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Julia Sampson Bunn (1914-2001) - student

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Julia Sampson and her family moved to Cedar Rapids for her father’s job on the Rock Island railroad.  She and her twin sister, Louise, attended Grant Vocational High School and were active in art and drama groups.  Known for her painting talent, Julia graduated with honors in 1932 and was destined for a local business school until she received the first Stone City Art Colony scholarship.   

After locating ten abandoned ice wagons from Hubbard Ice Company in Cedar Rapids, Grace Boston, the colony’s first business manager, asked Joseph T. Chadima (Hubbard’s owner), for their use as sleeping quarters.  Unable to pay for the wagons, Boston asked Chadima to pick any registered student and a six-week scholarship would be provided to that person.  Sampson, the highest ranking art student at her school, was chosen; coverage of the award was featured in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.  

After the colony, Julia attended Augustana College School of Nursing (Rock Island, Illinois) and graduated in 1937.  She later relocated to the Chicago area and became employed as the children’s reference librarian at Rolling Meadows Public Library, where she remained on staff from 1968-1988.  Sampson created all of the library’s artwork, including its sculptures, murals, and an intricate Christmas wreath that is still used in holiday displays.  One of the Rolling Meadows suburb’s first residents, Sampson died in 2001. 

Online Resources for Julia Sampson Bunn: 

Coover, D.J. “Washington High School, Linn County Iowa, 1921.” ©2000-2002 by D. J. Cover. Accessed 3 July 2003.  Available: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/historical/1921washhs_23.htm

Iowa Schools.com. “Cedar Rapids: Grant School.” Accessed 3 July 2003.  Available: http://www.iowaschools.net/cedar-rapids/grant/index.htm

Photocopy of photo in 1932 Green and Gold yearbook , Grant High School, Cedar Rapids, IA. Photo courtesy of the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

undated

1971

1978

Newspaper clipping images courtesy of Rolling Meadows Public Library, Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

When Tillage Begins: The Stone City Art Colony and School
Published online October 2003 by the
Busse Library,
Mount Mercy College
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Telephone: 319-368-6465
Fax: 319-363-9060
Email: library@mtmercy.edu

Researcher & Author: Kristy Raine
Library Director: Marilyn Murphy
Editor & Web Designer: Linda Scarth
©Busse Library 2003