Collection Dates: 1966 -- 2001
8 linear in.
This document describes a collection of materials held
by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Posted to Internet: February 2000
Acquisition
Note: This collection was donated to the University of Iowa
Libraries by Mr. Elderkin in 1999 -- 2000.
Access
and Restrictions:
Photographs: Box 1
Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but
does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this
collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections
Department.
Copyright: Please read
The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on "Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished
Materials"
Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.
Biographical Note
David MacDuff Elderkin was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on November 5, 1913, the son of Amos A. Elderkin and Elizabeth MacDuff. He graduated from Cedar Rapids High School in 1930 and the University of Iowa in 1935. In 1937, he received a law degree from the University and was admitted to the bar. During World War II, he served as a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps in the Pacific area. From 1945 to 1950 he was an assistant county attorney in Linn County. Thereafter, he was a trial lawyer in private practice in Cedar Rapids. In 1966 -- 1967 he was president of the Iowa State Bar Association and in 1989 he was named Dean of the Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers. He was the attorney for Roy J. Carver, the Muscatine, Iowa, industrialist, and he was also on the board of Copley Newspapers.
Scope and Contents
The Papers of David M. Elderkin, 1966 -- 1999, consist of two boxes (eight linear inches) of photocopies of correspondence, editorials, photographs, speeches, and other material of a distinguished Iowa lawyer. Original materials were retained by Mr. Elderkin. There is a considerable amount of correspondence with James S. Flansburg of The Des Moines Register. Mr. Elderkin wrote a number of editorials for The Cedar Rapids Gazette, and gave many talks at Iowa State Bar Association gatherings on current legal matters. Many of his editorials had to do with narcotics and crime. The collection contains photographs of Roy J. Carver, Alan B. Shepard, Richard M. Nixon, Archibald Cox, Dan Quayle, Jack Kemp, and Ronald Reagan.
Box 1
Biographical material
Correspondence, 1966-1999, mostly letters to David M. Elderkin from lawyers
Correspondence with James Flansburg, 1978 -- 1999
Editorials in The Cedar Rapids Gazette, 1978 -- 2000
Editorials in The Des Moines Register and other publications, 1966 -- 1999
Photographs, including pictures of Roy J. Carver, Alan B. Shepard, Richard M. Nixon, Archibald Cox, Dan Quayle, Jack Kemp, and Ronald Reagan
Speeches and Opinion Pieces
Bar Admission Ceremony, 1966Bar Association Remarks, July 15, 1993
Bench-Bar Conference, May 1990
Cameras in Our Courtrooms
Carl Bowen Eulogy, April 1998
Cedar Rapids Education Association , November 1968
Cedar Rapids Rotary, October 4, 1971
Citizens Conference on Iowa Courts, Keynote Address, September 16, 1970
A Cold Winter
Confronting Racism
Copley Newspapers Board Meeting Dinner Remarks, December 15, 1989
Critique, Iowa State Bar Asssociation, May 23, 1968
Dr. Campbell Watts Founders Award Dinner, St. Luke's Health Care Foundation, October 23, 1985
Drug Wars, July 1991
Eagle Scout Award Remarks, 1980
From Ragsdale to Wisdom, n. d.
"Gleanings from Poor Elderkin's Almanac" and other writings
How Americans Respond to War: Agreeing to 'Peace at Any Price" is Not the Answer. The Des Moines Register, Thursday, November 15, 2001.
In Defense of the Contingent Fee Contract, Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers Seminar, January 1980
Inflation [1978?]
Iowa Defense Counsel Association Seminar, April 19, 1974
Speeches and Opinion Pieces (cont.)
Iowa State Bar Association Annual Speech, 1967Iowa State Bar Assocation Annual Speech, 1972
Iowa State Bar Association Bulletin, January 1968
The Irrelevance of Guilt, 1984
John J. Locher, Jr., Memorial Service, November 19, 1970
Joseph Kinney Funeral, August 2, 1990
Judge Harold Vietor, December 13, 1996
Knock It Off, John, n. d.
The Law and Century III, Copley Conference, February 1976
Law Day, U.S.A., Speech, May 1, 1969
Loss of Service and Support of Husband and Father or Wife and Mother, Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers Seminar, February 1975
Medical Malpractice, Testimony before the Iowa Legislative Study Committee, September 9, 1975
Medical Seminar, Iowa Academy of Trial Lawyers, 1975
Memorandum, July 6, 1982
Michael W. O'Rieley, Linn County Bar Association, 1980
Minority Report, Ethics Committee, Iowa State Legislature, 1973
Naturalization Proceedings, Northern District of Iowa, Remarks, October 25, 1988
News 'Sting' Leaves Uneasy Feeling, September 30, 2000
'Outbreak of Sanity': Make drugs legal. The Des Moines Register, Tuesday, July 31, 2001.
Protests and Elian [Gonzalez], n.d.
Public Forum on Living Wells, June 7, 1990
Red Mass, Dyersville, Speech, September 11, 1966
Reflections on the Trial Practice and Predictions for the New Millenium, March 5, 1999
Remarks at Funeral of Edward H. Jones, 1986
Remarks at Retirement Ceremony for Judge Edward McManus, January 30, 1985
Remarks at the Dinner of the Board of Governors of the Iowa State Bar Association, June 12, 1984
Remarks at the Iowa Supreme Court Retirement Ceremony for Chief Justice Ward Reynoldson, September 15, 1987
Remarks at the William Crissman Funeral
Remarks to the Washington Debate Society Banquet, May 15, 1984
Remember the O. J. Simpson Trial. The Gazette, June 14, 2001.
Republican Judicial Convention Speech, Des Moines, 1950
The Role of the Law, The Iowa LS Profile, Winter, 1969-70
St. Luke's Foundation Honoring Dr. W.J. Robb, Remarks, July 1989
Sister Mary Lawrence Hallagan, A Eulogy, November 10, 1999
Slick Willy, October 26, 1998
So Sue Me, 1982
State of Iowa vs. Robert Cunningham Rutledge, 1949, Elderkin's Argument to the Jury
The Trials of a President of a University, 1967
"Truth", Philosophy Class, University of Iowa, 1934
Verne Lawyer Remarks, February 17, 1994
William Meardon Funeral Remarks
Who Writes of the Goodness of Mankind
Why's Why in Cedar Rapids, 1950
Words and Phrases Worth of the Dignity of Rational Men Born with a Heavy Determination to be a Sovereign State, 1981
Yrenro Grievance Committee vs. Max Putnam

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