Books at Iowa

Front Matter, Books at Iowa, No.65

Conard, Rebecca

English

The Legacy of Hope from an Era of Despair: The CCC and Iowa State Parks

O\u27Connell, Bonnie

The Quality of Response: Kim Merker and the Literary Fine Press

Back Matter, Books at Iowa, No.64

Front Matter, Books at Iowa, No.64

Neal, Kathryn M.

17G iv ing  O u r  H is to ry  a H o m e: T h e  A frican- A m erican  W o m en  in  Io w a  P ro jec tKATHRYN M. NEALNovember 5 ,  1947Today I had to make a speech—horrors, I got roped in on that. Anyway, I was to tell the group (a Ladies Aid Group who had suddenly discovered that race relations were a part of "Christian education") about the Negro in the South today. The talk was com­posed of a few formal notes to keep me on a track of some kind, plus a few meanderings and mumblings of Talladega, etc. I hope those women really realized what race relations and minority prob­lems are. I doubt it; it's too remote from them. One of the ladies did, though, mention the fact that it had occurred to her that her grandparents had once, perhaps, been a minority here in America (she is Danish). She is beginning to have an inkling of what it means. But, unlike the Italians and the other Latin-Europeans, her ances­tors were of Germanic stock which was not too strange to the Anglo- Saxons and so they probably never felt like too much of a minority group. I hope my little effort brought the women a knowledge of what Negroes (some, anyway) are thinking and to make them gradually realize that a man is a m an no matter what his external problems. But, if the old folks (as I told them) [would] be quiet, the young people might work it out.1The young  w om an  w h o  p en n ed  these w ords is M artha A nn  N ash—at tha t tim e, M artha A n n  Furgerson—w ho h a d  recently  re tu rned  to W aterloo, Iow a, w here  she h a d  g row n  up . Earlier th a t year, she h ad  g rad u a ted  w ith  honors from  Talladega College, an  h istorically  black in stitu tion  in  Talladega, A labam a. This en try1 Diary of Martha Ann Furgerson, entry for November 5, 1947, Folder: Biographical, Writings and speeches, 1947-1973 and undated, Box 1, Martha Ann Furgerson Nash pa­pers, Iowa Women's Archives, University of Iowa Libraries. Note: This collection was still in process at the time of publication.http://ir.uiowa.edu/bai/vol65/iss118o ffe rs  a b r ie f  im p re s s io n — th ro u g h  o n e  A fric a n -A m e ric a n  w o m an 's  eyes—of the  sta te  of race relations in  post-W orld War II W aterloo. Last fall, M artha N ash  d onated  her jou rnal along w ith  m an y  of h e r o ther p e rso n a l p a p e rs  to  the  Louise N oun-M ary  Louise Sm ith  Iow a W om en's A rchives a t the  U niversity  of Iow a L ibraries. B iographical sketches, n ew sp a p e r clipp ings, p h o to ­g raphs, an d  o ther m ateria ls th a t fu rther illustrate  her life com ­pose h e r collection. In  1948, she m arried  W arren N ash  and  later accom panied  h im  to  C reighton  U niversity  in  O m aha, N ebraska, w here  he a tten d ed  m edical school. W hen W arren N ash  g rad u ­a ted  in  1953, M artha N ash  received a degree as well. H er papers inc lude  a "Ph.T." degree, w h ich  s tan d s for "P ushed  H u sb an d  T hrough ."  These m ock degrees w ere d istribu ted  by  C reighton 's M edical S tuden ts ' W ives Club. The collection also features records w h ich  d o cu m en t M artha  N ash 's  active invo lvem ent in  educa­tional, civic, religious, an d  public  health  organizations. For ex­am ple, researchers m ay  learn  abou t the activities in  w hich  she w as invo lved  d u rin g  h e r tenu re  as executive d irector of the M ar­tin  L u ther K ing, Jr. C en ter for E ducational and  Vocational Train­ing  in  W aterloo from  1981 to 1995. These item s illustrate  the types of m ateria ls th a t the Iow a W om en's A rchives seeks to collect as p a rt  of its project to  d o cum en t the h isto ry  of A frican-A m erican w om en  in  Iowa.To explain  the va lue  of her ow n  Black W om en in  the M iddle W est docum en tation  project, h isto rian  D arlene C lark  H ine said: "There is an  u rg en t need  to  discover and  collect m ore p rim ary  source m ateria ls perta in in g  to the lives and  experiences of ordi­n a ry  m idd le  w este rn  Black w om en  in  b o th  ru ra l an d  u rb an  com ­m unities ."2 A lthough  H ine an d  h e r colleagues centered their ef­forts on  A frican-A m erican w om en  in  Illinois, Ind iana, and  M ichi­gan —  states w hich  traditionally  have h ad  m ore sizable black p o p u ­lations th an  Iow a—the h isto ry  of A frican-A m erican w om en in  this s ta te  is n o  less im p o rta n t.3 In d eed , Io w a 's  A frican-A m erican  w om en  share  a collective h isto ry  th a t is bo th  precious and  po w ­2 Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in the Middle West: The Michigan Experience (Ann Arbor, MI: Historical Society of Michigan, 1990), p. 5.3 See Darlene Clark Hine, The Black Women in the Middle West Project: A Comprehen­sive Resource Guide, Illinois and Indiana: Historical Essays, Oral Histories, Biographical Profiles, and Document Collections (Indianapolis, IN: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1986).http://ir.uiowa.edu/bai/vol65/iss119erful b u t all too seldom  explored. The Iow a W om en's A rchives a t the U niversity  of Iow a Libraries w ill help  save these w o m en 's  stories by  iden tify ing  and  collecting their personal p ap e rs  and  organizational records. In  A ugust 1995, I jo ined the Iow a W om en's A rchives staff as an  assistan t archivist to  lead  th is im p o rtan t en ­deavor.A n advisory board  guides m e in  m y collecting efforts. This board  com prises five m em bers: Bill C ribbs of D avenport, city affirm a­tive action officer; Jacquie Easley of Des M oines, assistan t vice p residen t of personnel an d  education  at A m erican  Republic In­surance; Betty Jean F urgerson  of W aterloo, form er Iow a state  re­gent and  curren t p residen t of the Iow a Public Broadcasting Board; Virginia H arper of Fort M adison , cu rren t p residen t of the Fort M adison NAACP; and  Jewel Lim ar Prestage of Prairie View, Texas, a U niversity  of Iow a a lum na w ho  is curren tly  d ean  of the Ben­jam in B anneker H onors College of P rairie View A&M  University. F und ing  for this project has been  p ro v id ed  by  donations received from  co rp o ra te  a n d  fo u n d a tio n  sp o n so rs— w h ich  in c lu d e  US WEST Com m unications, the State H istorical Society, Inc., the Prin ­cipal Financial G roup, the Des Moines Register, C entral Life A ssu r­ance, Procter an d  G am ble, E quitable of Iow a C om panies, and  m em bers of the U niversity  of Iow a Black A lum ni A ssociation— and  ind iv idual contributors. N early  one year ago, on  D ecem ber 6, 1995, the Iow a W om en's A rchives an d  U niversity  of Iow a Li­braries held  a celebratory  p ro g ram  to launch  the  project officially. Some of the adv isory  b o ard  m em bers and  sponsors w ere able to join us for the festivities.Project adv isory  b oard  m em ber Betty Jean F urgerson 's  papers  now  grace the shelves of the Iow a W om en's A rchives. Furgerson  is the younger sister of M artha N ash. Like N ash , she d o n a ted  her papers last fall. A lthough  these sisters g rew  u p  in  the sam e h ouse­ho ld  in W aterloo, the differences in  their papers reflect the u n ique­ness typical of archival collections. In  the late 1940s, a t abou t the sam e tim e th a t M artha w as cap tu ring  her experiences in  the jou r­nal cited from  earlier, Betty Jean an d  the Furgerson  fam ily  struck  up  w hat becam e long-term  friendships w ith  m em bers of the D uke Ellington Orchestra. F urgerson saved m any  of the letters and  post­cards from  all over the w o rld  th a t b an d  m em bers sen t to  h e r over the next few  decades an d  included  them  in he r collection. She also d onated  an  asso rtm en t of p h o to g rap h s of the m usicians re­http://ir.uiowa.edu/bai/vol65/iss120laxing w ith  the  fam ily d u rin g  the 1950s an d  1960s.Like he r sister M artha, Betty Jean Furgerson  has long d isp layed  a concern  for civil rights. In  1974, she w as ap po in ted  director of the W aterloo H u m a n  R ights C om m ission, a position  she held  for the nex t e igh teen  years. H er p ap ers  include records w hich  docu­m en t h e r experiences as com m ission d irector as w ell as h er m any professional an d  vo lun teer civic activities in  the fields of educa­tion  an d  social w ork . This sum m er, ye t ano ther Furgerson  sister, L ileah Furgerson  H arris, dona ted  her papers  to the Iow a W om en's A rchives. M aterials in  H arris 's  collection docum en t h e r n u m er­ous arts, civic, an d  educational activities, includ ing  her term s as p residen t of the E rskine E lem entary  School and  W ashington H igh School P aren t Teacher A ssociations (PTAs) in  C edar R apids and  as a m em ber of the C edar R apids H u m an  Rights Com m ission.P ho tographs, n ew sp ap e r clippings, biographical sketches, and correspondence help  tell the story  of archival donor M aude W hite. She g rew  u p  in  Perry, Iow a, the d au g h te r of a M ethod ist m inister w h o  fo u n d ed  the  to w n 's  first b lack M ethod ist church. Even as a girl, W hite p artic ipa ted  in  charitab le and  com m unity  activities. As a yo u n g  w om an  d u rin g  the D epression, she n o t only w orked  to  su p p o rt herself and  h e r d au g h te r b u t also a ttended  n ight school an d  con tinued  to  help  others. A fter m oving  to California in the early  1940s, W hite even tually  he lped  Japanese-A m erican W orld W ar II ve terans a n d  o ther C alifornians of color locate jobs. W hen W hite re tu rn ed  to  Iow a in  the early  1960s, she se ttled  in  Des M oines an d  con tinued  h e r career in  state  em ploym ent, help ing  d isad v an tag ed  Iow ans find  w ork.In 1980, W hite retired  from  state  governm en t b u t n o t from  her w o rk  w ith  the com m unity. T hat sam e year, she opened  her hom e to neighborhood  s tu d en ts  w h o  n eeded  academ ic help  and  estab­lished  the  Des M oines Tutoring Center. O ver the next five years, m ore th an  100 ch ild ren  s tu d ied  in  W hite 's  hom e. Eventually, the n u m b er of s tu d en ts  g rew  so large th a t W hite h a d  to  a d d  staff and  deve lop  severa l m ore  tu to rin g  sites w ith  assistance from  area schools. The center becam e an  affiliate of the C hild ren  and  Fam i­lies of Iow a o rgan ization  in  1991. M ost rem arkable of all is that from  1980 to 1991, W hite never accepted any  p aym en t for use of h e r hom e or for he r teach ing  services.The collections m en tioned  so far rep resen t b u t a few  of those rela ting  to A frican-A m erican w om en  th a t have  jo ined the otherhttp://ir.uiowa.edu/bai/vol65/iss121holdings of the Iow a W om en's Archives. Located on  the th ird  floor of the M ain Library, the Louise N oun-M ary  Louise Sm ith Iow a W om en's A rchives w as fo u n d ed  in  1992 to  identify, collect, p re ­serve, and  m ake available to researchers p rim ary-source m ateria l of Iowa w om en from  all w alks of life.4 "Iow a w om an" very  broadly  refers to a w om an  connected to  Iow a by  b irth , education , or resi­dence. Part of the m ission  of the  archives is to  raise the conscious­ness of w om en  about the im portance  of their lives an d  their p a ­pers. M uch of w om en 's  lives rem ains com pletely  h id d en  from  history  or is only partia lly  k now n  or told. A s archives co-founder M ary Louise Sm ith has said , "If peop le  know  th a t there  is an  archive w here w o m en 's  records w ill be v a lued  an d  p reserved , they w ill m ake a deliberate  effort to collect m ateria ls th a t m igh t o therw ise be d iscarded ."5 The ho ld ings of the  Iow a W om en's A r­chives p rov ide  rich resources for anyone seeking to  explore the d iversity  of Iow a w om en 's  lives. W hile these m aterials w ere no t created  specifically for  researchers, they  can be u sed  by research­ers to show  how  an  ind iv idual lived her life or h o w  an  o rgan iza­tion functioned. By soliciting the docum ents of A frican-A m eri­can w om en in  Iow a, the archives staff hopes to b u ild  a core col­lection of m aterials th a t w ill m ake it possib le for a m ore com plete h istory  of these w om en  to  be w ritten .In som e cases, ind iv iduals  m igh t n o t have papers. They m igh t have lost their belongings in  a fire, for instance, or d iscarded  their m aterials because they  d id  n o t th ink  th a t anyone else w o u ld  ever consider them  im portan t. A w ay  to  m ake sure  th a t the h istories of these w om en are p reserved  as w ell is to  cap tu re  their stories on au d io tap e  th ro u g h  oral h is to ry  in te rv iew s. A  segm en t of th is project m igh t involve conducting  such  in terv iew s w ith  selected w om en.Prior to  m y  arrival, a sm all n u m b er of collections perta in in g  to A frican-A m erican w om en  in  the state  h ad  a lready  been  d onated . A m ong these w ere the p ap ers  of R uth  B luford A nderson , p rofes­4 For additional information about the history of the Iowa Women's Archives, the author recommends the following article: Karen M. Mason, "History Through Women's Eyes: The Iowa Women's Archives," Books at Iowa, Number 59 (November 1993), pp. 15- 22.5 Susan Kreimer, "Unique Perspective Preserved by Center," The Daily Iowan, 27 January 1992.http://ir.uiowa.edu/bai/vol65/iss122sor em eritu s of social w o rk  at the  U niversity  of N orthern  Iowa an d  au th o r of From Mother's A id  Child to University Professor: A n  Autobiography o f an American Black Woman, w ho  bestow ed  corre­spondence , n e w sp ap e r clipp ings, an d  a p h o to g rap h  to  the ar­chives. M arguerite  C othorn , w h o  enjoyed a m ore th an  forty-year career in  social w ork, donated  reports, clippings, and  photographs. The acquisition  of S uzanne O 'D ea Schenken 's oral-h istory  in ter­v iew  series "A  Political D ialogue: Iow a 's  W om en Legislators" y ie lded  a tran sc rip t of an  in terv iew  w ith  A. June Franklin, one of the first A frican-A m erican w om en  to  serve in  the Iow a G eneral Assembly.These an d  m ost of the collections ad d e d  since the project offi­cially beg an  d o cum en t w om en  w ho  have p layed  a public  role in  history. O ne such  in d iv id u al is C atherine W illiams of Des M oines, w h o  w e n t from  d a n c in g  in  the  m ov ies w ith  the  likes of Bill "Bojangles" R obinson an d  Cab C allow ay to a leng thy  career in the  Iow a D ep artm en t of Social Services. She retired  in 1981 as d e p u ty  com m issioner of th a t departm en t. H er collection includes p h o to g rap h s th a t d ocum en t h e r dancing  days, fam ily life, and career in  governm ent; speeches; and  records of Delta Sigma Theta, the trad itionally  A frican-A m erican sorority  to w hich  she belongs. A no ther recent ad d itio n  are the p ap e rs  of M ary  E lizabeth W ood, w h o  recently  re tu rn ed  to  he r na tive  city Des M oines after several decades away. In 1957, w hen  W ood w as appo in ted  to  the position  of executive d irector of the YW CA of Buffalo an d  Erie C oun ty  in N ew  York, she becam e the first A frican-A m erican w om an  in  the coun try  to  d irect a m etropo litan  b ranch  of tha t organization. The archives houses h e r pho to g rap h s, correspondence, certificates, speeches, n ew sp ap e r clippings, an d  o ther m aterial.W hile the Iow a W om en's A rchives w elcom es the papers of these p rom inen t w om en, w e also w a n t to celebrate w om en  w hose ac­com plishm ents m ay  be k now n  only  w ith in  their ow n  families. For exam ple, the reposito ry 's  ho ld ings include a v ideo  tha t docu­m en ts the experiences of M axine Baker G riggs and  Creole Baker G riggs, tw o  sisters w h o  rem inisce abou t their lives in  the sm all tow n of C larinda, Iowa. W hile these w om en m ight no t have played a public  role in  Iow a 's  history, their m aterials offer a g lim pse into their experiences an d  p rov ide  valuab le  historical in form ation  for researchers. A s is the  aim  of the Iow a W om en's A rchives gener­ally, the m ission  of the A frican-A m erican W om en in Iow a projecthttp://ir.uiowa.edu/bai/vol65/iss123is to collect the p ap ers  of w om en  from  all w alks of life.D espite its nam e an d  m ission, the Iow a W om en's A rchives does accept m en 's  papers. In  fact, fam ily p ap e rs  are of special interest. For instance, the collection of the H arp e r family, w hose  roots in Iow a reach back  several generations, is a g row ing  one. The Spe­cial C ollections D epartm en t, also located  in  the  U n iversity  of Iow a 's M ain Library, houses the p ap ers  of Dr. H arry  H arper, Sr., w hile  the Iow a W om en's Archives ho ld s the p ap e rs  of tw o  of his daughters: the aforem entioned  Virginia H arper, w h o  serves on this project's adv isory  board , an d  Lois Eichacker, a civic leader w ho  recently end ed  her te rm  as p resid en t of the  U niversity  of Iow a's A lum ni A ssociation Board. This year, the archives acquired  the papers  of E lizabeth  "Bettye" C raw ford  Tate, w ho  opera ted  a board ing  house  for A frican-A m erican m ale s tu d en ts  in  Iow a C ity from  1940 in to  the 1950s because they  w ere n o t allow ed to  live in  U niversity  of Iow a dorm itories. A long w ith  the pho tog raphs, cor­respondence, theater program s, and  other m aterial tha t docum ents her ow n  life, Bettye Tate's collection also includes m ateria l tha t relates to  he r son, D ennis an d  his acting career.The Iow a W om en's A rchives encourages the  assistance of ev ­eryone in  accom plishing the project's goals. To con tinue to  de­velop  th is collection, w e m u st iden tify  in d iv id u a ls  a n d  b lack  w om en 's  organizations— both p a s t an d  existing— to app roach  for papers. Letters, speeches, pho tog raphs, scrapbooks, aud iov isua l m aterials, m em orabilia , an d  o rgan izational records are b u t a few  exam ples of m ateria ls th a t w e seek. Offers of do na tion  or sugges­tions of possib le sources of p ap ers  m ay  be sen t to: K athryn  N eal, Iow a W om en's A rchives, U niversity  of Iow a L ibraries, 100 M ain Library, Iow a City, IA 52242-1420; (319) 335-5068 o r k a th ry n - neal@ uiow a.edu. D arlene C lark  H ine con tends th a t "[a]s w e gar­ner the insp iration  con ta ined  in  p as t a n d  p resen t Black w o m en 's  lives, w e acquire the p o w er to take h isto ry  fu rth e r and  the  w ill to use the pow er of h isto ry  to  construct a b e tte r fu tu re ."6 The Iow a W om en's A rchives hopes to  take the h isto ry  of A frican-A m erican w om en in  Iow a fu rth e r by  docum en ting  their lives an d  experi­ences. C ountless stories rem ain  to  be told.6 Darlene Clark Hine, Elsa Barkley Brown, and Rosalyn Terborg Penn (eds.), "Editor's Preface" in Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia, Volume 1 A-L (Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press, 1994), p. xix.http://ir.uiowa.edu/bai/vol65/iss1

Giving Our History a Home: The African-American Women in Iowa Project

Noble, Mary E

Iowa\u27s Women Professional Photographers

Back Matter, Books at Iowa, No.65

T h e  In d ic a to rA  Change and a PartingSince N ovem ber of 1964, Books at Iowa has been  pub lished  tw ice a year by  the Friends of the U niversity  of Iow a Libraries. This issue, N um ber 65, N ovem ber 1996, w ill be the last. The staff of the U niversity  Libraries, a long  w ith  m em bers of the  A dvisory  Board of the Friends of the Libraries, w ill be rev iew ing  all lib rary  publications. The desire is to  create pub lica tions th a t p rov ide  in ­te res tin g , in fo rm a tiv e , a n d  tim e ly  c o m m u n ica tio n s  w ith  the  Friends abou t collections an d  services w ith  special features on how  F riends' su p p o rt is m aking  a difference in  the qua lity  of the U niversity  Libraries.From  1964 u p  to the p resent, Books at Iowa has contained  articles on m any  subjects includ ing  fine presses, Iow a au thors, English an d  A m erican literature, ch ild ren 's  books, A m erican  his­tory, European  literature and  thought, science an d  technology, and  the h isto ry  of the U niversity  of Iowa. T hrough  its pages, m any  of the notable books and  m anuscrip ts  on the shelves of the U niver­sity L ibraries have been  described  for readers. M uch of the suc­cess of the m agazine can be a ttr ib u ted  to F rank  Paluka, ed ito r for tw en ty  years, from  1966 to  1986. Special thanks are d u e  to  the U niversity  of Iow a faculty, L ibrary  staff, an d  g rad u a te  s tu d en ts  w ho  w rote  articles over the years, an d  to  w rite rs  from  as far aw ay  as A ustralia  w ho  con tribu ted  essays.A ppropriately, in  th is year of the  Sesquicentennial of Iow a, all of the articles in  th is farew ell issue have  the  state  of Iow a as their focus.1http://ir.uiowa.edu/bai/vol65/iss1

The Indicator

McCown, Robert A.

Iowa Authors on Iowa: A Sesquicennial Reading List

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