Skip to content

The University of Iowa Libraries

Skip to content
Go to
InfoHawk+
University of Iowa Libraries University of Iowa Libraries The University of Iowa The University of Iowa Libraries

News from the Archives

Category: Events

Apr 25 2022

Women Safe After Dark? The Beginnings of Take Back the Night at the University of Iowa

Posted on April 25, 2022April 22, 2022 by Anna Holland

On September 12, 1979, an advertisement for a rally appeared in the campus newspaper, the Daily Iowan. The outline of a woman with bows and arrows, shooting into the night sky was accompanied with the promise, “Friday evening at 8 p.m., the women of Iowa City will have a chance to support each other in a move to reclaim the freedom that comes from being unafraid.” September 14th, 1979 would be Iowa City’s first major Take Back the Night Rally. The rally inspired hundreds of women to attend, spawned weeks of angry debate in the Daily Iowan, and started a tradition of rallies against sexual violence in Iowa City that continues over forty years later.

Flyer for the first Take Back the Night event in Iowa City, summer of 1979

                The term Take Back the Night had been coined just two years earlier in 1977 when activist Anne Pride used it as the title of a memorial at an anti-violence rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The phrase became a rallying cry for women sick of being afraid to walk alone at night and tired of rapists getting away with their crimes. The movement spread quickly, and by the summer of 1979, Iowa City had already had one small rally protesting a local spike in violence against women. After this, Iowa City women formed a committee, supported by the University’s Women’s Resource and Action Center, to plan a larger rally “for women to assert their right to safety on the streets and in their homes.”

                The rally took place from 8:00 to 10:00 pm at College Green Park, near the downtown, which had become a hot spot for rape, attempted rape, and sexual harassment. The Rape Victim Advocacy Program provided maps of the area to attendees marking over 100 reported incidences of sexual violence from January 1978 to March 1979.

               In response to this reality, Take Back the Night’s schedule had strong themes of education, self-expression, and self-defense. The planning committee included other organizations like a local chapter of NOW and the Rape Victim Advocacy Program and the University of Iowa’s Taekwondo Club to provide self-defense tactics to women in attendance. Local artists also inspired attendees with songs like “Fight Back” by Holly Near with powerful lyrics: 

“Some have an easy answer

Buy a lock and live in a cage

But my fear is turning to anger

And my anger is turning to rage

And I won’t live my life in a cage – no!”

A map of Iowa City shows reported incidences of sexual violence over 14 months from 1978 – 1979.

                In an event full of rage, perhaps the most infuriating part was a play: “Rape on Trial.” The scene was set as a courtroom with judge, lawyers, and jury. The victim took the stand, detailing a truly awful crime in which a rapist broke into her home and force himself upon her. The characters framed her as an unreliable witness, criticizing her actions like wearing a nightgown and sleeping with the window open on a hot day, while the rapist was valorized for his civic engagement, career, and status as a father. The audience was then privy to the jury’s deliberations during which the jurors say “I think she’s lying,” and “I don’t think that we should ruin this poor man’s life or his whole career for that matter.” The jury found him not guilty. For the women watching, it must have been an emotional, angering experience.

                The first major Take Back the Night rally in Iowa City was a success with an attendance of about 500 women, over 300 of which stayed to march after the rally. However, the coverage after the event hinged on something else entirely: the committee’s decision to make Take Back the Night a women’s-only event. Men who approached College Green Park on the night of September 14th were approached by groups of women and given cards stating: “Given the nature of rape and sexual abuse, the presence of men here will make some women uncomfortable. Men sensitive to this issue will demonstrate their concern by not attending this rally which has been organized by women for women. Thank you for your cooperation.” The Rape Crisis Line sponsored an alternate event for men who supported Take Back the Night at the Wesley House downtown.

Cards were given to men who approached the rally, asking them to keep the space for women only.

                The women handing out cards were described by some as “guards” and by others as “para-military.” One person even complained to the police.  On September 17th the Daily Iowan published an editorial by Michael Humes title “Taking Back Everyone’s Night.” Humes recognized that the rally did let men stay after receiving the card, but then complained about the “exclusionary intent” and accused Take Back the Night of “identifying all men with rapists.” Over the next two weeks, Take Back the Night’s supporters, the Humes camp, and many others in the middle consumed the Daily Iowan’s editorial page with a debate over whether the rally’s planners had been unfair to men. As Jane Vanderbosch insightfully said her letter to the editor, “It is somewhat ironic to realize that Humes’ ‘rage’ was not ‘denied.’ It covered a good portion of the editorial page, as did his ‘possible resentment.’ Neither the rage nor resentment of the 500 women who attended the rally was given much coverage.”

                But their rage would continue to be heard in Take Back the Night rallies, and will be again this week on April 26th, 2022 when a Take Back the Night rally will take place on the Pentacrest starting at 6pm. All are encouraged to attend.

               

Posted in Events, From the collections, UncategorizedTagged Daily Iowan, rape, Rape Victim Advocacy Center, sexual assault, sexual violence, take back the night, university of Iowa, WRAC1 Comment
Feb 14 2020

Iowa Women of the Great Migration: The Maid Narratives

Posted on February 14, 2020February 14, 2020 by Anna Holland

This post by IWA Assistant Curator Janet Weaver and Graduate Research Assistant Heather Cooper is the second installment in our series highlighting African American history in the Iowa Women’s Archives’ collections. The series will continue weekly during Black History month, and monthly throughout 2020. 

The Maid Narratives: Black Domestics and White Families in the Jim Crow South

The Iowa Women’s Archives is honored to be the repository for a collection of oral history interviews recorded with southern African American women who worked as maids for white families and later migrated to Waterloo, Iowa. These women were interviewed for the 2012 book, The Maid Narratives: Black Domestic Workers and White Families in the Jim Crow South, written by Katherine van Wormer, David W. Jackson III, and Charletta Sudduth. The Maid Narratives collection at IWA includes nineteen of the original audio interviews (now digitized) and abridged transcripts of several of the interviews included in the book. In the oral histories, women engage with topics such as education, family, sharecropping, Jim Crow laws, sexual assault, and the civil rights movement.

Mamie Johnson was born outside Jackson, Mississippi in 1922 and spoke to David W. Jackson about growing up on a sharecropped farm and working for whites from a young age, just as her mother had. “I started working for white people when I was just big enough and old enough to do the dishes, and that was about seven or eight.” Speaking about the Tates, the first family she worked for, Johnson recalled having to learn and navigate the racial etiquette of the household.

You had to go to the back door. It was just a rule and you knowed it! And when the children got to be teenagers, it was Mister or Miss. When I’d be working in the house, they would show me what to say. They would tell me, ‘When you clean up Mr. David’s room, do this or fix his so-and-so, or don’t do so-and so.’ When they said, ‘Mister,’ that is for you to say it—‘Mister.’ And you know them little children and the teenagers—they loved it for you to say that! Yeah, they loved for you to say Mr. So-and-So. You know one thing, I was so glad when the time come around when black people would talk to white people to say what they thought. Now you talking about a shouting time, I felt just like shouting when black people stopped having to say Mr. So-and-So. And they would say it just for you to say it.

A keen observer of human behavior, Johnson also spoke about the terrible consequences of not understanding the social deference that was expected and demanded of African Americans in the South. She vividly remembered the details of Emmett Till’s murder and watching the trial unfold over three short weeks. “The boy just whistled at the woman, you know, didn’t know the danger he was in.” What she remembered most from the trial was the accused murderers “kissing their wives, hugging their wives, and rejoicing” when they were found not guilty. This stood in stark contrast to the image of Emmett Till, whose funeral service she also watched on TV. The interviews included in this collection are a testament to these women’s work, family ties, humor, and survival.

This March we will celebrate Women’s History Month by learning more about these remarkable women whose lives were shaped by domestic service in white households in the Jim Crow South.  Recently described in a Time Magazine article as a “landmark collection of oral histories,” the interviews conducted by Charletta Sudduth and David Jackson III shine a light on the daily lives, struggles, and courage of the thousands of African American women who labored as domestic servants in the South but about whom relatively little is known.

Join us at the Iowa City Public Library on March 3 for a conversation with historians, social workers, and civil rights activists who are tied to this history:

  • Annie Pearl Stevenson is a civil rights activist and former domestic worker who was interviewed for The Maid Narratives.
  • Charletta Sudduth, Ed.D., is co-author of The Maid Narratives and Early Childhood Consultant with the Waterloo Community School District.
  • David Jackson III, Ph.D., is co-author of The Maid Narratives and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the African American Studies Program at the University of Iowa.
  • Katherine van Wormer is co-author of The Maid Narratives and Professor Emerita, Department of Social Work, University of Northern Iowa.
  • Catherine Stewart, Professor, Department of History, Cornell College, is currently an Obermann Fellow-In-Residence, and working on a book, “The New Maid: African American Women and Domestic Service During the New Deal.”

What: Iowa Women of the Great Migration: The Maid Narratives

 When: Tuesday, March 3, 4:00pm to 5:30pm (Reception at 3:30pm)

Where: Iowa City Public Library, Meeting Room A

Co-sponsors – Iowa City Public Library, Obermann Center for Advanced Studies (University of Iowa)

Posted in African American Women in Iowa, Events, From the collections, Uncategorized, Women's History MonthTagged African American history, Black History Month, Charletta Sudduth, David Jackson III, janet weaver, Katherine van Wormer, The Maid Narratives, women's history month
Mar 16 2019

History Reflected Back: Part II

Posted on March 16, 2019April 16, 2019 by Anna Holland

Below is a reflection from Micaela Terronez, Olson Graduate Assistant, on a recent talk about her interest in the Mexican barrios of the Quad Cities at a local community gathering in Davenport, Iowa. She will be giving a version of this talk at “Workers’ Dream for an America that ‘Yet Must Be’ Struggles for Freedom and Dignity, Past and Present” March 30th 9:00 – 3:30 in Rm 101 Kollros Auditorium Biology Building East.

Micaela Terronez (right) with Sara Campos at the Cook’s Point Reunion

Despite my family’s history in the barrios, this was my first time attending the Cook’s Point/Holy City Reunion. The reunion took place at the League of United Latin Americans (LULAC) Council #10 hall in Davenport, Iowa. It began with a brief introduction of the night followed by a prayer from a local Catholic priest. Afterwards, the lights were dimmed for a candle lighting honoring past residents of the barrios. As names were called, families and descendants placed a candle in front of a decorated alter in remembrance of their loved ones. I was amazed by the number of individuals in the room, walking up as each name was called. In all, there were over 200 individuals in attendance! Then, it was my turn to take the podium.

My talk discussed my early interest in the barrios, as well as my findings in the Iowa Women’s Archives. I reflected on the Mujeres Latinas materials at the University, as well as the current use of the collections in classroom instruction. I argued that these stories are still relevant to students today as they explore their own pasts. I recalled one of my favorite classroom experiences instructing a group of 20 Latino/a/x students from Upward Bound, a program that brings first-generation students from the state to experience life as a college student for six weeks. The students gravitated toward stories of migration in the Iowa’s Women Archives, and I saw firsthand how archival materials can resonate with students and the potential impact on self-identity.  Several students read aloud the speeches and writings of Ernest Rodriguez in Spanish, while others pointed to where their families migrated from on a reproduced map of Mexico and the United States. As marginalized communities continue to face challenges of social economics, racism, and violence, students and others can find comfort in these stories and see themselves as history makers, resilient in the face of adversities.  My talk ended with a bilingual poem by Luis Valdez to acknowledge the recent migrants and refugees escaping environments of violence and fear in their homelands. Their stories may be lost, purposely destroyed, or criticized. For many, a culture and history cannot be easily suitcased for safekeeping. Thus, I asked the room to continue sharing stories vastly and to actively support today’s migrants and refugees by speaking out about their stories, as well. The more we do so, the more that we are actively acknowledging and reproducing migrant experiences.

Photographs from Cook’s Point on display at the reunion

 

Like my own family gatherings, there was a lot of food and music throughout the evening, as well as discussions and laughter amongst families and friends. In all, I was overwhelmed at the extent of togetherness within the room despite years of separation and unknown faces. Additionally, the night highlighted a performance by the Quad Cities Ballet Folklorico, a Mexican folk dance troupe of students with many also descendants of the barrios. Despite the many great moments at the reunion, my favorite moment of the evening occurred at the end of the event as one of my nieces asked me, “What are we doing here? What is Cook’s Point?” I smiled, quickly got up, and showed her the numerous photographs that scattered the room of past relatives and descendants of the barrios. I realized then that the reunion served as an additional way to engage and learn more about the rich histories of this area. From here on out, I plan to continue attending the reunion and connecting the barrio histories to my family and others.

 

 

 

Tú eres mi otro yo. You are my other me. Si te hago daño a ti, If I do harm to you, Me hago daño a mi mismo. I do harm to myself. Si te amo y respeto, If I love and respect you, Me amo y respeto yo. I love and respect myself.

 

-Luis Valdez

 

Posted in Events, From the collections, IWA Update, Mujeres Latinas, People, Women's History MonthTagged cook's point, holy city, micaela terronez, mujeres latinas, Quad Cities
Mar 08 2019

History Reflected Back: Part I

Posted on March 8, 2019 by Anna Holland
Man and boy in front of boxcar in Holy City, 1920s. Many barrio residents lived in converted boxcars along the Mississippi River.

Below is a reflection from Micaela Terronez, Olson Graduate Assistant, on a recent talk about her interest in the Mexican barrios of the Quad Cities at a local community gathering in Davenport, Iowa. She will be giving a version of this talk at “Workers’ Dream for an America that ‘Yet Must Be’ Struggles for Freedom and Dignity, Past and Present” March 30th 9:00 – 3:30 in Rm 101 Kollros Auditorium Biology Building East.

 

On October 28th, I spoke at the Cook’s Point/Holy City Reunion, a community gathering of former residents and descendants of two former Mexican barrios in the Quad Cities – Holy City in Bettendorf and Cook’s Point in Davenport.  I was honored to speak at this reunion because a primary reason for my current professional path stems directly from my interests in the barrios of the Midwest. When my ancestors migrated from Mexico in the early 20th century, they resided in Cook’s Point and La Yarda in Silvis, another barrio community on the other side of the Mississippi River in Illinois. Starting at an early age, I developed a curiosity for these communities from hearing the stories of my family members and marveling at old photographs adorning the walls.  

I learned that life was difficult. For example, one of the first stories I heard about segregation and systematic racism did not derive from my history books, but from my own family history. In 1952, when Cook’s Point was cleared for industrial development, my great-grandparents and others had great difficulty locating a place to call home. Few landlords and white residents wanted Mexicans in their neighborhoods. My ancestors instead purchased land in the west end of Davenport where they built several homes, and cleverly named the neighborhood Ramirezville — after the surname of the family. I also learned of the tight-knit communities, however, where friends became more like cousins, and where cousins became more like siblings. While honoring culture and memory, it was these stories that inspired and encouraged me to explore history as a student.  

Mother and children in Holy City, 1920s

I rarely learned this history in school. Why were these rich stories given just one small paragraph of my history books? One reason is a lack of knowledge and access to these experiences. As an undergraduate in college, this lack of scholarly work developed my interests in Mexican American histories and encouraged me to begin a research project on the local barrio neighborhoods of the Quad Cities. I began my research in the archives, but honestly figured I wouldn’t find much. Local Mexican migration was not a topic in the classroom, and I had never really heard of an archive dedicated to documenting these stories. So, you can imagine the shock I had when I came across the collections in the Iowa Women’s Archives through a simple Google search. My search directed me to the Mujeras Latinas Project, an initiative that began in 2005 to document Latina families and their lives.  

As I was combing through the resources online via the Iowa Digital Library, I stumbled across a familiar name – Mary Terronez.  I remembered my Aunt Mary (a sister of my grandmother) as a strong woman with wide-rimmed glasses, always sitting in the living room with a walker or cane nearby. I learned from her papers, however, that she was also an incredible activist and teacher within the Quad Cities community. I quickly realized then that I had stumbled upon the history of my people, a history that I was eager to know more about and explore. For the first time as a student, I saw history reflected back at me, and it was this experience that I wanted to create and facilitate for others within my community.  

As a prospective graduate student in the School of Library and Information Science at UI, I was interested in the Iowa Women’s Archives because of the collections highlighting these barrios and other underrepresented communities. Fortunately, I have been able to work hands-on with these collections, while learning more about and participating in the inner workings of community engagement with archival materials. With the Cook’s Point and Holy City Reunion coming up, I developed a slideshow of photographs from Cook’s Point and Holy City that are currently preserved in the archives. I collaborated with fellow student worker, Shirley Ratliff, in searching the digital library once again for photographs of the barrio communities, an assignment that we both enjoyed. Ratliff noted that,  

As a Latina immigrant, it was as beautiful as enlightening to see the history of other Latinos who immigrated to this country just as well many generations ago. Being part of the project was a great way to discover and learn more about their experiences, to read their stories and look at their pictures reflecting the challenges of those days as well as the good times they shared with family and friends, was mostly inspiring.  Every time I take part in a project like this and come across other stories from people like me, it gives me the little push I need to keep going! For this reason, each time, is very meaningful.

The slideshow provided an opportunity for members of the community to reminisce about their lives and their ancestors in the barrios. For example, many of the photographs captured work, family, religious, and artistic experiences in the community. For Ratliff and myself, it also gave us an opportunity to empathize with barrio life and to learn more about the daily lives of migrants and their descendants.

Mary Terronez with granddaughter and nieces at LULAC, 1990s

As I searched within the photographs in my Aunt Mary’s collections, I also came across a photograph with several familiar faces, and well – me! In a tiny pink dress with white patent leathered shoes, sat myself as a toddler on the lap of my mother. It’s not every day that you find yourself in the archives, but to say the least, it brought a smile to my face and reminded me that the archives is a place of many surprises. The photograph also allowed me the opportunity to reflect on my connection to this community and history once again.

Posted in Events, From the collections, IWA Update, People, Women's History MonthTagged cook's point, holy city, mary terronez, micaela terronez, mujeres latinas, student
Feb 20 2019

Activists in the Archives: Connecting High School Students with Local LGBTQ History

Posted on February 20, 2019May 29, 2020 by Anna Holland

Guest post by Dr. Heather Cooper, Visiting Assistant Professor in History and Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies

During LGBTQ History Month in October 2018, I worked with the Iowa Women’s Archives and University Special Collections to organize an archives visit for students from West Liberty High School.  The several students who were able to attend are members of the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), a student organization that provides a safe and supportive environment for LGBTQ youth and their cisgender heterosexual allies and raises awareness on campus about LGBTQ issues.  The group’s faculty advisor, Katlyn Clark, has been teaching English at West Liberty High School for three years and is also enrolled in an English Education MA program at University of Iowa.  I first became aware of this important student group when Katlyn was enrolled in my Sexuality in the U.S. course during Summer 2018.  Her independent research project explored the importance of GSAs and the need to continue to develop more inclusive programming and pedagogy in the high school environment.

“Spinster, a lighthearted lesbian [card] gayme,” Iowa City Women’s Press records
LGBTQ History Month seemed like the perfect opportunity to introduce these students to some of the amazing archival records at UI that document the history of local LGBTQ activism.  I relied on the expertise of archivists Kären Mason, Janet Weaver, Anna Tunnicliff, and David McCartney to pull together some of the most interesting and engaging materials from relevant collections.  When students arrived, they found a smorgasbord of documents and artifacts, including issues of the feminist journals Ain’t I a Woman and Better Homes and Dykes; correspondence and newspaper clippings related to “Rusty” Barcelo’s LGBT activism; and records from the Gay Liberation Front, one of the first student groups of its kind in the country.  Students also had fun exploring “Spinster,” a feminist and lesbian reimagining of the “Old Maid” card game, printed by the Iowa City Women’s Press.  David McCartney introduced our visitors to  the amazing timeline of Iowa City queer history that he and Kären Mason created for the outhistory.org project several years ago.

 

 

 

Miranda Welch’s high school graduation cap, 2006, Miranda Welch papers

Reflecting on their visit, high school senior Miguel Solis wrote that, “… most people’s knowledge of LGBTQ+ history is mainly the Stonewall Riots and the AIDS crisis.  Iowa actually has a large history for the LGBTQ+ community that most people do no not know about. … I learned [that] the very first form of ‘Pride’ in Iowa was a last-minute float in the Iowa homecoming parade.”  Senior Dio Gonzales described their visit to the university as “an eye-opening experience. … My favorite part was being able to go around and see different kinds of posters, books, and magazines that were released.”  In contrast to the usual hushed environment of the library, we encouraged students to talk and wander around the reading room to get a feel for different kinds of materials.  Our conversations led Librarian Anna Tunnicliff to bring out a few boxes from the unprocessed collection of Miranda Welch, a student activist from small-town Iowa.  Among the papers and artifacts was Welch’s high school graduation cap, bedecked in pride-colored ribbons and gems. 

In preparing for their visit, Katlyn Clark mentioned that the students were especially interested in transgender history.  But the nature of archive collection practices and typical end-of-life donations means that IWA and Special Collections currently have very little material on this relatively contemporary topic.  That archival silence created an opportunity to talk about what it would mean to try to build a transgender archive and to document the experiences and activism of LGBTQ people today.  Aiden Bettine, a History Ph.D. student, joined us to talk about their current project, the Transgender Oral History Project of Iowa (TOPI).  As Aiden explained, “A primary goal of the project is to empower transgender and gender non-conforming communities to collect and preserve their own histories by training trans-identified people in the methodology of oral history.”  Students later commented that learning about TOPI’s goals was a very important part of their experience at the archives. 

Students from West Liberty High School’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) learning about local LGBTQ history at the Iowa Women’s Archives.

On the day of their visit, our discussion about creating a transgender archive offered a perfect segue to talking about how students in the Gay-Straight Alliance could start to record and preserve their own history of activism.  Since the club’s official recognition in 2017, they have successfully campaigned for the creation of a gender-inclusive restroom on their campus and, every year, they organize school-wide participation in the Day of Silence, a national event that brings attention to anti-LGBTQ bullying in schools.  Members of the group have attended leadership workshops at the GSA Conference in Des Moines and they regularly attend the annual Governor’s Conference on LGBTQ Youth.  I wanted to encourage the students to think about themselves as important historical actors whose activities deserved to be documented and preserved.  I hoped that showing them the records of other student organizations at UI would help them recognize that the work of student groups like theirs was important and would be valuable to researchers and other activist groups in the future.  We also talked about ways to build their archive, such as writing down the narrative of how the group was founded and keeping records of their members, group meetings, and specific events and activities.  Katlyn reports that since their visit last fall, students in the GSA have talked about creating a twice-a-year newsletter to record their activities.  Reflecting on our discussion in the IWA reading room, Miguel Solis wrote, “We really just need to keep trying to make a change and leave our mark on the school so that one day we can be remembered in history and be talked about as people who made a difference.”

A special thanks to Kären, David, Anna, Janet, and Aiden for their help with this!  And to Katlyn Clark, C. Blick, Jacqueline Castillo, Dio Gonzalez, Angie Meraz, Mary Norris, and Miguel Solis for joining us and sharing the amazing work they are doing in West Liberty.  Hope to see them on campus as official Hawkeyes in the years to come – the future is very bright!

 

Heather L. Cooper, Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor

History and Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies

Posted in Events, From the collections, IWA Update, PeopleTagged Gay Straight Alliance, Heather Cooper, High School, LGBTQ, Transgender Oral History Project of Iowa, West Liberty
Jul 12 2017

Iowa City Feminists: The Women’s Resource and Action Center

Posted on July 12, 2017January 18, 2021 by Anna Holland
WRAC newsletter from 1978

“We will meet all of us women of every land. We will meet at the center, make a circle. We will weave a world we to entangle the powers that bury our children.” — cover art for WRAC’s December 1978 newsletter

Iowa City’s Women’s Resource and Action Center (WRAC) opened in 1971 as a place for women to meet about and organize around issues that mattered to them. With support from the University, members of WRAC hosted a rape crisis line, formed anti-racism organizations, and kept track of local LGBT friendly businesses and housed dozens of discussion and support groups for women from all walks of life.

WRAC published monthly newsletters for Newsletters frequently included schedules for women’s events in town, notices for

“A Feminist Prayer” from vol. 1 no 12 issue of the WRAC newsletter

for discussion and support groups, and opinion pieces on issues important to women. Newsletters also frequently included feminist poetry, such as “A Feminist Prayer,” printed in a 1975 issue.

WRAC, still on the UIowa campus, recently moved to a new, bigger location. If you would like to tour WRAC, it will be hosting a reception this Friday, July 14th, at 6pm as a part of the Iowa City Feminist Reunion.

 
 
Posted in Events, From the collectionsTagged 25th anniversary, events, feminism, feminist reunion, Iowa City, LGBTQ, Women's Resource and Action Center1 Comment
Jul 11 2017

Celebrating Iowa City’s Feminists

Posted on July 11, 2017 by Anna Holland

Join us this weekend, July 14-15, for the Iowa City Feminists Reunion! Many of the women who created Ain’t I a Woman, the Iowa City Women’s Press, Nahuatzen, and other publications featured in the Main Library’s current exhibit, Power to the Printers, will be here to reflect on their experiences as activists in Iowa City in the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

Festivities over Friday and Saturday will include a gala dinner, a variety of panel discussions, an open house at the Iowa Women’s Archives, and a reception at the Women’s Resource and Action Center. For a full schedule, please visit the event’s site.

Feel free to drop in this Friday and Saturday for the panel discussions in Shambaugh Auditorium in the Main Library. We hope to see you there!

Posted in Events, IWA Update, UncategorizedTagged 25th anniversary, events, feminist reunion
Quilt squares about Iowa women, by Iowa girls.
Mar 21 2017

Every Girl Has a Voice: 8-14 Year Old Girls Explore IWA

Posted on March 21, 2017January 18, 2021 by Colleen Theisen

Every girl has a voice. Every woman has a story!

This month the IWA held an event for area girls from ages 8 – 14. The girls learned about Iowa girls and women from decades past like Dora Martin Berry, the first black student to be named Miss State University of Iowa; Dorothy Fox Wurster, who joined the local boys 4-H club in order to competitively show cattle; and Phyliss Henry, Des Moines’ first police woman.
Using photocopies of what they found, the kids made their own mini-exhibits and decorated a quilt square about a girl or woman of their choice.

All who participated had a blast, and we hope to have a similar event in the future.

 

The girls examine our current exhibit "History as it Happens: Women's March 2017
The girls examine our current exhibit “History as it Happens: Women’s March 2017
Curator Kären Mason shows the girls some artifacts from IWA collections.
Curator Kären Mason shows the girls some artifacts from IWA collections.
Assistant curator Janet Weaver helps a girl write her exhibit caption, "And the women powered through it!"
Assistant curator Janet Weaver helps a girl write her exhibit caption, “And the women powered through it!”
Quilt squares about Iowa women, by Iowa girls.
Quilt squares about Iowa women, by Iowa girls.
Posted in EventsTagged Dora Martin Berry, Dorothy Fox Wurster, events, janet weaver, karen mason, Phyliss Henry
Oct 19 2016

Do Not Miss Three Events from October 24th – 27th

Posted on October 19, 2016October 12, 2017 by Anna Holland

petersonlecture

From October 24th – 27th Trudy Huskamp Peterson, the former Acting Archivist of the United States, and Jane E. Schultz, Professor of English and Medical Humanities at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, will visit the University of Iowa.

A longtime friend of the Iowa Women’s Archives, Trudy Huskamp Peterson has made an international career of archives and human rights. Besides serving as the United States’ Acting Archivist, Peterson has consulted with truth commissions in South Africa and Honduras and worked for three years with the police archives in Guatemala. She is currently the chair of the International Council on Archives’ Human Rights Working.

schultzlecture

On Monday the 24th Peterson will host an archival workshop for graduate students and researchers from 4:00 – 5:30 in 302 SH Commons. She will follow this on Tuesday the 25th with a public lecture entitled “What Every Citizen and Historian Should Know: How Governments Shape Archives.” The lecture will take place in 302 SH Commons from 12:30 – 1:45 and will include a light lunch.

Finally, on Thursday the 27th, the Universty of Iowa History of Medicine Society and the Iowa Women’s Archives will jointly present Jane E. Schultz. Schultz, a professor at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, formerly consulted for the PBS miniseries “Mercy Street” and has written extensively about women and the Civil War. Her lecture “Civility on Trial: Nurses, Surgeons, and Medical Extremity in Civil War Hospitals will take place in the Medical Education Research Facility (MERF) 2117 from 5:30 – 6:30.

Hope to see you there!

Posted in Events, In the news, IWA Update, People, Scholarship, UncategorizedTagged events, medical history
Apr 21 2016

Fundraiser for IWA: Music at the Mill with Tom Mason and HomeBrewed

Posted on April 21, 2016January 18, 2021 by Colleen Theisen

Fundraiser for IWA Thursday May 12 6:30 PM at the mill featuring Tom Mason and Homebrewed. Suggested donation $10 at the door or $20 with a "Strong Minded Women Make History" t-shirt. We have an event page on the IWA Facebook page with more details.

Posted in Events, UncategorizedTagged events, fundriaser, homebrewed, tom mason

Posts navigation

Older posts

Categories

  • 20th Anniversary
  • 25th Anniversary
  • African American Women in Iowa
  • Events
  • Exhibits
  • From the collections
  • In the news
  • IWA History
  • IWA Update
  • Jewish Women in Iowa
  • Kerber Travel Grant
  • Mujeres Latinas
  • People
  • Scholarship
  • Uncategorized
  • Women's History Month
  • Women's Sports

Archives

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

More links

  • IWA news via email
  • More UI Librariea news

  • Donate to the IWA
  • Like us on Facebook
Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Zoia by Automattic.
University of Iowa Libraries University of Iowa Libraries The University of Iowa The University of Iowa Libraries
  • Contact the Libraries
  • Library locations & hours
  • News & Events
  • Help using the Libraries
  • Assistance for people with disabilities
  • Our diversity statement
  • Thank a Librarian
  • Web site/page feedback OR general suggestions
  • UI Libraries other links UI Libraries in the Internet Archive Use and reuse of UI Libraries web content - Creative Commons Staff SharePoint (authentication required)
  • UI Libraries on social media UI Libraries on Instagram UI Libraries on Facebook UI Libraries on Twitter UI Libraries on Pinterest UI Libraries on Tumblr UI Libraries on YouTube UI Libraries on Flickr UI Libraries blogs
  • 100 Main Library (LIB)
  • 125 West Washington St.
  • Iowa City, IA 52242-1420
  • 319-335-5299 (Service Desk)
  • ©2019 The University of Iowa
  • Give a gift to the Libraries!