Iowa Women's Archives
INEZ CHRISTEN (1906-1999) PAPERS, 1922-2000
BiographyInez Lucille Chase Christen, born November 26, 1906, was the second of seven children of Willis and Eliza Chase of rural Fayette County. Although active and successful as a student at Volga High School, she left before graduating, finding work as a hired girl at the Probert farm, just across the Volga River from the farm of her parents. She worked for the Proberts from 1926 until her marriage in 1941 to the neighboring farmer, Will Christen. They rented farms before buying a farm in the Elgin area in 1947 where they raised four sons, David, Paul, Glen, and Louis Christen. They retired to Elgin. Inez Christen died August 18, 1999. Scope and Content NoteThe Inez Christen diaries consist of transcripts of diaries that date from 1922 to 1999 and measure 6 linear inches. Glen Christen transcribed the diaries over many years. The original diaries are in his possession. They recount the day by day activities of a hired girl on a northeast Iowa farm during the late 1920s and 1930s. The later diaries detail the daily routines and exceptional events of raising children on a farm in the 1940s and 1950s. They reveal the hard work of a hired girl and farm woman, as well as shopping trips and other entertainments in town and automobile vacations around the state. They also describe frequent socializing with nearby friends and family. World events are occasionally mentioned.
general information | history and mission | collections | reference services | news and events | home For more information about this collection contact the Iowa Women's Archives. Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City IA 52242. Page created June 2005. |
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