This is a list of nearly all of the oral histories held in the Iowa Women’s Archives.\u00a0 It includes individual oral history interviews, oral histories contained within the manuscript collections of Iowa women and their organizations, as well as oral history projects.\u00a0The oral histories encompass a wide variety of topics from rural Iowa women to Iowa police women, artists, feminists, and civil rights activists.\u00a0 Together, they constitute a rich resource, providing insight into aspects of Iowa history that are often unavailable through written documentation. For example, many of the interviews shed light on the history of previously under-represented or marginalized populations in Iowa including the history of Latinas and African American women.<\/p>\n
The interviews were recorded in different formats including audiotapes, videotapes, and digital recordings.\u00a0 Additional biographical information, photographs, and associated materials accompany many of the interviews.<\/p>\n
A<\/a><\/p>\n Nine interviews with African Americans (predominantly women) from different parts of Iowa formed the basis of a research project conducted by Frances Hawthorne in 1992.<\/p>\n In the Frances Hawthorne Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sponsored by the Iowa Women’s Archives.\u00a0 Fourteen interviews conducted between 1996 and 1997.\u00a0 Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Giving Voice to their Memories: African American Women in Iowa Oral History Project<\/a> Collection.<\/p>\n Former resident of Cook’s Point in Davenport, Iowa.<\/p>\n In the Mujeres Latinas Oral Histories Collection [unprocessed].<\/p>\n [See also Maria Mercedes Aguilera Papers<\/a>.]<\/p>\n Interviews with seventy Iowa women artists conducted by Jane Robinette, 1998-1999.\u00a0 Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project Collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n The narrator describes growing up in a bilingual, biracial family in Garner, Iowa. Oral history conducted in 1999.\u00a0 Audiotape and transcript.<\/p>\n View finding aid<\/a>.<\/p>\n B<\/a><\/p>\n Interviews with ten women from Benton County, Iowa, were conducted through an oral history project of the Benton County Association of American University Women in 1994.\u00a0 Transcripts only.<\/p>\n In the Her Own Story: Ten Benton County Women<\/a>.<\/p>\n Radio homemaker.\u00a0 Interview conducted in 2006. Two audiotapes.<\/p>\n In the Birkby Collection of Radio Homemaker Materials<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eleven interviews conducted by Verda Williams for her documentary film, Black Des Moines: Voices Seldom Heard<\/em>.\u00a0 Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Verda Williams Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Teacher for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.\u00a0 One audiotape.<\/p>\n In the Margaret Talcott Boedeker Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Des Moines wife and mother who worked as a secretary during World War II.\u00a0 Oral history conducted in 1999. Audiotape and transcript.<\/p>\n View finding aid<\/a>.<\/p>\n University of Iowa physician.\u00a0 Oral history conducted by James Beilman for the University of Iowa Libraries, 1977. Transcript.<\/p>\n View finding aid<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jewish immigrant in Iowa and University of Iowa student in the 1920s.\u00a0 Oral history conducted in 1996. Audiotape and transcript.<\/p>\n In the Rosalie Braverman Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Muscatine area teacher, farm woman, and the niece of early twentieth century Iowa labor activist, Pearl McGill.\u00a0 Oral history conducted in 2005. Four audiotapes.<\/p>\n In the McGill Family Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Burton, a suffragist and WCTU member, is remembered on tape by her grandaughter, Carol Deters. One audiotape.<\/p>\n C<\/a><\/p>\n Former president of the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Interview conducted in 1997 by Tanya Zanish-Belcher, Curator, Archives of Women in Science and Engineering at Iowa State University, Ames.\u00a0 Transcript only.<\/p>\n D<\/a><\/p>\n Muscatine newspaper columnist and civil rights activist from Centerville, Iowa.\u00a0 Two videotapes and one audiotape, “Muscatine Black Families and the AME Church.”<\/p>\n In the Aldeen Davis Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Social worker in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.\u00a0 Interview conducted in 1984.\u00a0 Audiotape and transcript.<\/p>\n In the Laura Davis Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iowa author and artist. Seven audiotapes and transcript.<\/p>\n In the Esther Sietmann Warner Dendel Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n E<\/a><\/p>\n Family farmer, volunteer, and community activist who served on U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and the International Women’s Year Commission. One audiocassette.<\/p>\n In the Beverly George Everett Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n F<\/a><\/p>\n Twenty-one interviews conducted by Louise Noun with Iowa feminists, social reformers, and community organizers as research for her book, More Strong-Minded Women: Iowa Feminists Tell their Stories<\/em> (Ames, Iowa, 1992).\u00a0 Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Louise Noun Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rural Iowa school teacher.\u00a0 Oral history conducted by Jan Losby for the Johnson County Historical Society, 2002. Transcript.<\/p>\n In the Grace Ferns Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n G<\/a><\/p>\n Fort Madison wife and mother. Interview conducted by her daughter, Teresa Garcia, in 1999. Two audiotapes and transcript.<\/p>\n In the Inez Garcia Papers. [unprocessed]<\/p>\n A second interview, conducted in 2005 by Rachel Carreon, is shelved in the Mujeres Latinas Oral Histories Collection.<\/p>\n Educator and Red Cross worker. Interview conducted in 1996. Audiotape and transcript.<\/p>\n View finding aid<\/a><\/p>\n Des Moines civil rights activist and Progressive Party member.\u00a0 Interview conducted by Verda Williams, ca. 1985.\u00a0 Audiotapes and transcript.<\/p>\n In the Verda Williams Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n An Interview with Griffin’s daughter, Phyllis Griffin, conducted by Noah Lawrence, 2004.\u00a0 Audiotape and transcript.<\/p>\n In the Edna Griffin Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n H<\/a><\/p>\n Reporter for Life<\/em> magazine from Bedford, Iowa. Oral history recorded in 1988, videotape.<\/p>\n In the Dora Jane Hamblin Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Japanese-American nurse who was imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Oral history recorded in 1999.\u00a0 Audiotape and transcript.<\/p>\n Newspaper columnist. Interview conducted by Gladys Rife in 1985.\u00a0 Audiotapes and transcript.<\/p>\n In the Gladys Talcott Rife Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Interviews with three former professors in the University of Iowa Home Economics Department, conducted in 2000, nine years after the department was closed. Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Oral Histories of University of Iowa Home Economics Professors Collection. [in process]<\/p>\n I <\/a><\/p>\n Interviews with the first generation of Iowa’s women jurists. \u00a0 Five oral histories conducted by political science undergraduate students at Iowa State University, Ames, 1997-1998.\u00a0 Transcripts only.<\/p>\n In the Iowa Women Judges Project Collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n Interviews with fifty Iowa women legislators conducted by Suzanne O’Dea Schenken between 1988 and 1993.\u00a0Transcripts only.<\/p>\n In A Political Dialogue: Iowa’s Women Legislators<\/a>.<\/p>\n J<\/a><\/p>\n See: Interviews with Iowa Women Judges.<\/p>\n K<\/a><\/p>\n Iowa City feminist and city council member.\u00a0 Interview conducted by Kit Murray, 1999.\u00a0 One audiotape [AC500].<\/p>\n L<\/a><\/p>\n See: Interviews with Iowa Women Legislators.<\/p>\n Eleven interviews conducted by Catherine Lewis in 1995 for the Smithsonian Insititute’s Festival of American Folklore & Iowa Festival of Iowa Folklife. Eight audiotapes.<\/p>\n View finding aid <\/a>.<\/p>\n A member of the Iowa Porkettes.\u00a0 Interview conducted by Doris Malkmus, 2001.\u00a0 One audiotape.<\/p>\n In the Iowa Porkettes Records<\/a>.<\/p>\n Navy WAVE during World War II.\u00a0 One audiotape [AC352].<\/p>\n M<\/a><\/p>\n Des Moines singer and beauty shop owner. Interview conducted in 2006. Audiotape.<\/p>\n In the Dora E. Mackay Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iowa City feminist and activist.\u00a0 Interview conducted by John McKerley, 2003.\u00a0 Two audiotapes.<\/p>\n In the Dale McCormick Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Red Oak, Iowa, farm woman.\u00a0 Interview conducted by Karen Mason, 2005.\u00a0 Two audiotapes.<\/p>\n In the Betty McKenzie Papers [unprocessed]<\/p>\n Farm woman and political organizer from Riverside, Iowa.\u00a0 Interview conducted by Andor Skotnes, 1991-1992.\u00a0Seven audiotapes and transcript.<\/p>\n In the Magdalen Meade Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sponsored by the Iowa Women’s Archives. Over one hundred interviews with Iowa Latinas and their families (predominantly Mexican American women) were conducted between 2004 and 2008.\u00a0 In addition to audiotapes and transcripts, the collection includes associated materials such as photographs and newspaper clippings.<\/p>\n In the Mujeres Latinas Oral Histories Collection [in process].<\/p>\n N<\/a><\/p>\n Red Cross worker and Girl Scout executive director from Nichols, Iowa.\u00a0 Interview conducted by Mary Evans of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library as part of the Library of Congress Veterans Oral History Project.\u00a0 One videotape.<\/p>\n In the Ortha P. Neff Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Feminist, activist, and co-founder of the Iowa Women’s Archives.\u00a0 Oral histories conducted by J. Vacchiano, in 1992, and by Virigina Wadlsey, in 1999. Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Louise Noun Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n P<\/a><\/p>\n Oral history interview conducted in 1994 by Rachel Casteel.\u00a0 One audiotape.<\/p>\n In the War Brides of World War II Collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n The entry of women into law enforcement agencies in Iowa is documented through fifteen oral history interviews conducted by retired police officer Phylliss Henry, 1997-2005. Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Oral Histories of Iowa Policewomen Collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n [See also Phylliss Henry Papers<\/a>]<\/p>\n R<\/a><\/p>\n A collaborative effort sponsored by the Iowa Women’s Archives and Iowa State University. Thirty-five interviews with Iowa farm women were conducted from 2001 to 2002. Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Voices From the Land Collection. [In process]<\/p>\n S<\/a><\/p>\n Iowa farm woman.\u00a0 Interviewed by her daughter, Mona Anne Guerrant, in 1980 and 1982.\u00a0 Audiotapes and transcript.<\/p>\n View finding aid<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iowa City conservationist and founding member of Project Green.\u00a0 Interviewed in 2001 by Linda K. Kerber, University of Iowa May Brodbeck Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences.\u00a0 Audiotape [AC623] and transcript.<\/p>\n [See also Gretchen Harshbarger Papers<\/a>]<\/p>\n Interviews conducted with five members of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Sioux City, 1991.\u00a0Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Women’s History Project (Catholic Church, Diocese of Sioux City) Collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n First woman to chair the Republican National Committe and co-founder of the Iowa Women’s Archives.\u00a0 Interview conducted by Kim Fradgley.\u00a0 One audiotape [AC813].<\/p>\n In the Mary Louise Smith Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n T<\/a><\/p>\n Mother and homemaker from Ida Grove, Iowa. Oral history recorded by her grandson, Derik Cranston, 1995. Audiotape.<\/p>\n View finding aid<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jewish writer from Des Moines, Iowa.\u00a0 Interview conducted by Michael Pollock and Susan Demas, 1999. Audiotapes.<\/p>\n In the Bertha Korn Tucker Papers<\/a><\/p>\n V<\/a><\/p>\n Writer and traveler who lived among the Kuna Indians.\u00a0 Interview conducted in 2003, Emmetsburg, Iowa.\u00a0 Audiotapes.<\/p>\n In the Marjorie Vandervelde Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n W<\/a><\/p>\n Professional dancer and former deputy commissioner of the Iowa Department of Social Services.\u00a0 A series of interviews conducted by David Smith,1982. Six audiotapes.<\/p>\n In the Catherine Gayle Williams Papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n A second interview was conducted in 1995 for the Smithsonian Institute’s Festival of American Folklore and Iowa Festival of Iowa Folklife. Audiotape [AC352].<\/p>\n Fourteen interviews with founding members of WRAC to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary.\u00a0 Audiotapes and transcripts.<\/p>\n In the Women’s Resource and Action Center Records<\/a>.<\/p>\n Y<\/a><\/p>\nAfrican American History Project<\/h3>\n
African American Women in Iowa Oral History Project<\/h3>\n
Aguilera, Maria Mercedes<\/h3>\n
Artists in Iowa Oral Histories<\/h3>\n
Atalig, Angelica Lynn Rose<\/h3>\n
Benton County Women<\/h3>\n
Birkby, Evelyn<\/h3>\n
Black Des Moines: Voices Seldom Heard<\/em><\/h3>\n
Boedeker, Margaret (1919-2000)<\/h3>\n
Boller, Betty<\/h3>\n
Boulware, Lois<\/h3>\n
Braverman, Rosalie (1910- )<\/h3>\n
Burns, Jean<\/h3>\n
Burton, Lena Josephene Nelson<\/h3>\n
Coleman, Mary Sue <\/a><\/h3>\n
Davis, Aldeen (1916-2001)<\/h3>\n
Davis, Laura (1916-1993)<\/a><\/h3>\n
Dendel, Esther (1910-2002)<\/h3>\n
Everett, Beverly George (1926-2001)<\/h3>\n
Feminists of the Second Wave in Iowa<\/h3>\n
Ferns, Grace<\/h3>\n
Garcia, Inez<\/a><\/h3>\n
Gernes, Elizabeth Anna (1907-1996)<\/h3>\n
Griffin, Edna<\/h3>\n
Hamblin, Dora Jane<\/a><\/h3>\n
Hata, Kay<\/h3>\n
Hoidalh, Florence<\/h3>\n
Home Economics Professors at the University of Iowa<\/h3>\n
Interviews with Iowa Women Judges<\/h3>\n
Interviews with Iowa Women Legislators<\/h3>\n
Judges<\/h3>\n
Kubby, Karen<\/h3>\n
Legislators<\/h3>\n
Lewis, Catherine<\/h3>\n
Louden, Kathryn<\/h3>\n
Lyon, Pauline<\/h3>\n
Mackay, Dora E.<\/h3>\n
McCormick, Dale<\/h3>\n
McKenzie, Betty<\/h3>\n
Meade, Magdalen<\/h3>\n
Mujeres Latinas Oral History Project<\/h3>\n
Neff. Ortha P.<\/h3>\n
Noun, Louise<\/h3>\n
Peiffer, Eva<\/a><\/h3>\n
Policewomen in Iowa<\/h3>\n
Rural Women’s Oral History Project<\/h3>\n
Schallau, Elsie Boddicker (1913-1997)<\/h3>\n
Seiberling, Nancy<\/h3>\n
Sioux City, Diocese of<\/h3>\n
Smith, Mary Louise<\/h3>\n
Thornhill, Esther<\/h3>\n
Tucker, Bertha Korn<\/h3>\n
Vandervelde, Marjorie<\/h3>\n
Williams, Catherine Gayle<\/h3>\n
Women’s Resource and Action Center<\/h3>\n