This post by IWA Graduate Assistant, Erik Henderson, is the eighth installment in our series highlighting African American history in the Iowa Women’s Archives collections. The series ran weekly during Black History Month, and will continue monthly for the remainder of 2020. The once prosperous coal mining town, Buxton, Iowa, approximately thirty minutes southwest of OskaloosaContinue reading “Reuben Gaines Memoir of Being Black in Buxton, Iowa”
Category Archives: IWA History
Virginia Harper and the Battle Against Highway 61
This post by IWA Graduate Research Assistant Heather Cooper is the third installment in our series highlighting African American history in the Iowa Women’s Archives collection. The series will continue weekly during Black History Month, and monthly for the remainder of 2020. If you’re looking for a local history of civil rights activism, look noContinue reading “Virginia Harper and the Battle Against Highway 61”
Lupita Larios Travels through Time with Mujeres Latinas Oral Histories
Guest post by Lupita Larios Have you ever heard a story that your grandparents, for example, told you and you were so fascinated to hear the story that you still remember it? With oral histories, a person is able to travel through time and imagine all the events and experiences that the narrator was livingContinue reading “Lupita Larios Travels through Time with Mujeres Latinas Oral Histories”
A Donation 46 Years in the Making!
In 1972, the University of Iowa’s Manuscript Librarian, Robert McCown, wrote a letter to Nora Leander. He hoped that she would donate the papers of her aunt, Esther Bacon, an Iowan and missionary to Liberia from 1941 – 1972. In 2018, Leander’s niece, Ann Prekker, found the letter among Bacon’s papers and decided to contactContinue reading “A Donation 46 Years in the Making!”
25 for 25: Iowa Suffrage Memorial Commission
It is in part thanks to the Iowa Suffrage Memorial Commission that the IWA has such a collection of materials on the suffrage movement in Iowa. The commission, incorporated in 1922, was organized “to commemorate the efforts of the Pioneer Suffragists and the long procession of workers who helped secure the final enfranchisement of women.”Continue reading “25 for 25: Iowa Suffrage Memorial Commission”
25 for 25: Evelyn Birkby
Evelyn Birkby began her decades-long careers as a radio homemaker in 1950. Her program, “Down a Country Lane,” focused on her life in rural Iowa. She continued to broadcast as a part of Kitchen-Klatter, a program with listeners in six states. She has written a weekly column for the local paper since 1949 and never missesContinue reading “25 for 25: Evelyn Birkby”
25 for 25: Mary Louise Smith
Today, at the Iowa Women’s Archives commemorate one of our founders, Mary Louise Smith! Smith was born Mary Louise Epperson on October 6th, 1914 in Eddyville, Iowa. She became involved with the Republican Party in the 1950s and quickly rose through the ranks. In 1974, just after Watergate, she was appointed as the first womanContinue reading “25 for 25: Mary Louise Smith”
New Furniture in the Iowa Womens Archives
The Iowa Women’s Archives is approaching its 25th Anniversary in 2017. In preparation, through a series of fundraisers our donors have helped make it possible to update the Reading Room with new paint, tables, and technology. Most everything is place though some finishing touches like hanging artwork still remain. Sincere thanks to all of ourContinue reading “New Furniture in the Iowa Womens Archives”
Remembering Bob McCown
My mentor and friend Bob McCown, retired Head of the Special Collections Department in the University of Iowa Libraries, died on March 31st of this year. To remember Bob on what would have been his 76th birthday–November 21st–I share the eulogy I gave at his memorial service last spring. Robert A. McCown (1939-2015) Bob McCownContinue reading “Remembering Bob McCown”
IWA History
Newsletters – Previous Issues The Iowa Women’s Archives no longer publishes a separate newsletter. The Libraries newsletter, Bindings, often features stories about Iowa Women’s Archives collections, staff, and projects. Number 4, Winter 2002 (pdf) Number 3, Summer 1998 (pdf) Number 2, Summer 1997 (pdf) Number 1, Autumn 1996 (pdf) Press Releases Iowa Farm Bureau Federation gift to Iowa Women’sContinue reading “IWA History”