Team Renfrow continues research, to give updates during RAGBRAI

“What’s that Crane?” is the gimmicky campaign you might see posted around town as RAGBRAI approaches. On July 27, follow these posters and you will quickly find your way to Team Renfrow at the Drake Community Library. They will be present at the library from 10 a.m. — 4 p.m. to talk about the Renfrows, the wider history of African Americans in Grinnell, and other local history. They will offer free Popsicles and cold drinks on the library patio.

The crane, visible (and often audible) from almost anywhere in town, is on the corner of 6th Avenue and Broad Street. It marks the construction site for Renfrow Hall, Grinnell College’s newest dorm, set to open in fall 2024. The apartment-style complex is named after Grinnell local and college alumna, Edith Renfrow Smith, who lives in Chicago, Ill., and celebrated her 109th birthday on July 14. Smith graduated from Grinnell High School in 1932, and became the first Black woman to graduate from Grinnell College in 1937.

Over the last two years, a group of town and campus Grinnellians has come together to become Team Renfrow, focusing efforts to research and document that Renfrow story. Including Grinnell College students Feven Getachew ‘24 and Evie Caperton, Libby Eggert, Hemlock Stanier, and Tobias Lincoln (all class of ‘25); Monique Shore, Drake Library Technology Administrator; and Tamara Beauboeuf, the Louise R. Noun Chair of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies at Grinnell College. Team Renfrow has been working to bring visibility to Renfrow Smith as well as her extended family and its deep roots in Grinnell and Poweshiek County.

This summer, Team Renfrow has focused on the period of 1870 to 1925. Delving into property, census, and vital records and news articles, the team is learning about Renfrow Smith’s forebears as well as other African American individuals and families, their residence in the town, and their presence in Hazelwood Cemetery.

Team Renfrow wants to spread information about their project, hoping to teach Iowans about the legacy of Edith Renfrow Smith, and how special Grinnell is; Smith speaks highly of the influence Grinnell, the town and the college, had on her. As she said in 2019 when she was awarded a doctorate of humane letters from her alma mater, “Grinnell has been my life.”

The team also hopes to connect with people who may have connections or insights on Black history in Iowa; no lead is unhelpful. More information is available on their website, and you can sign up for their mailing list for updates. https://linktr.ee/teamrenfrow.