Newton man brings past to life with new magazine
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Fred Becker was, by all accounts, a great man. He graduated from East Waterloo High School a beloved and talented student in 1914 and went on to play football at the University of Iowa.
During his time at Iowa, Becker, who played for coach Howard Jones, earned a first team spot for the Hawkeyes. The 1916 Hawkeyes had a 4-3 record but Becker received a high honor in the world of college football. The kind, outgoing East High grad was making history and was named Iowa’s first All-American first team player.
Becker, who had a bright future ahead of him, left Iowa and enlisted in 1917 to help America fight in World War I when he was shot and killed charging a hill defending his comrades.
It’s stories like the Waterloo man’s — one of courage, talent, ambition and valor — that Mike Chapman of Newton wants to keep alive in the pages of his new magazine “Iowa History Journal.”
“My goal is to make history fun and exciting to read about,” said Chapman, who has written several books and screenplays. “And all these stories, like Fred Becker’s, will disappear if somebody doesn’t write them down.”
Chapman decided he could be the man to help preserve Becker’s and other stories in an effort to share the unique and rich history of Iowa.
“I just thought ‘If not me, than who?’” he said of how he decided to start the publication.
Along with the help of his office manager, Bev, his wife of 41 years, Chapman put together a full color, glossy magazine telling the stories of Iowa from his Newton office. The first issue of Iowa History Journal published in January.
In just five issues in the magazine’s freshman year, Iowa History Journal has covered many famous home-grown Iowans. The magazine has included articles about athletes from Becker and fellow Hawkeye and war hero Nile Kinnick to Iowa State University’s Jack Trice; actors like Superman George Reeves and movie starlet Donna Reed from “It’s A Wonderful Life”; and politicians, including the only man elected to the White House who hailed from Iowa, President Herbert Hoover.
“I applaud anyone who makes the effort to write about the past,” he said. “There is a void right now in preserving Iowa’s history. I think it’s important for me to help keep alive these stories and to share the amazing stories of Iowans.”
Part of keeping Iowa’s history “alive” is by circulating the magazine throughout the state. Iowa History Journal is currently distributed to every public library and high school in Iowa free of charge.
“My hope is to teach Iowa’s history and heritage to young Iowans,” Chapman said of his goals for the magazine.
Chapman, a Waterloo native and former publisher of the Newton Daily News, credits much of his success to his business partner and friend E.K. Shaw, who served as adviser to the publication until his death on Nov. 6.
“E.K. Shaw was a role model for all who came in contact with him. He was a mentor to me in my chosen profession. He loved history and felt it was important that an effort be made to keep these stories alive for future generations,” Chapman said of his former colleague.
The publisher of Iowa History Journal said he wants to successfully continue the project he started with Shaw, his friend and fellow history lover, by publishing the stories about the people and events that shaped Iowa’s rich historical landscape.
“Wyatt Earp lived in Pella, Buffalo Bill in LeClaire, Fred Becker was the first All-American, Jack Trice has an amazing story, and there’s so many more,” he said with fervor. “History really is fun, and the fact is you can talk about it and the people and the events that made Iowa what it is in an exciting way.”
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From the Web:
Iowa History Journal
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Jessica Lowe can be contacted at 792-3121 ext. 426 or via e-mail at jlowe@newtondailynews.com.
