Special Collections Department
403 Parks Library
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2140

RS 13/5/55
Ada Hayden (1884-1950)
Papers, 1864-[ongoing]


Descriptive summary

creator:

Hayden, Ada (1884-1950)
title:

Papers
dates:

1864-[ongoing]
extent:

3.76 linear feet (2 document boxes, 2 small boxes, and one map case folder)
collection number:

RS 13/5/55
repository:

University Archives, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University.

 

Administrative information

access:

Open for research
publication rights:

Consult Head, Special Collections Department
preferred citation:

Ada Hayden Papers, RS 13/5/55, Archives of Women in Science and Engineering, Special Collections Department, Iowa State University Library.

 

Biographical note

Ada Hayden (1884-1950) was born on August 14, 1884 in Ames, Iowa. She earned a Bachelor of Science (1908) and Doctor of Philosophy (1918) degrees at Iowa State University. Hayden also earned a Master of Science degree (1910) from Washington University in St. Louis. Hayden was the first woman to earn a Doctor of Philosophy degree at Iowa State University.

She was an Instructor (1910-1918) in Botany, an Assistant Professor (1919-1950) of Botany, and named Curator of the Herbarium (1947-1950). Photographing and illustrating plants was a specialty as well. During her time at Iowa State she added more than 40,000 specimens to the herbarium.

In 1988, the Iowa State University herbarium was named the Ada Hayden Herbarium in honor of its former curator. Hayden was an avid conservationist who worked to have natural prairies in the state set aside as preserves. After her death a prairie preserve in Howard County, Iowa, was named the Ada Hayden Prairie Preserve by the Iowa Conservation Commission. Ada Hayden was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 2007.

 

Collection description

The Ada Hayden Papers include biographical information, diplomas and certificates, illustrations, list of publications, and a small amount of general correspondence and correspondence concerning the Hayden family as well as a bibliography of early botanists. The collection also contains photographs of the Hayden Prairie, animals, plants, Ledges State Park, the Mississippi River, Hayden's family, self-portraits, prairies, and the Skunk River. In addition, the papers include Hayden's scripts of her radio talks regarding different state parks, botany, history, and prairie restoration. There are also writings by and about Ada Hayden, which include articles, poems, and memorials. This series contains Hayden's family and personal correspondence, as well as Hayden Prairie photographs, illustrations, and a list of publications.

Negatives (nos. 83860-83880) are stored in the vault. There are also two lantern slides that are housed in the University Lantern Slide Collection in the vault.

 

Organization

This collection is listed alphabetically.

 

Container list

Box

Folder

Title

Dates

2

15

Article (unpublished): "The Prairie Project"

n.d.

2

16

Article (unpublished): Untitled paper on the American Lotus (Nelumbo Lutea)

n.d.

2

2

Article: "A Botanical Survey in the Iowa Lake Region of Clay and Palo Alto Counties"

1943

2

10

Article: "A Progress Report on the Preservation of Prairie"

1946

2

3

Article: "Distribution and Reproduction of Canada Thistle in Iowa"

1934

2

5

Article: "Florence Willey Nichols" (memorial)

1946

2

7

Article: "Notes on the Distribution of Midsummer Bee Plants in the Mississippi Zone of Clayton County"

1920

2

8

Article: "Notes on the Floristic Features of a Prairie Province in Central Iowa"

1918

2

9

Article: "Olaf Martin Oleson" (memorial)

1944

2

11

Article: "Scattering of Weeds"

1913

2

13

Article: "State Parks and Preserves," Iowa Academy of Science, Report of the Committee on Conservation

1944

2

14

Article: "State Parks and Preserves," Iowa Academy of Science, Report of the Committee on Conservation

1945

2

1

Article: "The Algal Flora of the Missouri Botanical Garden"

1910

2

4

Article: "The Ecologic Anatomy of Some Plants of a Prairie Province in Central Iowa"

1919

2

18

Article: "The Iowa Lakeside Laboratory – A Prairieless Field Laboratory" (draft)

n.d.

2

6

Article: "The Native Flora of Iowa," WPA Project

1937

2

12

Article: "The Selection of Prairie Areas in Iowa Which Should be Preserved"

1945

1

1

Biographical information

1910-2011, n.d.

Map Case

 

Certificate: Iowa Chapter of the Wildlife Society

1967

1

28

Certificate: Iowa Women's Hall of Fame

2007

1

2

Correspondence

1909-1910, n.d.

1

3

Correspondence

1911-1943

1

4

Correspondence: Biographies of some early Iowa State botany graduates

1936-1949, n.d.

Map Case

 

Diplomas: Ames Common School

1900

Map Case

 

Diplomas: Ames High School

1904

Map Case

 

Diplomas: Iowa State College (B.S.)

1908

Map Case

 

Diplomas: Iowa State College (M.S.)

1911

Map Case

 

Diplomas: Iowa State College (Ph.D.)

1918

Map Case

 

Diplomas: University of Washington (M.S.)

1910

1

5

Family correspondence

1864-1872

1

6

Hayden Prairie: News clippings

1950-1990

1

7

Hayden Prairie: Photographs taken by John M. Aikman (58 B&W 4x5 photographs)

1955-1958, n.d

Map Case

 

Illustrations (2 hand-colored illustrations)

n.d.

5

OVR

Illustrations: Drawings used in "Iowa Trees in Winter," Extension Circular 246 (18 sheets)

1938 ca.

Map Case

 

Illustrations: "The Adventures of the Weed Seeds" by J. C. Cunningham with illustrations by Hayden (1 sheet)

n.d.

1

8

Index cards with quotes

n.d.

1

9

List of publications

1948

3

1

Photographs: Animals (17 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1917, 1924, n.d.

3

2

Photographs: Barges (2 B&W 3x5 photographs)

n.d.

3

3

Photographs: Botany (7 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1922, 1926, n.d.

3

4

Photographs: Brazos River (1 B&W 3x5 photograph)

n.d.

3

5

Photographs: Buildings (8 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1917-1955, n.d.

3

6

Photographs: Campus and surrounding areas (6 B&W 3x4 and 15 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1928-1931, n.d.

3

7

Photographs: Ledges State Park in Boone, Iowa (18 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1925-1928, n.d.

3

8

Photographs: Little Wall Lake (22 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1924, n.d.

3

9

Photographs: Mississippi River (1 B&W 4x5 and 17 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1924, n.d.

3

10

Photographs: Onion Creek (1 B&W 4x5 and 10 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1924-1932, n.d.

3

11

Photographs: Plants (1 B&W 2x4 and 8 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1917, n.d.

4

1

Photographs: Portraits of family members (1 B&W 2x4 and 21 B&W 3x5 photographs)

n.d.

3

12

Photographs: Portraits of family members (3 B&W 4x5 and 14 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1921, n.d.

4

2

Photographs: Postville, Pinney's Springs (11 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1924, n.d.

4

3

Photographs: Prairie (10 B&W 3x5 photographs)

n.d.

2

17

Photographs: Prairie scenery and flora (40 B&W 4x5 photographs)

n.d.

4

6

Photographs: Rivers (11 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1917, n.d.

4

4

Photographs: Self-portraits (3 B&W 2x3, 3 B&W 2x6, 2 B&W 3x5, and 1 B&W 5x7 photographs)

1923-1926, n.d.

4

5

Photographs: Skunk River (12 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1924-1925, n.d.

4

7

Photographs: Skunk River Quarries (5 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1924-1925, n.d.

4

8

Photographs: Squaw Creek (1 B&W 3x3 and 2 B&W 3x5 photographs)

n.d.

4

9

Photographs: Texas (1 B&W 2x4 and 7 B&W 3x5 photographs)

n.d.

4

10

Photographs: Texas Lumber Industry (10 B&W 3x5 photographs)

1916-1917, n.d.

4

12

Photographs: Trees (10 B&W 2x4 and 12 B&W 3x5 photographs)

n.d.

4

13

Photographs: Trees (20 B&W 3x5 photographs)

n.d.

4

11

Photographs: Trees (21 B&W 3x5 photographs)

n.d.

1

10

Radio script: "Native Iowa Prairie Land"

1946

1

11

Radio talk: "Your State Park Playgrounds: Beavers Bend State Park"

n.d.

1

12

Radio talk: "Your State Park Playgrounds: Boiling Springs State Park"

n.d.

1

13

Radio talk: "Your State Park Playgrounds: Lake Murray State Park"

n.d.

1

14

Radio talk: "Your State Park Playgrounds: Osage Hills State Park"

n.d.

1

15

Radio talk: "Your State Park Playgrounds: Quartz Mountain State Park"

n.d.

1

16

Radio talk: "Your State Park Playgrounds: Robbers Cave State Park"

n.d.

1

17

Radio talk: "Your State Park Playgrounds: Roman Nose State Park"

n.d.

1

18

Writings about Hayden: "Ada Hayden: A Champion of Iowa Prairies" by Deborah Lewis

2000

1

19

Writings about Hayden: "Ada Hayden: A Tribute" by Duane Isley

1989

1

20

Writings about Hayden: "Ada Hayden: Pioneer Protector of Iowa's Prairies" by Katy Wilcox

1987

1

21

Writings about Hayden: "She Fought to Save Iowa's Prairies" by Jan Lovell

1987

1

23

Writings by Hayden: "A Report on Some Campus Memorials"

1949
2 19 Writings by Hayden: "Iowa Trees in Winter" (Extension Circular 246) 1938

1

22

Writings by Hayden: "The Iowa Rose" (poem)

n.d.

1

24

Writings on botany: "Achenial Hairs of Compositæ" by Mary A. Nichols

1893

1

27

Writings on botany: "Spring Flowers and Other Plants Marked Along the Nature Trails in Some State Parks" by Botany Extension Service, Iowa State College

n.d.

1

25

Writings on botany: "The Pasque Flower or Prairie Smoke" by unknown author

n.d.

1

26

Writings on botany: "The Snow Trillium or Early Wake-robin" by John N. Martin

n.d.