Laura Ensign

Laura Ensign arrived in Cedar Falls in 1878, joining the Iowa State Normal School faculty at a moment when the institution was still defining what it would become. While she was not the first woman to teach at the Normal School, she would stay for 14 years and become a leader among her colleagues at a time when women’s authority in higher education was still contested.

At the time of her arrival, Ensign was already recognized as a skilled educator with strong views about how teachers should be trained. At odds with the school’s leadership, Ensign believed instructors should teach in their areas of specialization, and also became a leading voice in disputes over salary and rank.

These obstacles were compounded by a difficult relationship with Principal Gilchrist, the school’s first leader. Despite that tension, Ensign remained deeply invested in the school’s future. She quietly worked behind the scenes to recruit Gilchrist’s eventual successor, her friend and fellow educator Homer Seerley. 

No woman at the Iowa State Normal School held the rank of professor until 1889, when President Seerley pressed the Board to grant the title to women on the faculty and recognize women’s work as equal to men’s. Ensign was the first woman to be promoted, marking a turning point for women across the institution. 

While her career at the Iowa State Normal School ended in 1892, the legacy of her efforts remained. The principles she championed — fair pay, academic specialization and professional rank — would become standard features of the institution as it evolved into a comprehensive university.

Ensign authored textbooks on pedagogy and grammar that became widely used throughout the Midwest. Through her writing, Ensign reached classrooms she would never see in person. Her textbooks were still in print when she died in 1937.