When the Iowa General Assembly claimed the eastern goldfinch as the state songbird 85 years ago, no one knew what the future held.

The vote honoring the goldfinch was taken on March 22, 1933, during the darkest period of the Great Depression.

Eighteen days earlier, Franklin D. Roosevelt had been sworn in as our 32nd president. Two days after he was sworn in, FDR declared a bank holiday, closing every bank in the nation, including all 626 banks in Iowa, for at least one week.

On March 13, the day that the first eight Iowa banks reopened, 3,000 farmers marched into the Statehouse and halted proceedings in the Iowa House. The demonstrators were relatively peaceful as they pleaded for commodity price supports and a moratorium on farm foreclosures.

A month later, an agitated mob of 100 angry farmers in the northwest Iowa town of Le Mars was less considerate. The Associated Press reported that the Le Mars mob “looped a rope about the neck of Judge Charles C. Bradley, yanked it until the jurist fell semi-conscious, smeared him with grease, crowned him with a dirty hubcap from the truck in which they abducted him from the courthouse, tore off his trousers and left him in the road with chafed neck and bleeding mouth.”

In the context of those times, the goldfinch resolutions were a much-needed distraction. Like today, it was difficult to get Republicans and Democrats to agree on much of anything. 

Except the state bird.  

The Iowa Ornithological Union first nominated the goldfinch in 1922. In addition to being easy on the eye and ear, the goldfinch was a hard worker. “It is valuable for farmers because of the great quantity of weed seed they consume during a season and the war they wage upon canker-worm, plant lice, small grasshoppers and beetles,” the ornithologists said.

The goldfinch was a good fit for no-nonsense Iowans. 

But just because lawmakers liked the bird didn’t mean everyone did. 

Editorial writers were quick to question and mock the choice. 

Lawmakers “would have done better to decide upon the dodo — or the cuckoo!” wrote one scribe.

“Iowa should not choose a bird already taken by Minnesota,” added Fred G. Bliss of Washta in a letter to the editor. (Minnesota later changed its state bird to the loon.)

“Iowa being called the Hawkeye State,” Bliss continued, “I would certainly consider the magnificent red-tailed hawk,” which was also a benefactor of agriculture.

The practice of naming state birds originated in the 1920s. By 1933, when Iowa chose the goldfinch, 18 states already had official birds. 

Today, the cardinal and Western meadowlark are the two most popular state birds, with seven states claiming the cardinal and five favoring the meadowlark. 

Over the years, Iowa’s goldfinch has become a corporate symbol, as well as a state icon. The Iowa secretary of state’s office lists 36 corporate entities that include the word “goldfinch” in their name, including a cafe, a brewery, several land management and consulting firms, and a cycling company. 

While the goldfinch’s reign in Iowa has been largely uneventful, there was one notable incident in 2007. It occurred at Glen Oaks Country Club during the Principal Charity Classic golf tournament.  

Actor Rob Lowe, of “West Wing” fame, was playing as a celebrity guest in a pro-am event. Witnesses said that by the fourth hole, Lowe had made it clear that he wasn’t much of a golfer.  

He hit a high-trajectory approach shot to the fourth green. But his ball faded left, striking and killing a young goldfinch in midflight.

Needless to say, it was not the kind of “birdie” Lowe wanted on his scorecard.