{"id":2181,"date":"2023-06-07T09:07:27","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T14:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/?p=2181"},"modified":"2023-08-04T09:41:42","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T14:41:42","slug":"women-disability-and-reparative-description-in-iwa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/2023\/06\/07\/women-disability-and-reparative-description-in-iwa\/","title":{"rendered":"Women, Disability, and Reparative Description in IWA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The following post was written by IWA Student Specialist, Abbie Steuhm. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the process of creating a LibGuide on women and disability<\/a> for the Iowa Women\u2019s Archives (IWA), I discovered a trove of artifacts from disabled women and disability advocates. However, this did not come easy as the history was hidden by its description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began my process by simply locating finding aids with the words \u201cdisability, disabled, disabilities,\u201d etc. This yielded a handful of sources about disabled women and disability advocates from around the seventies and eighties, but not much more than that. However, I came across an idea when I read through the finding aid of Elizabeth D. Riesz<\/a>. One folder in Riesz\u2019s collection was titled \u201cJohnson County Association of Retarded Citizens,\u201d which made me realize that I was using the wrong language in my search. By using the outdated language listed by the National Center on Disability and Journalism, I pulled in significantly more sources than in previous searches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Letter<\/a>
Arc Donation letter from the Elizabeth D. Riesz papers<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While I was able to discover more sources, a new problem emerged. These collections use outdated and inaccurate language to describe disabled people, making them not only harder to find but also perpetuating harmful stereotypes. Many archives and libraries are reanalyzing their collection descriptions in what is called \u201creparative description.\u201d Archivists like Annalisa Moretti from Harvard\u2019s Houghton Library have been incorporating disability studies into their descriptions to replace harmful language and bring out hidden disability history.<\/span> Using Moretti\u2019s and other archivists\u2019 experience and disability studies, I embarked on a reparative description project in the IWA.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organization from Elizabeth D. Riesz\u2019s collection was found in several other collections, such as the Ruth Salzmann Becker papers. I began by researching the Johnson County Association, finding that they renamed themselves to the Arc of Southeast Iowa. On the organization\u2019s website, they state that they \u201cstopped recognizing the acronym ARC or \u2018Association of Retarded Citizens\u2019\u201d to take on \u201ca descriptive meaning for \u2018The Arc\u2019\u2026representing a bridge in services.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Newspaper<\/a>
Newspaper article about Easter Seals Iowa from the Greenberg Family papers, 1966<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Knowing this, I changed the folder title in Riesz\u2019s collection from \u201cJohnson County Association of Retarded Citizens\u201d to \u201cArc of Southeast Iowa.\u201d This way the harmful language is removed, and researchers coming from Arc can discover Riesz\u2019s collection. I did the same process with the Greenberg Family papers<\/a><\/span> and the Welch and Angrick papers<\/a>.<\/span> Both these collections included folders titled \u201cPolk County Society for Crippled Children and Adults,\u201d and my research found that the organization took on their early nickname \u201ceaster seals\u201d as their new name becoming \u201cEasterseals Iowa.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Not every collection had a simple solution. When I came across the \u201cBlosser Home for Crippled Children\u201d name in the Marie Tener Havel papers<\/a>,<\/span> I found that building would later become a women\u2019s home, leaving behind its previous occupation. Since there is no modern alternative to this name, my only choice is to leave it as is. If I were to change the name of the home, then I would be erasing its history as a home for children with disabilities. This case showed how we cannot change every word in these descriptions, and that the words we use in descriptions now hold weight.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Image<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\"Image<\/a>
Judy Hoit crowned Handicapped Woman of Iowa, Judy Herron Hoit papers, 1991<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Another instance of this issue occurring was with the Judy Herron Hoit papers<\/span><\/a>.<\/span> Hoit was a pageant winner, wheelchair user, and disability advocate. One of her most notable achievements was winning <\/span>the Handicapped Woman of Iowa Pageant in 1991. The term \u201chandicapped\u201d is currently being replaced with \u201cdisabled\u201d and other disability-specific terms. However, like in Marie Tener Havel\u2019s collection, the pageant was a one-of-a-kind event that is no longer held. To preserve history, the name itself must remain <\/span>as<\/span> is. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My reparative description project allowed me to make significant changes to the IWA\u2019s collections, as well as bring to light some forgotten disability history.<\/span> It also revealed the issue of repairing names and titles that use harmful and outdated language. While we cannot change every description, we can encourage the use of modern language and disability studies to our researchers so that they know how to <\/span>properly describe<\/span> disability history. As archivists, we should also continue our work in reparative description and do our own research on how to <\/span>properly describe<\/span> various topics<\/span> without relying on our biased assumptions. This way, we try to prevent the harm caused by inappropriate description.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following post was written by IWA Student Specialist, Abbie Steuhm.  In the process of creating a LibGuide on women and disability for the Iowa Women\u2019s Archives (IWA), I discovered a trove of artifacts from disabled women and disability advocates. However, this did not come easy as the history was hidden by its description. IContinue reading “Women, Disability, and Reparative Description in IWA”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":189,"featured_media":2183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[415,410,377,416,379,413,412,414,411],"syndication":[20,61],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/189"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2181"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2216,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions\/2216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2181"},{"taxonomy":"syndication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lib.uiowa.edu\/iwa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/syndication?post=2181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}