planting a
tree, and the inscriptions
"Foundation in Education" and "Grant
Wood." The design is based on "Arbor
Day," a painting by Grant Wood, who
was born near Anamosa,
Iowa.
United States Mint
image
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To
learn even more about the
State Quarters Program, please
visit,
The United States
Mint
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