The University of Iowa

Slater Hall

Fred Duke Slater

Honoree: Fred "Duke" Slater 
1898 - 1966
(photo courtesy of F.W. Kent Collection, University Archives, University of Iowa Libraries)

Achievements:

  • University of Iowa Hawkeye football player, 1918 - 1922, University of Iowa law degree 1928
  • He was selected to the all-Iowa team as a freshman by the Des Moines Register
  • Unanimous first team All-Big Ten selection, 1919 and 1920, and a second team All-American
  • After graduating from Iowa, Slater played ten years of professional football with the Milwaukee Badgers, Rock Island Independents and Chicago Cardinals
  • First African-American lineman in NFL history
  • Slater was one of just five football players inducted into the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame in the Hall's inaugural year in 1951; one of two Iowa players who was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1951; and named to the sports writers’ all-time all-American eleven in 1946
  • Additional information

Slater Hall

 

Description of facility:

The 12-story Slater Hall, like its companion, Rienow Hall, was built in the late 1960s and houses both men and women and is located on Grand Avenue. Slater is the only residence hall at Iowa named after a former athlete and was the first building on campus to be named for an African-American. Fred “Duke” Slater played Hawkeye football in 1920-21 and was Iowa’s first black All-American in football; he went on to earn a UI law degree and become a federal judge in Chicago. Former UI president Willard “Sandy” Boyd, who taught at the UI law school since 1954, had suggested that then-Iowa Stadium be named Kinnick-Slater, in honor of the two gridiron greats. When a committee advised against having joint names for UI buildings, Boyd then requested the dorm be named for Slater. Ironically, as an African-American, Slater would not have been allowed to live on campus when he was a student. Slater Hall is now home to 499 coed residents.

Address: 325 Grand Avenue
Year built: 1968
Additional building information and map: Slater Hall

Aerial View of Building