Marycrest College Historic District
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Marycrest College Historic District
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| Location | Portions of the 1500 and 1600 blocks of W. 12th St., Davenport, Iowa |
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| Coordinates | 41°31′51.60″N 90°35′55.43″W / 41.5310000°N 90.5987306°WCoordinates: 41°31′51.60″N 90°35′55.43″W / 41.5310000°N 90.5987306°W |
| Built | 1938, 1939, 1941 |
| Architect |
Frederick G. Clausen Temple and Temple Raymond C. Whitaker |
| Architectural style |
Queen Anne Jacobean Revival Late Gothic Revival Collegiate Gothic Modern |
| MPS | Davenport MRA |
| NRHP Reference # | 04000341 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 14, 2004 |
| Designated DRHP | January 1, 2004 |
Marycrest College Historic District is located on a bluff overlooking the West End of Davenport, Iowa, United States. The district encompasses the campus of Marycrest International University, which was a small, private collegiate institution. The school was originally named Marycrest College, became Teikyo Marycrest University and finally Marycrest International University after affiliating with a private educational consortium during the 1990s. The school closed in 2002 because of financial shortcomings. The campus has been listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties and on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004.
Marycrest was founded as a Catholic women's college in 1939 by the Congregation of the Humility of Mary (CHM) at the request of Bishop Henry Rohlman of Davenport. Mother Mary Geraldine Upham, CHM, who had been the congregation's Mother Superior at that time, became the school's first president. She had previously founded St. Joseph's Junior College, later renamed Ottumwa Heights College, in 1925. Sister Hazel Marie Roth, CHM was the first Dean.
Initially, Marycrest was organized as a division of St. Ambrose College, and it was incorporated as a separate college in 1954. The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools independently accredited Marycrest in 1955 and said it "has the potential to be the Vassar of Catholic colleges." St. Ambrose and Marycrest planned to merge in the early 1970s. They chose a new name for the school, Newman College, before the merger was discontinued and both schools remained independent of each other.
Marycrest opened with 76 students in 1939 and it grew to 935 students in 1961, the year that Mother Geraldine died. The facility in the same time period grew from 21 members to 67. As early as the mid-1940s, international students were welcomed to the campus. In 1969, educational opportunities were extended to men when the college became coeducational. In 1990, Marycrest College became affiliated with the Teikyo Yamanashi Education and Welfare Foundation of Japan and was renamed Teikyo Marycrest University. It was networked with Teikyo campuses around the world and its mission was dedicated to international education without prejudice. The institution ended its formal association with the Catholic Church at this time, though many of the Sisters continued to teach and work at the university.
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