Long before war engulfed Afghanistan, Rosanne Klass was there. The young teacher from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, viewed the country with fresh eyes and embraced its people with her friendship. In 1964, she described her experiences in this little-known land, making surprisingly prescient observations in her now-classic memoir, Land of the High Flags: Afghanistan When the Going Was Good.

Now this Iowa native is donating her manuscripts to the Iowa Authors Collection at the University of Iowa Libraries. She will sit down for an informal conversation about her experiences in Afghanistan on Wednesday, January 30 at 2:30 p.m. in the Second Floor Conference Room (rm 2032) in the Main Library. 

At a time when Afghan women were still subjected to purdah—hidden behind high walls and in shroud-like burqas—Rosanne Klass was the first woman to teach boys from Afghanistan’s remote villages. Her presence, both a shock and a risk, contributed to the ending of purdah.

Klass returned to Kabul as a journalist in 1965, reporting on the first Communist riots. After the Soviet invasion she had predicted, she founded the Afghanistan Relief Committee, which provided medical and other humanitarian aid to Afghan victims inside the war-torn country. She also directed the Afghanistan Information Center at Freedom House, a major source of information for the American and international press and media.

This event is free and open to the public. Please contact Kristi Bontrager, UI Libraries Public Relations Coordinator at 319-335-5960 for more information.