The Palimpsest

Opheim, Teresa

English

Portias of the Prairie: Early Women Graduates of the University Law Department

Melvin, John

The Palimpsest 209
Index for 1986
compiled by John Melvin
Aaberg, Herman, 198 
Accidents: railroad, 202-7 (photo of, 206); 
steamboat, 191-92
Agriculture: crops, 170; drought, 170, 
194-201; farm life, 162-72; 
grasshoppers, 172 
Albright, Esther, 147, 159 
Aldrich, Charles, 84, 86 
Allen, Joseph, 196
Allison Memorial Commission, 92-93 
Allvn, Eunice E. Gibbs, 81, 83 
Anderson, H. George, 116-17; photo of, 
117
Anderson, Rasmus B., 128-29 
Architecture, 130, 132-33 
Art: drawing, 118-29; painting, 71, 74; 
sculpture, 71-93. See also Landscape 
architecture
Art Circle (Iowa City), 97 
Ashcraft, Ida Jessup: photo of, 35 
Atkins (Iowa), 53-68 
Baldwin, Madge, 147, 159 
Bannister, Keota Williams, 35 
Bantz, D.J., 204-5 
Barnes, Mrs. Milford, 99 
Barrett, Mrs. (Iowa City), 97
Bauer, Philomena, 146, 159; photo of,
147
Bawden, John, 81-82
Beatrice Creamery Company (Dubuque): 
photo of, 10 
Bechley, F.J., 206-7 
Becker-Hazelton Company (Dubuque): 
photo of, 24
Beers, Amy, 144-48, 155-56, 159 
Bell, Grace Shirley, 147, 159 
Bellevue (Iowa): photo of, 181 
Bennett, Iva, 164
Bethel Church (Woodbury County), 163;
photo of, 169 
Birdsall, E.N., 203-4 
Blank, Dora, 147, 159 
Boal, Theodore D., 81-82 
Bonfield, Elizabeth, 147 
Book, Earl, 204
Bothne, Erling A.: photo of, 106 
Bowman, John, 35
Brandt, Diderikke, 120, 128; illus. of,
121, 128-29
Brandt, Margrethe, 120; illus. of, 121 
Brandt, Nils, 120; illus. of, 121
Bray ton, Emma Louise, 34; photo of, 33 
Bridges. See Railroads 
Buechle’s Meat Market (Dubuque): photo 
of, 27
Capitol grounds (Des Moines), 75-93 
Capper, Arthur, 196
Carson, Mrs. Thompson C.: photo of, 95; 
photo of home, 96
Carter, M erle W right, “Hospital 
Unit R in World War I: Fairfield to 
France, 142-59; biog. of, following 
172; photo of, 145, 159, Sept./Oct. 
cover
Chalfant, Mrs. (Iowa City), 96 
Chapin, Nettie Sanford, 86 
Chicago Browning Club, 95 
Childs, Marquis W.: article about,
174-93; photo of, 176 
C hri sti anson , J.R., Jens Jensen and 
the Prairie School Campus of Luther 
College,’ 130-40; biog. of, following 
140
Civil War: commemoration of, 73-93; 
Iowans in, 80, 90; steamboats, 187,
192
Clark, Bennett “Champ,” 196-97, 199 
Clark, Edmund D., 148, 151 
Clarke, J. Fred, 143-45, 148, 156, 159, 
160-61; photo of, 144 
Clemens, Samuel. See Twain, Mark 
Clergymen s wives, 53-68, 118-29 
Clerical workers: photo of, 15, 16, 21, 22 
Clinton (Iowa), 175, 177-83; photo of, 180 
Clothing. See Costume 
Clubs: Art Circle, 97; Chicago Browning 
Club, 95; Luther College Club 
(Chicago), 133; Luther College 
Women’s Club, 139; Muscatine Ethics 
Club, 35; Nineteenth Century Club, 
29-30, 94; No Name Club, 94-100; 
Quota International, 36; State (Iowa) 
Federation of Women’s Clubs, 97 
Cochran, Roy L., 197; photo of, 196, 198 
Colleges and universities: educational 
radio, 38-52; Luther College, 102-40; 
private midwestern colleges, 104-5, 
107-9; University of Iowa, 38-52; 
women in law school, 28-36 
Combs, Robert, 198 
Connelly, Elizabeth, 147 
Contrex^ville (France), 148, 150-56;
photo or map of, 149, 150, Sept./Oct. 
cover
Corse, John M.: sculpture of, 90-91 
Costume: nursing, 148; rural, 60-61;
social occasion, 155 
Cotton, C.W., 205 
Creamery: photo of, 10 
Cresford [Crisford], John, 205 
Crops. See Agriculture 
Dams, 33; photo of, 193 
Darling, J.N. “Ding”: political cartoon 
by, 200
D.A.R. National Defense Committee, 36 
Davies, Nelle, 147, 152, 159; photo of, 
147, 159
Decorah (Iowa), 109, 111, 122; illus. of, 
July/Aug. cover
Decorah College for Women, 111-12 
Depressions. See Great Depression 
Des Moines (Iowa), 31-32, 93, 194-201; 
photo of, 194-95
Diaries: Graber, Kathryn Olive, 160-61; 
Koren, Elisabeth, 105; Rickels, Mrs. 
G. (Augusta Amalia Anna Schnell), 53, 
61
Dickinson, Lester, 196, 198; photo of,
198
Dorchester and Hughey Sawmill 
(Bellevue), 181 
Drought, 169-72, 194-201 
Drought Conference (Des Moines), 
194-201
Dubuque (Iowa), 2-27 
Dubuque Mattress Factory: photo of, 14 
Duffy, F. Ryan: photo of, 196 
Dunham, C.A., 81, 83 
Dykins, Fanny Ainsworth, 35 
Education: of women, 28-36, 72-73, 
110-13. See also Colleges and 
universities
Ejfie Afton (steamboat), 191-92 
Eggert, Robert, 36
Elder, Mary L., 147, 149, 159; photo of, 
147
Emery, Imogene Benson, 35-36 
Employment: women in Dubuque, 2-27 
E rler , H. Ra p h a e l , Marquis Childs— 
Interpreter of the Mississippi River,” 
174-93; biog. of, following 212 
Ethnicity. See Norwegian-Ainericans 
Eversmeyer, F.W., 35
210 The Palimpsest
Eversmeyer, Louise, 35 
Exploration and settlement, 183-86 
Extension Service, 201 
Factories: photo of, 7-9, 14, Jan./Eel), 
cover
Fairfield (Iowa). 143-46, 158 
Fairfield Ledger, 144, 160-61 
Faris, Barry, 197
Farley, M ary Allison, Iowa Women 
in the Workplace,” 28-36; biog. of, 
following 36
Farwell, Elwin D., 104, 115-16; photo of, 
115
Ferrero, Giovanni, 74 
Floods, 185, 193; photo of, 180 
Folk sayings, 63-64. See also Humor 
Fort McPherson (Georgia), 146 
France, Iowans in World War I, 148-61 
Die Frau Pastor: The Life of a Missouri 
Synod Lutheran Pastor s Wife in the 
First Half of the Twentieth Century 
by Lenore Salvaneschi, 53-68 
Frontier and pioneer life: in Decorah, 
118-29; along Mississippi River,
178-88
Fuller, Frank, 146, 159 
Funk, Iris, 145 
Funerals, 165, 207
Gabbert, Dean, “Hospital Unit R in 
World War I: Fairfield to France,” 
142-59; biog. of, following 172 
Gallup, George, 50 
Gerin, M.F., 207 
Gillette, Guy, 196, 198 
Gjerset, Knut, 110 
Glover Company, H R. (Dubuque): 
photo of, 7
Gore, Thomas, 197; photo of, 198 
Gould, Jay, 192 
Gower, Mrs. (Iowa City), 95 
Gräber, Kathryn Olive, 147, 159, 160-61; 
photo of, 161
Grand Army of the Republic, 80, 93 
Grahl, Charles, 201 
Great Depression: rural life in, 60, 
162-72; Luther College in, 103,
110-11
Greenhalgh, Sarah, 147, 152, 155-56,
159; photo of, 159 
Grese, Robert E., 139-40 
Griffin, John R., 202, 204-5, 207 
Grindal, Gracia, “Linka Preus’ 
Sketches of Iowa,” 118-29; biog. of, 
following 140 
Groom, Frank L., 204 
Gross, H R., 199 
Haddock, Emma, 94 
Haddock, Mary Humphrey, 29
Haddock, William G., 29 
Hammond, William G., 28-29 
Hannibal (Missouri), 176 
Hansen, Anne Marie, 132 
Harlan, Edgar, 90 
Harlan, James, 78, 87, 90 
Harriet Ketcham, Resolute Artist by 
Louise Rosenfield Noun, 70-93 
Harrington, John, 139-40 
Hazen, Hervey, 198 
Henke,'Margaret, 147, 159 
Herrick, John F., 149-50, 159; photo of, 
147
Herring, Clyde, 195-96; photo of, 198
Hickey, Mary, 29
Hicks, Frank, 42
Hicks, Mrs. George, 201
Holidays and celebrations, 59, 127-29,
169
Hopkins, Harry, 196, 199 
Hoskins, Rosetta, 145 
Hosmer, Harriet, 72, 74 
Hospitals: army evacuation, 148, 150-56, 
160-61 (map: Sept./Oct. cover); 
Jefferson County (Fairfield), 143, 145; 
Mahaska County (Oskaloosa), 145-46; 
Ottumwa, 35
Hospital Unit R in World War I:
Fairfield to France” by M erle 
W right Carter and Dean 
Gabbert, 142-59 
Households, 57-62, 71 
Hoxie, Richard, 72 
Hoyt, O.C., 167 
Humboldt (Iowa), .34 
Humor: drought, 196; grasshoppers, 172, 
199; parody of wartime medical unit, 
158; political, 199; political cartoon, 
200; winter, 168. See also Folk sayings 
Hunt, Edmund V., 155, 159 
Hunter, J.D., 80-81 
Illinois Central Railroad, 191, 202-7 
Immigrants, 118, 132, 135-36 
Ingalls, W.W. [W.A.], 205 
An Intellectual Centennial for Iowa City: 
The No Name Club Reaches 100,” 
94-100
Iowa City (Iowa), 32-33, 94-100 
Iowa Code, 28
Iowa, General Assembly of, 75, 78, 86 
“The Iowa Soldiers’ and Sailors
Monument” by Louise Rosenfield 
Noun, 80-93. See also Harriet 
Ketcham, Resolute Artist”
Iowa Women in the Workplace,” by 
M ary Allison Farley, 2-27 
Iowa Women’s Monument Association,
86. See also Clubs
Jacobsen, Jacob D., 135 
James, Lora D., 146, 159 
Jefferson County (Iowa), 143-46 
Jefferson, Thomas, 185 
Jens Jensen and the Prairie School 
Campus of Luther College” by J R. 
Christianson, 130-40 
Jessup, Walter A., 39-41, 46-49; photo of, 
47
Johnson, Francis, 198
Johnston, Clarence, 143-44, 146, 158
Joliet, Louis, 183
Jordahl, Leigh D., Stability and 
Change: Luther College After One 
Hundred Twenty-five Years, 102-17; 
biog. of, following 140 
Judd, Charles, 205-6 
Kennedy, Myrtle Lloyd, 34 
Ketcham, Harriet McDivitt: articles 
about, 70-93; family of, 71, 74; illus. 
of, 70; illus. of monument plan, 75-76, 
80
Klauer, William J., Collection: photos of 
workers in work settings, 2-27 
Klein, Frank, 204 
Klingaman, O.E., 40; photo of, 42 
Koren, Elisabeth, 105, 118-29; photo or 
illus. of, 120-21, 128-29 
Koren, U. Vilhelm, 104-5, 118-29, 134;
photo or illus. of, 120-21, 124-25 
Kraschel, Nelson G., 201 
Krause, Robert, 80-81 
Kuhns, J.H., 205 
LaFollette: Bob, 197 
LaFollette, Phil, 197 
Lambert, Mrs. Byron, 100; photo of, 9< 
Landon, Alfred, 194-201; photo of, 196, 
198
Landscape architecture, 130-40 
Larrabee, Anna (Mrs. William), 90 
Larsen, Laur., 102, 104, 107-8, 127, 129;
photo or illus. of, 105, 126-29 
La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, 
183-84
Latrobe, Lydia, 185 
Lauer, Edward H., 40-50; photo of, 43 
Laundries: photo of, 12, 13 
Lawther Company, William (Dubuque): 
photo of, 9
Lawyer, Mary Louise, 94; biog. of, 
following 100; photo of, 98 
Lawyers and legal education, 28-36 
Leisure: clergyman s family, 53-68; 
frontier, 118-29; lumber barons, 
181-82; rafting crews, 178-80; wartime 
medical unit, 147, 154-56 
Lessenger, Ethel, 147, 149, 152, 159; 
photo of, 159
The Palimpsest 211
Lideen, Clifford S., 49 
Lincoln, Abraham (lawy er for railroads), 
191
Linka Preus Sketches of Iowa by 
Gracia Grindal, 118-29 
Linn County (Iowa), 35 
Livingston, Robert R., 184-85 
Lodwick, B.W., 197-98 
Long, Irma J., The Winter and 
Summer of 1936, 162-72; photo of, 
163-64, 171; biog. of, following 172; 
family, photo of, 162, 164, 171; farm, 
photo of, 170
Lorenz Laundry (Dubuque): photo of, 12 
Louisiana Purehase, 184 
Lukens, John E., 156, 159 
Lumber industry, 178-83. See also 
Rafting
Lusk, Mabel, 147, 152, 159; photo of,
147, 159
Luther College (Decorah): articles about, 
102-40
Luther College Women’s Club 
(Decorah), 139 
Lyons (Iowa), 175 
McCune, Frank L., 205 
McDivitt. See Ketcham, Harriet 
McDivitt
MacDonald, James Wilson, 72-73 
McFadden Coffee and Spice Company 
(Dubuque): photo of, Jan./Feb. cover 
McGee, Mrs. (Iowa City), 97
McGiffin, William J., 159-61; photo of,
161
McGill, George, 196 
McGregor (Iowa), 122; illus. of, 122 
McGuire, Roy A., 156, 159 
McIntyre, Marvin, 198 
MacLean, George, 35 
Mahan, Bruce, 46-47, 49 
Mansfield, Belle, 28 
Marland, Ernest, 197 
Marquette (Iowa): photo of bridge, 191 
Marquette, Jacques, 183 
Marquis Childs—Interpreter of the 
Mississippi River by II. Raphael 
Erler, 174-93
Medical treatment: childbirth, 66-67;
World War I, 150-55, 160-61 
Mekkleston, C.J., 203 
M elvin, John, “Index for 1986,” 209-12;
biog. of, following 212 
Mencken, H.L., 197 
Menth, C.A., 81-83 
Menzer, Carl, 39; photo of, 41, 44 
Mighty Mississippi: Biography of a River: 
article about, 174-93 
Miller, Jimmy, 164
Miller, Ruth, 167 
Miller, Samuel Freeman, 73 
Mills, 32-33, 71. See also Sawmills 
Mills, Clark, 73 
Mills, I D., 204, 206 
Mississippi River, 122; article about, 
174-93; photo or illus. of, 122-23, 
174-93, Nov./Dec. cover 
Mott, Frank Luther, 45, 50 
Murray, M., 94 
Muscatine (Iowa), 35 
The National Drought Conference in 
Des Moines: When FDR and Alf 
Landon Met by Herb Plambeck, 
194-201
Nelson, David T., 104 
New Madrid (Missouri): earthquake, 185 
New Orleans (steamboat), 185 
Newspapers. See Fairfield Ledger 
Nineteenth Century Club (Iowa City), 
29-30, 94
No Name Club (Iowa City): article about, 
94-100. See also Clubs 
Norman, Shelby: sculpture of, 90-91 
Norwegian-Americans, 113-16, 118, 124, 
135-36
Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church 
in America, Synod of the (Norwegian 
Synod), 105, 110, 118 
Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, 
112-14
Noun, Louise Rosenfield, “Harriet 
Ketcham, Resolute Artist, ” 70-79;
“The Iowa Soldiers’ and Sailors’ 
Monument,” 80-93; biog. of, following 
100
Nurses and nursing. See “Hospital Unit R 
in World War I: Fairfield to France,” 
142-59
O’Donnell Sisters (Dubuque): photo of, 5 
Olson, Oscar L., 102-3, 109, 111-12, 138;
photo of, 106, 109 
O’Neil, John, 204
Oneota Valley, 130-34; photo of, 132-133, 
138
Opheim, Teresa, “Portias of the Prairie: 
Early Women Graduates of the 
University Law Department,” 28-36; 
biog. of, following 36 
Orders Misunderstood: An Illinois 
Central Train Wreck at Raymond by 
Fred J. Pierce, 202-7 
Ottumwa Hospital Association 
(Ottumwa), 35 
Park, Guy, 197 
Pelzer, Louis, 50
Personal narratives: drought conference, 
194-201; Great Depression, 162-72,
194-201; nursing in World War I, 
142-59. See also Clergymen s wives 
Petersen, Hjalmar, 197 
Pierce, FredJ., “Orders
Misunderstood: An Illinois Central 
Train Wreck at Raymond, 202-7; 
biog. of, following 212 
Piper, Edwin Ford, 42 
Pittman, Von V., j r ., “Station WSUI 
and the Early Days of Instructional 
Radio,’ 38-52; biog. of, following 68 
Plambeck, Herb, “The National
Drought Conference in Des Moines: 
When FDR and Alf Landon Met, 
194-201; biog. of, following 212 
Portias of the Prairie: Early Women 
Graduates of the University Law 
Department” by Teresa Opheim, 
28-36
Prairie, 130-40
Prairie School (design), 130-40 
Prentiss, Lue, 175 
Preus, Christian Keyser, 102, 108, 
119-20, 127; photo or illus. of, 107, 
120, 134
Preus, Herman, 118-29; illus. of, 121-23, 
125-126
Preus, Linka Keyser, 118-29; illus. of or 
by, 118-29
Preus, O.J.H., 103, 111; photo of, 111 
Preus, Paul Aretander, 129 
Preus, Rosina, 119-20, 122; illus. of, 123 
Price, Nelly Peery: photo of, 34 
Prichard, Edith Prouty, 34-35 
Print shop: photo of, 10 
Prohibition laws, 179 
Prouty, James Nathaniel, 34 
“Public and Private Words from Unit R, 
160-61
Qualley, O.W., 114; photo of, 114 
Quinlan, Tom, 203-5 
Quota International, 36 
Radio: in education, 38-52, 64; reporting, 
194-201
Rafting: near McGregor, 122-23; crews, 
178-80; photo of, 174, 178-79, 182, 
186, Nov./Dec. cover 
Railroads: accidents, 202-7 (photo of,
206); advertisement, 190; bridges, 
191-92, (photo of, 191); development 
of, 71, 190-91; steamboat competition, 
188-92; locomotives, 207 
Raymond (Iowa), 202-7 
Raymond, William, 39-43; photo of, 40,
44
Ream, Vinnie, 72-74
Red Cross, American, 143, 145-46, 154
Religion, .53-68, 105-17, 207
212 The Palimpsest
Remington Company (Dubuque): photo 
of, 22
Reminiscences. See Personal narratives 
Renneker, Claud, 165 
Reporters and reporting, 194-201 
Richards, A.W., 81-82 
Rickels, Gesche: photo of, 61 
Rickels, Lenore. See Salvaneschi, 
Lenore
Rickels, Mrs. G. (Augusta Amalia Anna 
Schnell), 53-68; photo of, 54, 56-67 
Rickels, Rev. G. (Gerdjanssen), 53-68; 
photo of, 64
Rickels, Robert: photo of, 61-62 
Rickels, Ruth: photo of, 61, 65 
Ricketts, W.H., 204 
Roberts, Roy, 197 
Rockwell City (Iowa), 53-68 
Rohl-Smith, Carl, 77-79, 87, 90, 93; 
photo of, 85
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 194-201;
photo of, 195-96, 198 
Roosevelt, Nicholas, 185 
Ross, Albert, 81, 83
Ruprecht brothers Company (Dubuque): 
photo of, 4
Rural electrification, 201 
Rural life, 53-68, 162-72 
Salvaneschi, Lenore, "Die Frau 
Pastor: The Life of a Missouri Synod 
Lutheran Pastor’s Wife in the First 
Half of the Twentieth Century, ”
53-68; biog. of, following 68; photo of, 
58-61
Sanders, Mary Terrell, 32-33 
Savery, Anna Nowlin, 29-32 
Sawmills, 180; photo of, 181 
Schillerstrom, Curtis G., 159-61 
Schools, rural, 164-65; photo of, 168. See 
also Education 
Scott, Mrs. John, 90 
Scott, Winifred, 94 
Seamstresses: photo of, 6-7, 15 
Seashore, Carl, 46-47; photo of invention, 
50
Sectionalism, 186-92 
Shelley, Jack, 199 
Shimek, Bohumil, 50-51 
Shipstead, Henrik: photo of, 198 
Shreve, Henry M., 185, 191 
Simmons, Franklin, 74
Smith, Earl, 164 
Smith, Roy, 198
Snowstorms, 163-68; photos of, 162, 166 
Spencer, Robert C., Jr., 133 
“Stability and Change: Luther College 
After One Hundred Twenty-five 
Years by Leigh D. Jordahl, 102-17 
“Station WSUI and the Early Days of 
Instructional Radio by Von V. 
Pittman, jr., 38-52
Steamboats, 185-92; advertisement, 189;
photo of, 186, 188, Nov./Dec. cover 
Stebbins, Emma, 72 
Stickney, E.L., 204 
Stoneman, Fred J., 204-7 
Stores and shops: photo of, 2-6, 16, 23-27 
Suffrage: See Women 
Sullivan, Louis, 130, 133 
Swift, Agnes, 147, 156, 159 
Teachout, Harold, 198 
Terrell s Mill (Iowa city), 32-33 
Thomas, Elmer, 197 
Thompson, A.S., 205 
Thompson, Elsie, 147, 156, 159 
Thorson, Ivar A.: photo of, 106 
Tjernagel, Helge M.: photo of, 106 
Tomlinson s custom dress shop 
(Dubuque): photo of, 6 
Torrison: George A., 133; I.B., 133;
Oscar M., 133
Transportation: in blizzards, 164-68; 
ferry, 122; raft, 122-23; railroad, 150, 
188-92, 202-7; transatlantic, 148-49, 
156-57; stagecoach and wagon, 124; 
steamboat, 185-92 
Troth, Mira, 97 
Trout, Robert, 197
Truman, Harry S, 196, 199; photo of, 198 
Tugwell, Rexford, 196, 199 
Turner, Frederick Jackson, 186, 193 
Twain, Mark, 175-76, 187, 193 
Unit R: article about, 142-59 
University of Iowa: educational radio, 
38-52; engineering, 39; Extension 
Division (Division of Continuing 
Education), 40-52; Law Department, 
28-36
Upper Iowa River: photo of, 132 
Van Dyke, Eva Bell, 146, 156, 159; photo 
of, 147
Van Evera, Grace, 147, 156, 159
Wages: of women, 2-27; lumber industry, 
178-79
Waggoner, Mabel Eggert, 36 
Wallace, Henry A., 196, 199 
Waring, Elliott, 81-82 
Washington Prairie (Iowa), 119 
Waterloo (Iowa), 207 
Weather, 162-72, 194-201 
Weber, Grace Burge, 96 
Weed, Cora, 90, 93 
Weitz, Alice Carey, 199 
Weller, L.H., 39, 41-42 
Wendell, A.E., 198 
Whitaker, Bess, 147, 156, 159 
Whitlock, Olive, 147, 156, 159 
Wilkinson, Mary Hickey, 28 
Williams, Burn, 35 
Williams, Helen, 42-45, 48, 52 
Williams, Keota. See Bannister, Keota 
Williams
Williams, Morris J., 35 
Wilmot, Woody, 164 
Wilson, George, 197 
Wilson, Jennie, 34
Winslow (fictional Iowa town), 11 « -83 
“The Winter and Summer of 1936’ by 
Irma J. Long, 162-72 
Wittenmyer, Annie, 90 
Women: attitudes (1870s-1880s), < l-<2; 
education of, 28-36; employment of, 
2-27, 142-49; suffrage movement, 
31-32, 34. See also Clubs 
Women’s Christian Temperance Union, 
34
Woodbury County (Iowa), 162-72 
World War I: Luther College and
(photo), 108; medical unit, 142-59; No 
Name Club and, 98 
World War II, 113 
Wright (Iowa), 145 
Wright, Frank Lloyd, 130 
Wright, Merle. See Carter, M erle 
W right
WSUI (WHAA), 38-52; photo of, 38 
Yates, George, 197 
Ylvisaker, J.W., 114, photo of, 113 
Zillig’s Drug Store, Adam (Dubuque): 
photo of, 25
Zwart, Elizabeth Clarkson, 201


Index for 1986

160 T h e  P a l i m p s e s t
Public and Private Words
from Unit R
Other members of Unit R recorded their imme­
diate impressions of wartime France. Kathryn 
Olive Graber, from Burlington, kept a diary 
while at Contrexéville. Curtis Schillerstrom, J. 
Fred Clarke, and William J. McGiffin, all from 
Fairfield, sent letters home that were printed in 
the Fairfield Ledger on the dates shown. The 
following excerpts reveal the build-up of the war 
and the increasing numbers of patients at Con­
trexéville. (Alterations in spelling and punctua­
tion have been made in the diary excerpts.)
— Editor
Kathryn Olive Graber. March 24, 1918. Worked 
all day at the Cosmopolitan Hospital. Assisted 
Capt. Martin and Dr. Walker with dressing for 
burns and wounds. The boys are badly burned
* j
with mustard gas. Eyes and body all over. Our 1st 
American funeral, one boy from Ohio died. . . .
William J. McGiffin. April 17, 1918. When you 
pass, as we did, through miles of fields dotted
with graves over which the tri-color of France 
was floating, you have serious thoughts, believe 
me. And then again the first night out we had the 
real side of the whole business. We were (cen­
sored). Probably the next time we see anything 
like this we will be more interested in hunting 
cover than we will watching the scenery.
Kathryn Olive Graber. April 30, 1918. Several ol 
my patients left for the trenches. Hated to see 
them go. My hrs. off— gathered wild flowers, 
Miss Lusk, Davis and I and sent [them] to our 
soldiers graves. Brewer, the sergeant of our hos­
pital. met me at the cemetery, to fill up the graves 
of American soldiers. . . .
J. Fred Clarke. June 5, 1918. Of course when a 
Red Cross train comes and fills our wards with 
disabled men, the inside of the hospitals is not 
like peaceful Iowa. But outside the flowers bloom 
and the skylark mounts to as great heights and 
the moonlight floods the bath house colonade,
just as though the world were not disorga­
nized. . . .
It is forbidden that I write of our work in the 
hospitals. Of course you know that when I speak 
of flowers and birds, these are seen in the 
between times. The flesh torn by shells, the eyes 
blinded with gas, these things are our daily care 
and to give each soldier our best labors is our 
ambition.
Kathryn Olive Gräber. June 28, 1918. At Bac­
carat [on volunteer duty in front-line tent hospi­
tals] was in an air raid. The Germans dropped 8 
bombs and had a large machine gun on airplane. 
The machine was about 100 feet above our place 
of sleeping. Miss McDonald was head of the 
evacuation hospital. She was wounded in an air 
raid with the British service. Had one eye lost by 
shrapnel. Was there from Monday until Sat. and 
worked 12 hrs. a day. Was very tired. But was glad 
to do what I could for the boys. Came home June 
29. Went to church Sunday a.m. and on duty 
. p in. at the Cosmopolitan Hospital.
W illiam J. NlcGiffin. July 17, 1918. We are fairly 
ousy in the hospitals now, although we are not 
filled to entire capacity. Quite a number of Amer­
ican boys and I meet lots of Iowa fellows. I have 
seen three Fairfield boys here and in a neighbor­
ing town. . . . We have some Tommies and yester­
day morning a dozen German prisoners, 
wounded, came in. Poor fellows, I really felt 
sorry for them, for they were so young and looked 
so forlorn. They had been told by their officers
Kathryn Olive Graher (left) kept a 
diary while serving as a Unit R 
nurse in Contrexéville. The diary 
and photograph of the cemetery 
were parí of materials donated by 
her family to the Manuscript Col­
lection of the State Historical Soci­
ety. William J. McGiffln (right) 
was a first sergeant in Unit R His 
letters often appeared in the 1918 
Fairfield Ledger, in which he was 
listed as the "junior editor. ”(SHSI)
T h e  Pa l im p s e s t  161
that they would be killed if captured and they 
looked as if they were expecting that event almost 
any minute. One boy had been in the trenches 
but [only] one day when he was taken. He was 
shot through the jaw and part of his tongue was 
torn awav.
Curtis Schillerstrom. September 11, 1918. We
have received perhaps over a thousand patients
in the last week and many of them were in critical✓
condition. Some have passed on to their great 
reward, others are in such a bad shape that we are 
expecting them to pass on to Blighty. . . .  I 
thought before I came in contact with it, that I 
could understand their suffering and their brave­
ness through it all, but it is beyond me. I don’t 
see how it is possible for a mere man to suffer so.
Kathryn Olive Graber. [Date uncertain.] All
through August, Sept, and Oct. did nothing but 
dressings. Always having more than 150 patients 
and mostly boys from the New England states. I 
had nothing to begin with, only army cots and a 
box for my surgical table.
William J. McGiffln. October 23, 1918. Just now 
the guns are booming to the north of us on the St. 
Mihiel salient, and from all appearances Amer­
icas initial big drive is under way in good shape. I 
can see plainer than ever before that Iowa turkey 
which must suffer at my hands on Christmas day, 
1918. I can hardlv wait, for it seems so close.


Public and Private Words from Unit R

Jordahl, Leigh D

Stability and Change: Luther College After One Hundred Twenty-Five Years

An Intellectual Centennial for Iowa City
The No Name Club Reaches 100
Editor's Note: This article is based primarily 
upon a paper by Mary Louise Lawyer deliv­
ered to the members of the N.N. Club in 1961. 
The occasion was the seventy-fifth anniver- 
smy of the founding of the club. The Lawyer 
paper was revised and updated by members of 
the State Historical Society of Iowa's publica­
tions staff with generous help and support 
from the club's current historian, Winifred 
Scott.
This year, 1986, marks the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the No 
Name Club, Iowa City s second oldest literary 
society. Only the Nineteenth Century Club 
has had a longer continuous existence. In its 
origins, the No Name (>lub might be said to 
have been a by-product of the Civil War, which 
produced great changes in the lives of many 
American women. Forced out of their domes­
tic tranquility” by manpower shortages during 
the war into fields and areas not previously 
entered by women, many women in the post­
war era desired more out of life generally.
A woman’s congress convened in New York 
City in 1868 had brought together leading edu­
cators and professional women from through­
out the United States. They had urged 
systematic study for all women, suggesting 
joint efforts rather than individual study. Thus 
was the idea of women’s clubs born.
After this congress, similar ones were held 
annually in various large cities of the United 
States and, in 1885, one took place in Des 
Moines. Attending this congress was a promi-
© State Historical Society of Iowa 1986 0031—0360/86/0506— 
0094 $1.00
nent Iowa City woman, Mrs. Emma Haddock 
(the first woman ever admitted to practice in 
the United States courts). Upon her return 
from Des Moines, Mrs. Haddock was full of 
enthusiasm for the creation of a new club in
Iowa Citv — the Nineteenth Century Club had
¥ ¥
been organized three years earlier.
Thus in February 1886, Mrs Haddock and 
twelve of her friends organized a new club for 
“mutual improvement and the study of history 
and literature.’ That first year, under the pres­
idency of Miss M. Murray, they met spas­
modically, engaging in a study of early
N.N. CLUB
100th Anniversary 
1886 -  1986
IOWA CITY, IOWA 
1985 - 1986
The Palimpsest 95
Mrs. Thomas C. Carson, in whose home the N.N. 
Club teas first proposed in 1886. (SIISI)
American women writers. A new president, 
Mrs. Gower, was elected in July 1886, and in 
December of that year there was much discus­
sion over the naming of the club. Mrs. Had­
dock preferred the name “Sigourney Club to 
honor a well-known woman poet of the mid­
nineteenth century but her motion to that
*
effect was defeated. Another motion called for 
the club to be named the “New Nineteenth 
Century,” but that one lost as well. No decision 
was reached on the name at the January 1887 
meeting but, on 1 February 1887, it was
The first printed program appeared in 1887.Its fly-leaf contained “Rules for guidance 
and help to new clubs, which had been laid 
down by the Chicago Browning Club. They 
appeared in the 1888 program as follows:
1 — Aim to study, not create, liter­
ature.
2 — Avoid red tape and parliamentary 
slang.
3 — Let but one talk at a time and that 
one, to the matter in hand.
4 — Start no side conferences; whisper­
ing is poor wisdom, and bad 
manners.
5 — Come prepared. Let the work be 
laid out systematically, in delib­
erate course of reading and 
study.
6 — Let papers be short. Beware of 
long quotations. “Brevity is the 
soul of wit. ”
7 — Be as willing to expose ignorance as 
to parade knowledge.
8 — Aim not to exhaust, but to open the
theme. Incite curiosity. Provoke
*
home reading.
9 — Begin and close to the minute.
10 — Meet all discouragements with grit 
and industry. Rise superior to 
numbers; for the kingdom of 
culture, like the kingdom of 
God, comes without observa­
tions.
Also in this 1888 document appeared the pro­
gram order which was to be followed for many
vears:✓
History . . . Thirtv minutes.
Conversation . . . Fifteen minutes.
Literarv . . . Thirtv minutes.
decided unanimously to call it the “N.N. (No 
Name) Club, which was supposedly taken 
from Jules Verne’s “Nemo.”
96 T he Palimpsest
/ he I homas C. ('arson home, 906 East College Street, Iowa City, Iowa. It was built around 1870 and is 
now the Alpha Phi sorority house. (SIISI)
Quotations from Literary Subject of the Day 
. . .Ten minutes.
Conversation . . . Fifteen minutes.
I he history papers of the first year dealt with 
the United States presidential administrations 
beginning with Washington’s and running 
through that of Cleveland. The literary papers 
took up the lives and works of English and 
American writers, including Helen Hunt Jack- 
son, Bayard Taylor, Tennyson, Elizabeth 
Stuart Phelps, the Brownings, Carlyle, and 
George Eliot. In addition, special papers were 
presented on the “Higher Education of Girls, ” 
the History of Woman’s Advancement in this 
Century, Home Duties and Literary Cul­
ture, and Edison, Contribution to Applied
Sciences.”
Mrs. Chalfant, a charter member, presented 
the club with a gavel and she requested that the 
retiring president hand it over to her successor 
at the opening fill meeting of each year. She 
suggested that the “custom . . .  be continued 
as long as the club exists. Apparently the club 
survived the gavel, for later club minutes fre­
quently stated that “the imaginary gavel was 
handed to the new president by the former 
one. (Recently, Irving Weber, noted Iowa 
City columnist and historian, presented to the 
N.N. Club members a gavel which had a note 
attached indicating that it had been given to 
Mrs. Edward H. (Grace Burge) Weber when 
she was president of the club in 1925. it may 
well have been the “imaginary” gavel.)
T he Palimpsest 97
any rules were set up in those early clays 
and some of them are still observed:
Members shall draw for their papers 
at the annual business meeting.
Only the hostess and program 
reader may invite guests.
N.N. has precedence over any other 
engagement.
Absences should be excused — only
illness and absence from town 
constitute legitimate excuses.
Rules and regulations shall be read 
at the first meeting of the year for 
the benefit of new members.
in the center is Mrs. Byron Lambert, a member of 
the N.N. Club, who became very involved in the 
Bundles for Britain program during the Second 
World War. (SHSl)
For a time a fine of $.25 was levied for an 
unexcused absence and $.05 was levied for 
tardiness. The minutes recorded names of 
absentees and their excuses, and sometimes 
stated that those with unexcused absences 
might well forfeit membership. During the 
1890s, Miss Mira Troth was repeatedly elected 
secretary. Her minutes were invariably intro­
duced in the same piquant fashion. She always 
wrote "Pursuant to adjournment N.N. Club 
met at the home of Mrs.____" The desig­
nated “conversation on each topic sometimes 
strayed from the subject, which led a Mrs. Bar­
rett, wife of the Presbyterian minister, to sug­
gest at one point that a set of questions 
pertaining to the subsequent program be 
handed to members for study and thus allow 
them to prepare for real discussion. A later 
innovation was the appointment of a referee as 
an authority on pronunciation. The term of 
appointment was for five meetings and the ref­
eree was actually required to give a report at 
the end of each meeting.
In 1893 three women were appointed to 
draw up a constitution. The document which 
they drew up has been seldom amended and 
basically remains in use to this day. The three 
members were Mrs. Haddock and Mrs. Bar­
rett, founding spirits of the N.N. Club, and a 
Mrs. McGee. In that same year, 1893, the club 
joined the newly organized State Federation of 
Women’s Clubs, having sent delegates to Des 
Moines for the federation s first meeting. The 
connection with the Iowa Federation of 
Women s Clubs lasted until 6 October 1942 
when the N.N. Club withdrew its membership 
in that organization.
By 1901 there was some talk of enlarging the 
membership which had been initially set at 
twenty-five. Since in the average home of the 
time one could not entertain more than that 
number, the group decided instead to sponsor 
a new club — the “Art Circle“ which still exists 
and which recently celebrated its eighty-fifth 
anniversary.
98 T he Palimpsest
W hile the literary programs continued in much the same form throughout the 
early years of the twentieth century, the histor­
ical papers dealt with a variety of topics such as 
civil service reform, conditions relating to child 
labor laws and to the wages of women workers, 
and to such statewide programs as “child sav­
ing, the care of the aged poor, [and] the care of 
defectives and tramps.
Over the years members of the N.N. Club 
took a decided interest in bettering local condi­
tions. In the early years of the century they 
subscribed to scholarship and loan funds, 
passed resolutions approving the election of 
women to the school board, and established 
committees to be sent to Iowa City grade 
schools to investigate conveniences for the 
children. One committee was sent to the 
mayor of Iowa City to discuss the care of 
Oakland Cemetery. The mayor agreed that 
some organization should be created for main­
taining the cemetery, so, with representatives 
from the N.N. Club and from other women’s 
clubs, the Improvement League was formed
which looked after the cemetery and took care
«■
of its needs until the city took over the respon­
sibility for perpetual care.
The minutes of 1914 made first mention of an 
annual guest day with an outside speaker. Out­
side speakers for some years thereafter were 
drawn from the English or history departments
of the State University.✓
The war years certainly changed things for 
the club. The program for 1917, for example, 
called for a study of Russian literature but in 
the midst of the war, members were asked to 
read from books on Russia rather than deliver 
papers and the listeners were urged to work on 
sewing or knitting for the Red Cross during the 
reading. Prior to that time, handwork had been 
frowned upon as diverting attention from the 
presentations.
By 1917 much was being done by the club to 
aid war work. At one point $5.00 per member 
over and above dues were assessed for Near
Mary Louise Lawyer, whose paper entitled “Our 
Seventy-fifth summed up the history and achieve­
ments of the N.N. Club through 1961. (SHS1)
East Relief. Similar assessments took care of an 
Armenian orphan or paid for soldiers’ magazine 
subscriptions. Nor was local philanthropy for­
gotten. Frequently members answered roll 
call by reporting the number of towels hem­
med by the Iowa blind which they wished to 
purchase. This was a statewide federation pro­
ject.
By 1921 the hostess at each meeting was 
allowed to serve something in the way of sim­
ple refreshments. The question of light 
refreshments at the meetings had arisen as 
early as 1893 but had been apparently left 
unresolved. The added socializing added to the 
enjoyment of the club’s membership which
The Palimpsest 99
was made up of faculty wives and townswomen 
from various parts of town and from different 
churches who seldom met together except at 
the N.N. Club.
A long continued custom was the annual 
spring dinner at which husbands of the mem­
bers were guests. In 1929 such a dinner was 
held at the home of Professor and Mrs. Rollin 
Perkins. Since it was in May preceding the 
selection of presidential candidates, a straw 
vote was taken, which indicated rather clearlv
j
the political leanings of the members. Twenty 
votes were cast for Hoover, ten for Lowden, 
five for Dawes, two for Al Smith, and one for an 
unidentified husband. At the club meeting fol­
lowing the November election that year, the
roll call was answered by stating whether or not 
members had voted. One hundred percent of 
the members indicated they had been to the 
polls.
The job of the Program Committee had once 
been formidable. They had originally pre­
sented planned programs for approval which 
were often severely criticized by the club 
members and sometimes given back to the 
committee to be revised (often more than 
once). In 1935, when Mrs. Milford Barnes was 
chairman of the Program Committee, a pro­
gram based on biographical study was ap­
proved, and that general pattern has been 
followed to the present day. It has proved to be 
a varied and well balanced approach for in the
•VA. Club, 1985-1986: (top row) Jean Brown. Jackie Knapp. June Wurster, Edna Crawford. Beverly Blades, Mary 
Frances Ramsey. Ann Bagford, Leota Bice, Jean Ann Goff, Sue Rollins, Marilyn Osborne, Carol Lack; (middle row) 
Harriett Carpenter, Maude Rate, Margaret Erbe, Mary Top, Marcty Fisher, Joan Summerwill, Betty Fernandez, 
\ elma Stuit, Mirriel Bedell(front row) Merri Rowden, Doric Schultheiss, Darlyne Neff, Donna Epley, Margaret 
Kennedy, YV innie Scott; (not pictured) Aileen Zopf. Sue Handier. Mary Hale, Shirley Binnety. (courtesy Winifred
Scott)
100 T he Palimpsest
biographies of great and sometimes not-so- 
great men and women the members have 
learned much of literature, art, history, music, 
science, medicine, religion, and diplomacy.
During the Second World War, as in the 
First World War, members were not just con­
cerned with literary study. Minutes of wartime 
meetings show that the club served as a recruit­
ing ground for members who could do Red 
Cross surgical dressings or serve as hostesses in 
the local U.S.O. The club was proud and grati­
fied when one of its members, Mrs. Byron 
Lambert, received recognition from the Brit­
ish government for her work in the “Bundles 
for Britain campaign.
T he club over the years has included in its ranks a number of academic wives. The 
membership, however, has retained a surpris­
ing stability. Though occasionally wives accom­
panying their husbands on leave requested 
club leave and resignations came from women 
departing Iowa City for other climes, the turn­
over has not been great. The last new members 
(two) were taken into the club in 1983. Of the
twentv-five current members of the club, sev-
✓
enteen became members between 1970 and 
1980. The oldest active member became a 
member in 1954. Eight honorary members are 
included on the present membership rolls of 
the club. (Members of long standing are ele­
vated to honorary membership, a status which 
exempts them from the formal presentation of 
papers. It should be noted, however, that the 
status exempts but does not prevent honorary 
members from active participation in the club. 
At least one paper was presented in the past 
year by an honorary member.)
The programs over the years have become 
more pointed as the biographical review has 
given more focus to the meetings. In recent 
years there has been perhaps a greater empha­
sis on contemporary figures but the spectrum 
of interests (business, literature, science, pol­
itics, history, etc.) has remained a broad one.
A nything one hundred years old might be considered an antique, yet age alone is not 
always a sufficient basis for a valid judgment. 
For an old piece of furniture to be classed as a 
true antique, it must have beauty of line and in 
addition should be of practical use. If clubs can 
be judged as chairs are judged, the N.N. Club 
is a real antique. Its history indicates it was 
built on good lines and that those lines have 
been maintained throughout the years. As to 
its practical use, in the early days it stimulated 
members to develop their minds by reading 
and study — and the goal of mental stimulation 
has been continuously present. For the women 
of the N.N. Club, "canned ’ amusements will 
never be a satisfactory substitute for the plea­
sures derived from an association of vibrant 
women devoted to "mutual improvement and 
the studv of history and literature.” D
Note on Sources
The sources for this article included the minute books of 
the N.N. Club, club programs, reports by club histo­
rians, and conversations with Winifred Scott, the club s 
current historian. The bulk of the N.N. Club materials 
are found in the manuscripts collection of the State His­
torical Society of Iowa in Iowa City. The prime source for 
the first seventy-five years of the club remains the Mary 
Louise Lawyer paper delivered in 1961.


Not a member yet

Portias of the Prairie: Early Women Graduates of the University Law Department

Index for 1986

Public and Private Words from Unit R

Stability and Change: Luther College After One Hundred Twenty-Five Years

An Intellectual Centennial for Iowa City: The No Name Club Reaches 100

The Palimpsest, vol.67 no.6, November-December 1986

Jens Jensen and the Prairie School Campus of Luther College

The National Drought Conference in Des Moines: When FDR and Alf Landon Met

The Palimpsest, vol.67 no.2, March-April 1986

Hospital Unit R in World War I: Fairfield to France

2,796

4,035