Shirley Briggs had a lot of toys. As a very little girl in the early 1920s, Shirley had dozens of pictures taken of her ensconced in an oversized chair with children’s book, playing in a wheel barrow, sitting in the sun, all with a coterie of stuffed animals and dolls. The most frequent companion, andContinue reading “Playing, Pretending, Becoming: Iowa Girls and Their Dolls”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
An Iowa Woman in Japan: Kären Mason’s Trip to Rikkyo University
Kären Mason, Iowa Women’s Archives curator, traveled to Tokyo in November to speak at Rikkyo University. Sixty library students, archivists, and others attended her lecture, entitled “Archives for All: Creating More Inclusive Archives in the United States.” Kären was invited by Ellen Hammond, former Japanese Studies librarian at Iowa and then at Yale, now livingContinue reading “An Iowa Woman in Japan: Kären Mason’s Trip to Rikkyo University”
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”
Dr. Myrtle Hinkhouse: From China to the Iowa Women’s Archives
In 1916, a young doctor by the name of Myrtle Hinkhouse stepped onto a ship heading toward China. Years earlier, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions appointed her to serve in Tengchoufu and, after studying at the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia, she was ready to begin her work. Hinkhouse worked in China for threeContinue reading “Dr. Myrtle Hinkhouse: From China to the Iowa Women’s Archives”
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Things: Iowans of the Greatest Generation
In the window of the Main Library Gallery sit two bags, a trunk, an Army uniform, and the navy nurse’s cape that Evelyn Crary Bacon wore as a student at the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa.) What do all of these items have in common? They belonged to members of “TheContinue reading “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Things: Iowans of the Greatest Generation”
Aeon and Reading Room Changes
As of August 23rd, 2018 the Iowa Women’s Archives has started using Aeon, a new reading room management system! Thanks to Aeon, visitors to any of the special collections reading rooms will be able to: Patrons can expect a few changes in the reading room the next time they visit. There will be much lessContinue reading “Aeon and Reading Room Changes”
Reflections of an IWA Student
Maritza Lopez- Campos joined the IWA student staff to work on the Mujeres Latinas Project. Since then she’s learned about processing, written finding aids, and been an invaluable member of the team at several 25th anniversary events. We’re all wishing her the best as she leaves the archives and begins her career in social work!Continue reading “Reflections of an IWA Student”
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!”
Our 2018 Travel Grant Recipient: Ezra Temko
Our 2018 Linda and Richard Kerber Fund travel grant recipient is Ezra Temko, a Sociology PhD candidate at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). The Linda and Richard Kerber Fund was established to help researchers travel to the Iowa Women’s Archives. Temko has come to Iowa City from the state of Delaware, where his researchContinue reading “Our 2018 Travel Grant Recipient: Ezra Temko”
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”