Robert Paul Brimm was born on June 25, 1912, in Creal Spring, Illinois, son of William and Eva Brimm. He had one brother, John, and a sister, Berenice. In 1931, after graduating from University High School, Carbondale, Illinois, Paul Brimm (as he preferred to be called) attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, where he received his Bachelor of Education degree in 1935. For the next year he taught at Cambria Junior High, Illinois, then became a teacher, coach, and superintendent for Creal Spring Public Schools from 1936-1941. During the summers of 1936-1941 and again in the summers of 1946-1948, he was the Camp Director for the Junior Military Academy in Chicago. From 1942-1945 he served in the U. S. Army as a communications officer in Europe. Most of the uniforms in this collection date from this time, although there are some articles from the Korean War as well.

After his honorable discharge in 1945, Paul Brimm returned to the States to pursue his Master's degree in Education at the University of Missouri. He completed that degree in 1947. While working toward his Ph. D. in Education, he accepted the position as principal at the Laboratory Secondary School at Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa, which at that time was located in Sabin Hall. This position carried the rank of assistant professor. He was awarded his doctorate from Missouri in 1949.

On May 22, 1949, he and Betty Jane Shallenberger were married at the First United Methodist Church in Cedar Falls. A year later their first daughter, Ann, was born. In 1950 plans were unveiled to construct a new building for the Laboratory School, although this was not fully achieved until 1959, when the building complex was renamed Malcolm Price Laboratory School. Dr. Brimm’s service as principal was interrupted when he was recalled to active duty from 1951-1952 during the Korean War. He was stationed in Washington D. C. The couple's son Robert was born in 1952 in Aberdeen, Maryland. Upon Dr. Brimm’s second discharge from the Army in 1952, he returned to Iowa to resume his duties as principal at the campus high school, a position he held until 1964. Daughter Jean (Shawna) was born in 1953 in Cedar Falls. That same year, Dr. Brimm was promoted to associate professor, and in 1959 to professor. Iowa State Teachers College was renamed State College of Iowa in 1961.

In 1964 Dr. Brimm was asked to teach full-time in the Department of Education and Psychology. In 1967 State College of Iowa became the University of Northern Iowa. Two years later Dr. Brimm moved to the Department of School Administration and Personnel, where he continued to work until his retirement in 1982. For many years he was involved with the North Central Association, chairing its Commission on Schools. Following his retirement he served as Executive Secretary of the Iowa Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. During his years in education Dr. Brimm wrote many papers promoting improvements and innovations in education. He also published a book, The Junior High School (1963). He died in Cedar Falls on October 30, 1985, following a lengthy illness.

Betty Jane Shallenberger was born on October 6, 1920, in Vanderbilt, Pennsylvania, daughter of Charles and Lillian Shallenberger. She had two sisters, Margaret and Joanne. After graduating from Connellsville High School, Connellsville, Pennsylvania in 1937, Miss Shallenberger attended State Teachers College in California, Pennsylvania, receiving her Bachelor of Education degree in 1941. For two years following graduation she taught at her alma mater, Connellsville High School.

In January 1943 she enlisted in the Navy. She received her WAVES training (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) at Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa. She was later stationed in Atlanta, Georgia, and the Bronx, New York, and then finished her military service in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Following her discharge in January 1946, Miss Shallenberger returned to teach for just over three months at Connellsville High School (March-June 1946), after which she moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, to pursue graduate work. She remained at the University of Utah through July 1947, serving as Director of the Nursing School from January-July of that year while also attending classes.

She then moved back east to continue her studies at the Teachers College, Columbia University, in New York. She worked in the infirmary there until December 1947, and as a graduate assistant until August 1948. At that time she earned her Master of Arts in Speech and the Dramatic Arts. Immediately thereafter she obtained employment as a speech therapy teacher at the Iowa State Teachers College’s Laboratory Secondary school, where Paul Brimm was principal. She had very much enjoyed her time in Cedar Falls during her WAVES training, and was happy to return. In later correspondence she stated that as a little girl the two places she wanted to visit in the world were Switzerland and Iowa.

From 1948-1949 she taught as a tenure-track faculty member. However, after her marriage to Paul Brimm on May 22, 1949, she was disqualified from achieving tenure. Nepotism rules at the time forbade both partners in a marriage from having tenure. She was rehired on a temporary basis, but resigned her position in January 1950 due to her pregnancy with the couple’s first child. That child, Ann, was born in May of 1950. Son Robert followed in Juy of 1952, and daughter Jean (Shawna) in October of 1953. Mrs. Brimm remained in Cedar Falls for the rest of her life, but unfortunately, records of her activities after 1953 are scarce. Beginning in 1989 Mrs. Brimm volunteered three days a week at Hansen Elementary School in Cedar Falls, helping with reading and writing, and sharing her World War II experiences with the children. She continued in this capacity until at least 2000. Mrs. Brimm died in Cedar Falls on April 10, 2010, of natural causes.