The Larry W. Carter Scholarship

The Larry W. Carter Scholarship is available to any qualifying Black Iowa resident enrolled in a full- or part-time college program, at either the undergraduate or graduate level.  Applications are available each year in the spring.

Apply for the Larry W. Carter Scholarship

About Larry W. Carter

Larry W. Carter was born August 7, 1937, in Kansas City, Missouri. He moved to Des Moines at an early age and was educated in the Des Moines Public School system. He was the first African American to enroll and graduate from the Intermountain School of Telegraphy. He also attended St. Louis University, Drake University and was a graduate of the Marquette University Advanced School of Management and the Management Development Institute.

Mr. Carter was employed by Norwest Financial, Inc. for more than 27 years and was responsible for five corporate departments. He eventually became Assistant Vice President of Administrative Services, making him one of the highest ranking Black corporate officers in Des Moines.

Mr. Carter’s community activism included serving on boards of directors for many businesses, social organizations and commissions. He served four terms on the National Board of Directors for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Mr. Carter had the longest tenure of any president in the history of the Des Moines NAACP branch, serving for 12 years in that leadership role.

Mr. Carter worked on special committees and political campaigns at the local, state and national levels of government while tirelessly working with minority small business development and volunteer programs in various capacities. Mr. Carter participated in the Million Man March in Washington D.C. and had long been a spokesperson for justice and civil rights groups in Iowa and across the country.