The Iowa Women’s Archives oral history project, Mujeres Latinas has been recognized with the UI President’s Award for State Outreach and Public Engagement.

The annual award honors those who demonstrate exemplary outreach to the State of Iowa and the public in general. The $1,000 awards are given in four categories: faculty, staff, student and group/organization.

“Giving back and providing valuable service to our community, state, nation and world are central to our mission and important responsibilities to Iowa’s citizens who have invested their resources and their trust in the University of Iowa for 160 years,” UI Interim President Gary Fethke said. “These awardees represent the remarkable outreach that the UI community performs, and I commend them on the talent and generosity with which they have engaged themselves with the public.”

The Mujeres Latinas Project (a group/organization recipient) has achieved notable success in documenting the largely unknown stories of Latina women in Iowa through oral histories and other collections. The Iowa Women’s Archives established the project, under the oversight of IWA Curator Kären Mason, to collect and preserve information that documents the lives of Latinas and their families and their contributions to Iowa history. Between 2005 and 2007, the project has conducted 91 oral history interviews throughout Iowa and has collected letters, photographs, family records, organizational records, and newspaper articles that have been organized, cataloged, preserved, and made available to students, scholars and the public.

Pictured above is the Iowa Women’s Archives staff for the Mujeres Latinas project, Rachel Garza Carreon, Janet Weaver and Kären Mason.