Robert C.
Armstrong: The Merchant Prince
Armstrong
Hall, a residence facility on campus, was named after Robert Armstrong,
an influential Coe alumnus who made his mark in Cedar Rapids as
president of Armstrong's Department Store. Perhaps
Armstrong always knew that he would assume the presidency of this
business, but his education was certainly not limited to a narrow
concentration of business courses. His Coe years reveal a young
man with a strong commitment to a broad, enriching liberal arts
education. While a student at Coe, Armstrong was well known as a
member of the YMCA, serving as president of that organization his
senior year. However, Armstrong spent much of his time on the
Inter-Collegiate Debate and Forensic Board teams. During his senior
year, he was the leader of Coe's three-person negative team. The
argument for debate that year was permanent price control by the
federal government, and Armstrong led his debate crew to an undefeated
season with victories over the affirmative teams from Grinnell,
Northwestern, and Ripon Colleges.
Upon
his graduation (summa cum laude) from Coe in 1918, Armstrong
attended the U.S. Military Academy and then the Harvard School of
Business Administration. After returning to Cedar Rapids (and
eventually marrying Esther Youel, class of 1925), Armstrong worked in
the department store created by his father and inherited the business
when his Samuel Armstrong died in 1929. During the next fifty
years, Armstrong would emerge as a powerful community leader. His
remarkable administrative skills and willingness to serve in dozens of
organizations made him both popular and influential. His
generosity and fairness in dealing with employees, who were always
called "Armstrong's Associates," created a strong base for his
community-wide projects. His influence was particularly notable
in his insistence on fair hiring practices for minorities and
integrated residential communities. An obituary in the Cedar
Rapids Gazette praises his outspokenness:
Never
one to shirk toe-stepping when he felt it necessary, he showed a
singular tenacity in furthering his causes and convictions. With most
of the important judgments he reached--on business matters or community
concerns among the many boards and agencies on which he served--the
chances were extremely small that there would ever be a change. You
knew where Robert Armstrong stood, for better or for worse.
Coe
College often benefited from Armstrong's influential presence. Like his
father and grandfather before him, he was a member of the Board of
Trustees--an active Trustee for 36 years and a Life Trustee for another
8 years. He served on the Board's Executive Committee, was the
chairman for the Ford Foundation matching donation campaign in the
1960s, and was the national leadership gifts chairman in a Coe Capital
Campaign. In Armstrong's eulogy, Coe's President Emeritus Joe McCabe
said:
He
was strong-minded and stubborn or steadfast, depending on your point of
view. When he took a position, he held to it. Old Washington High down
on Greene Square, Coe, West Point, Harvard--these were his watering
places in the intellectual quest. In an earlier time, he could have
been referred to as a merchant prince.
In
his will written nearly 70 years after his graduation from Coe,
Armstrong concluded the document with fond memories of his alma mater:
I
have found that my involvement, while a student at Coe College, in
forensics to have been of great value to me throughout my life. I
accordingly ask that my Trustees explore with Coe College the
feasibility, not only from a cost aspect but more importantly from a
student interest aspect, of establishing an Endowed Chair in Forensics
at Coe College.
Although
the college was not able to fulfill Armstrong's request, it says
something about the powerful impact of his experiences at Coe that in
his final years--when reflecting back on a long and distinguished
career--he chose to focus on his forensics experiences as a college
debater.
Of
all the people involved with Coe College in the 20th
century, Robert Armstrong was perhaps the truest successor to those
dedicated businessmen and civic leaders of the 19th century
who persevered in the creation and sustenance of this institution--such
men as Judge Greene and T. M. Sinclair and John Ely. Joe McCabe
astutely portrayed the man in his eulogy on the occasion of Robert
Armstrong's death:
In
this city, he was Mr. Downtown. No name compares with Armstrong in the
growth and development of downtown Cedar Rapids. He was chairman or
president of every major board or organization that worked for the
betterment of the city. Only of him could the Gazette carry the
simple headline: "Goodbye, Robert Armstrong."
