William McElrath Hogue was born on October 2, 1903. He came to Iowa State College (University) from his hometown of Moville, Iowa, in 1921 to study electrical engineering. He attended classes at Iowa State from fall 1921 through spring 1923. He was a pledge of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a music fraternity, in 1923 and was a member of the brass quartet. Hogue died on September 26, 1988.

The collection (1921-1925) consists of a scrapbook of Iowa State memorabilia assembled by William M. Hogue that document his time as a student at Iowa State. The scrapbook contains booklets with images of the campus; dance cards; membership cards; newspaper clippings that document Iowa State athletics, band concerts, and theatrical events; photographs of the engineers' camp fire, campus buildings, and friends and classmates; programs for the ROTC Circus, the Iowa State band annual banquet, commencement, Frisbie house banquet, and VEISHEA performances; tickets for the engineers' campfire; a train ticket to Moville, Iowa; and a menu for a local eatery, The Chocolate Shop.