Special Collections Department: Archival & Manuscript Collections

Lists, Indexes, & Guides

Sources for the History of Agriculture & Rural Life
in the Iowa State University Library

TOWN AND RURAL LIFE

ALBIN CLOTHING STORE. Records, 1897-1898. 1.3 linear feet. MS-433. Clothing store in West Branch, Iowa, owned by M. A. Albin. Records include correspondence, orders, bills, and receipts for the store. Container listed.

ASSOCIATED COUNTRY WOMEN OF THE WORLD. Records, 1960-1994, n.d. 0.42 linear feet. MS-387. The Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) was organized to promote and maintain friendly and helpful relations between the country women's and homemakers' associations of all nations. The collection contains triennial conference proceedings and reports, newsletters, publications, and miscellaneous convention materials.  The collection also includes materials related to the Country Women's Council of the United States of America. Processsed.

BAKER, DR. EDWARD L. Medical Ledger, 1903-1914. 1.41 linear feet. MS-326. Physician in Indianola (Warren County), Iowa. Edward L. Baker was born in Concord, New Hampshire, and came to Iowa in 1856. He served as adjutant-general of Iowa from 1861 to 1871, then received a medical education at Rush Medical College in Chicago and from Louisville [Kentucky] Medical College, graduating from the latter in 1873. Baker began his medical practice in Iowa in 1875. Ledger lists names of patients, dates, brief descriptions of services rendered, and fees charged. Unprocessed.

BESCH, ROBERT E.  PAPERS, 1890-1948, n.d.  0.42 linear feet.  MS-357. Robert E. Besch was the owner of R.E. Besch's Horseshoeing and General Blacksmithing, a firm in Milledgeville, Fayette County, Ohio.  This collection consists of two account books for R.E. Besch Horseshoeing and General Blacksmithing.  A number of loose items, laid in the account book covering the years 1912-1920 are also included.  Processed. 

BROWN, DR. E. C. (?-1920). Medical Day Books, 1893-1920. 1.68 linear feet. MS-127. Physician in Madrid, Iowa. Dr. Ernest C. Brown was born in New York and graduated from the University of Michigan Homeopathic Medical College in 1893. That same year he began a medical practice in Madrid, Iowa, where he practiced until his death in 1920. Day books contain medical records of office visits from and house calls to patients, medications prescribed, and fees charged. Interspersed with the medical records are comments on special days and events in Dr. Brown's life. The collection also includes a notebook containing minutes recording the establishment of the Madrid Library Association on February 22, 1894. Processed.

CARSON, LOUISE A. Family Papers, 1850-1976. .42 linear foot. MS-314. Resident of Burlington, Iowa. Collection contains journals, letters, correspondence, clippings, financial records, and photographs, including materials belonging to Louise A. Carson and her family. The collection includes journals kept by Lucia St. John Cook (1830- ?), a friend of Carson's family. The most significant entries were made in 1850-1851, and describe Cook's travel alone from Farmington, Iowa, to Arkansas to teach. Cook discusses meeting African Americans on her trip, her teaching experiences, and educational differences between the North and the South. Included in the 1894 calendar is a brief biography of Cook. The collection also contains over 100 unidentified photographs, including two tintypes, two cyanotypes, cartes-de-visites, and cabinet cards. The photographs provide excellent documentation of a well-to-do family in Iowa. Processed.

GUNDERSON, HELEN D. (1945- ). Papers, 1900-1995. 17.5 linear feet. RS 21/07/92. Independent photographer, video producer, and regional historian. Helen D. Gunderson, born in Black Hawk County, Iowa, and reared in Pocahontas County, Iowa, received a B.S. from Iowa State University in 1967. She received an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and a master of divinity degree from the San Francisco Theological Seminary. The collection consists of materials from Gunderson's "The Road I Grew Up On" project documenting change in rural Iowa. The project was based primarily on events in Roosevelt and Garfield Townships, Pocahontas County, though it includes material gathered across the state of Iowa. The collection includes approximately fifteen 8mm films, 40 audiotapes, 100 videotapes, 150 photographic negatives, 100 prints, 50 sheets of slides, five scrapbooks, and six land record books from Pocahontas County. The audiotapes consist of oral histories of the Gunderson family (1981) and individuals who lived in the Rolfe, Iowa, area (1990-1995). The videotapes include material transferred from film and direct recordings created by Helen Gunderson (1970-1995) and oral histories and footage of events in Pocahontas County and the state of Iowa from 1989-1995. They include Gunderson's work to produce a video for the Britt Draft Horse Show. The photographic material includes copy negatives and prints from photographs dating to 1900, but is largely original work of Gunderson from 1970-1995. The collection also includes some transcripts of audiotapes and other manuscripts created or collected by Gunderson. Processed.

IOWA LOCAL HISTORY COLLECTION. 11.07 linear feet. MS-080. Collection begun around 1974 containing histories of Iowa communities, churches, industries, and organizations, as well as personal reminiscences. It includes such items as centennial histories, often difficult to obtain once the anniversary celebration is over. The collection is divided into nine categories: churches; cookbooks; counties; farming and related organizations; miscellaneous topics; personal and family reminiscences; railroads; towns; and town histories published as special issues of newspapers. This last category consists of centennial, quasquicentennial, and sesquicentennial editions of local newspapers. Towns and specific newspaper issues include the following: Adel (1847-1972), Algona (1854-1979), Ames (1864-1939), Ames (1864-1964), Ankeny (1875-1975), Arthur (1881-1981), Bayard (1881-1981), Bellevue (1833-1983), Burnside (1856-1981), Cooper (1881-1981), Duncombe (1872-1972), Elkader (1846-1971), Fairfield (1839-1989), Fort Madison (1838-1988), Gladbrook (1880-1980), Gowrie (1870-1970), Harlan (1879-1979), Kalona (1879-1979), Leland (1882-1982), Madrid (1883-1983), Marathon (1883-1983), Marquette (1856-1956), Minden (1875-1975), Newell (1869-1969), Orient (1882-1982), Radcliffe (mid 1980s), Sanborn (1878-1978), Sheffield (1875-1975), Sigourney (1844-1969), South English (1976), Storm Lake (1873-1973), Stratford (1880-1980), Stuart (1870-1970), Thornton (1885-1985), Traer (1873-1973), Tripoli (1880-1980), Underwood (1882-1982), Wapello (1856-1981), and Weldon (1880-1980). Processed.

MANNING, WARREN (1860-1938). Papers, [1882-1930]. 20 linear feet plus 1,853 drawings, plans and blueprints. MS-218. Landscape architect. Warren Manning began his career as a landscape architect working in his father's nursery in Reading, Massachusetts. Although he had no formal training, the knowledge he gained working in the nursery and his fascination with plant materials provided him with a substantial background in the use of plants suited for landscape design. In 1888, he was employed by the firm of Frederick Law Olmstead and John C. Olmstead, landscape architects of Brookline, Massachusetts. While in the Olmstead office he worked on numerous projects, including the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. In 1896, he became an independent landscape designer. He formed a partnership with his brother J. Woodward Manning in 1901. After this partnership dissolved in 1905, Manning continued to practice under his own name. In 1914, he began work on his "National Plan," which culminated in a "National Plan Study Brief," printed in Landscape Architecture, July 1923. The full report, never published, provides views on how state boundaries could be changed to more effectively take advantage of natural land formations and boundaries. Manning's practice continued into the 1930s. The list of his employees includes many key figures in landscape architecture, including Albert D. Taylor, Fletcher Steele, and Dan Kiley. Collection includes material regarding Manning's work on the National Plan, 1,500 glass lantern slides, 7,600 photographs, and 1,853 drawings, plans, and blueprints. The drawings include projects for country estates and other rural developments. Processed.

PEOPLE UNITED FOR RURAL EDUCATION (PURE). Records, 1975-1993. 70.2 linear feet. MS-300. Iowa public interest organization dedicated to preserving local control over rural school districts and maintaining the quality of education offered to rural students. Collection contains correspondence between the officers of PURE, newspaper clippings, legislation and reports on legislation, newsletters, survey results, and membership records. Officers of the organization whose correspondence is represented include Claudia Jones, Joyce Losure, James Jess, and Janet Kinney. Records focus on issues of concern primarily to Iowa, but also relate to chapters of the organization throughout the country. Among the issues documented are the consolidation of rural school districts, whole grade sharing, and the development of fiber optics in the state of Iowa. Unprocessed.

PRAIRIEFIRE RURAL ACTION. Records, 1979-1989. 4.32 linear feet. MS-313. Organization founded in 1985 and based in Des Moines, Iowa. Prairiefire Rural Action seeks to aid Midwestern farmers and their families, and provides advocacy on behalf of farmers. The group organizes educational programs in rural communities to keep children informed about policy issues affecting agriculture, organizes coalitions of rural groups and individuals, and conducts training and educational programs for rural clergy and farm leaders. Collection consists of publications and newsletters from church and agricultural organizations, including Rural America; correspondence with farm leaders and organizations; and documents related to the politics of agriculture in the Midwest. Included are materials from the media and from Iowa political and agricultural groups preparing for the 1988 Presidential Forum on Agriculture and Rural Life. Unprocessed.

SMITH, WARREN ALLEN (1921- ). Oral History, 1987. .21 linear foot. MS-178. Recording studio corporation executive. Warren Allen Smith was born in Minburn, Iowa. He graduated from Minburn High School in 1939 and served in the U.S. Army from 1940 to 1944. Smith received a bachelor's degree from the University of Northern Iowa in 1948 and a master's degree from Columbia University in 1949. He served as chair of the Department of English at the Bentley School in New York City from 1949 to 1954 and then held the same position at New Canaan [Connecticut] High School from 1954 to 1986. In addition to his teaching activities, Smith was president and chair of the board of Variety Sound Corporation in New York City, and was president of Afro-Carib Records and Talent Management. He was on the board of directors of the Bertrand Russell Society and was a member of the American Unitarian Association and the British Humanist Association. He was a signer of the Humanist Manifesto II in 1973. Smith was the book review editor for The Humanist from 1953 to 1958 and also contributed book reviews to Library Journal. Collection consists of a transcript of Smith's reminiscences about individuals, institutions, and social life in the small rural community of Minburn in the 1920s and 1930s. Processed.

TAYLOR FAMILY.  Papers, 1867-1885, n.d.  0.21 linear ft.   MS-428.  In the decade following the Civil War, members of Ellen Taylor's family started to travel west, some of them settling in Iowa including her brother Zachariah Taylor and cousins William H. and Maria C. McKinney. The collection contains letters written to members of the Taylor family from friends and family in Iowa and West Virginia. The letters discuss family news, the trip to Iowa, farm life, and specific events such as holiday celebrations and a church revival.  Processed.

TILDEN/BROWN FAMILY. Papers, 1837-1924, 1947, 1968-1989. .42 linear foot. MS-247. Collection of correspondence written by members of the related Emerson, Cooper, and Tilden families, originally of Rochester, Vermont, and their descendants, the Brown family, of Ames, Iowa. Barna Cooper (1806-1867) was married to Mary Ann Emerson (1820-1851). The Coopers had one daughter, Lydia Ann. The earliest portion of the collection includes correspondence between various members of the Emerson family, as well as letters from Barna Cooper to his daughter while she was away at school. Lydia Ann Cooper (1842-1925) was married in 1867 to George Tilden (1842-1892). George Tilden served in the Civil War and a number of his letters written home during his service are included in the collection. In 1869, George came to Ames, Iowa, on the suggestion of a friend from Rochester, Henry Huntington. He entered into partnership with Huntington and D. A. Bigelow in a mercantile business in Ames called Bigelow, Huntington, and Tilden. George Tilden became the sole owner of the firm in 1883. Letters written by George to his wife Lydia during his trip west and early days in Ames comprise a substantial portion of the collection. The letters describe the scenery, land prices, daily events, and news of other family members who had moved to Iowa. One of George and Lydia Tilden's daughters, Mary (1878-1968), was married to Harry Brown (1876-1967) in 1908, and papers and letters of the Brown family are included in the collection. Processed.