IOWA
WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY
OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA
CITY, IOWA
MARGARET DAVIS COLLISON
(1921- )
PAPERS,
1937-1990
(bulk
1970-1985)
3.5
linear feet
and
audiovisual material
ACQUISITION: The papers (donor no. 140) were donated byMargaret Davis
Collison in 1993.
ACCESS: The papers are open for research.
AUDIOVISUAL: Two audiocassettes shelved in
audiocassette collection (AC119-AC120).
COPYRIGHT:
Copyright has been
transferred to the University of Iowa.
PHOTOGRAPHS: In box 7.
PROCESSED
BY: Stuart Hinds, 1993
and Kirsten Clark, 1994.
Biography
Margaret Davis Collison, a Democratic party
activist and member of the Iowa Board of Regents in the 1970s, was born in
Missouri, the daughter of F.W. Davis. Collison received an Associate of Arts
degree from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri in 1940, and a B.S. in
Nursing from Saint Louis University in 1943. It was here she met Robert M.
Collison, and the two were married in 1943. The raised eleven children, in
Oskaloosa Iowa, where the Collisons continue to reside.
Margaret Collison was chosen to sit on the Iowa
Board of Regents in 1971. This body governs the University of Iowa, Iowa State
University, the University of Northern Iowa, the Iowa School for the Deaf, and
the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School. During her tenure on the Board,
Collison dealt with many issues concerning each of these institutions, from dormitory
and dining provision to hiring administrators to collective bargaining for
faculty. Her term ended in 1977.
Collison was active politically and socially as
well. She was a member of the League of Women Voters of Iowa; the Board of
Directors of the Oskaloosa Retirement Homes, Inc.; the Festival Guild of Ames,
Iowa; and the Board of Curators of Stephens College. She was actively involved
in Roxanne Conlin's unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign of 1982 as a
coordinator of polling volunteers. She worked on an oral history project,
"Conversations with Three Women of the Heartland", a documentary of
the lives of Mary Louise Smith, Dora Wilson, and Bernadine Pieper. Collison
also attended and participated in numerous conferences, including "Iowa in
the World Economy", "The Way Up" #I & II, "Racism: A
Women's Issue", and "Building Math Confidence".
Scope and Content Note
The Margaret Davis Collison papers measure 3.5
linear feet and date from 1937 to 1990. The papers are divided into three
series: Personal, Board of Regents, and Political. The bulk of the papers
document the issues occurring during Collison's tenure on the Iowa Board of
Regents.
The Personal series (1937-1989) contains incoming
and outgoing correspondence, newspaper clippings relating Collison's family and
personal life, and several photographs. Also included are subject files
detailing a large portion of Collison's non-regential activities, including
conferences she was involved in and boards on which she served.
The Board of Regents series (1970-1981) consists of
incoming and outgoing correspondence and of subject files which outline topics
addressed by the Board. Papers concerning important issues dealt with during
Collison's tenure including collective bargaining, credit by examination,
dormitory and dining services, equal employment opportunity, and the Iowa
Braille and Sight Saving School can be found in this series.
The Political series (1966-1982) is made up of materials
concerning Collison's political activity, the bulk consisting of items from the
Roxanne Conlin gubernatorial campaign. These provide an interesting contrast to
the Roxanne Conlin papers (also held by the Iowa Women's Archives), in that
they present detailed activities of the people who performed the laborious work
of the campaign, as opposed to the more formal materials of the candidate
herself.
Box no.
Description
Box
1
Personal
Correspondence, 1962-1989 and undated
Newspaper clippings, 1971-1972, 1974, 1988
and undated
Subject files
Advisory Board, College
of Home Economics, Iowa State University,
1978-79 and undated
Arts events, 1972-1975
and undated
Building Math Confidence
Workshop, 1984, 1988
Carter Administration and
the E.R.A., 1979
Church newsletters and
articles, 1970-1972, 1990
Citizens and Neighbors of
C Ave. East, 1978 and undated
"Conversations with
Three Women of the Heartland" Oral History Project
1986
Undated
Audiocassettes [shelved in audiocassette collection]
Conversation with Dora Wilson (incomplete), undated (AC
119)
Conversation with Myrtle Elwood, undated
(AC 120 with microcassette)
Creighton University
Annual Commencement, 1977
Diocese of Davenport,
1971, 1981, 1983, 1986 and undated
Festival Guild, Ames
International Orchestra Festival Association
1972-1973
1972-1973
Iowa Commission on the
Status of Women, 1974-1975
Box
2
Iowa Humanities Board,
1982, 1986 and undated
Iowa in the World Economy
Conference, 1984
Oskaloosa Retirement
Homes, Inc., 1977 and undated
Presidential Agenda
Project, 1989
"Racism: A Women's
Issue" Conference, 1985
Resume and family
information, undated
St. Louis University
School of Nursing Research Day, 1983
Stephens College
1939, 1975-1989 and undated
Notebook, undated
The Way Up (I and II)
conferences, 1983-1984
Board of Regents
Correspondence, 1971-1972, 1975-1976
and undated
Scrapbook, 1972-1979 [oversize: in box 8]
Subject files
Academic Building Revenue
Bonds, 1972-1974
Academic Planning
Seminar, 1976
Affirmative Action 1972
and undated
A.G.B. Questionnaire for
Self-Study, 1977
Alcohol policy on campus,
1972 and undated
Auditors' Reports
1971-1972
1975
Board of Regents--role,
description, directory, 1971-1973,
1981
and undated
Budget, 1974-1975, 1977
Burge Hall, University of
Iowa, 1972
Box
3
Collective Bargaining
1973, 1975-1976
1977
and undated
College of Criminal
Justice Proposal, 1972
College of Engineering,
Iowa State University, 1976
College of Medicine,
University of Iowa
1970-1971
1971
1972-1973
1973
1974-1975
1976
1976-1977
College of Veterinary
Medicine, Iowa State University, 1971-1972, 1976
Committee on Education of
the Multiply-Handicapped, 1971
Continuing and extension
education
1970
1975
Box
4
Continuing education
1971-1972
1973-1976 and undated
Council for Agricultural
Science and Technology Conference, 1976
Credit by examination,
1972-1973
Degree programs offered,
1971
Discrimination on campus,
1972
Dormitory and dining
services
1971-1972
1973-1975
Newspaper clippings, 1973, 1975 and undated
Education Commission of
the States, 1977
Employment relations,
1975 and undated
Equal Employment
Opportunity
1971-1973
1975
Newspaper clippings, 1973 and undated
Equality of women
General, 1972, 1974-75 and undated
Newspaper clippings, 1973-1974, 1976 and undated
Extension education
1971-1975
1975
Box
5
Faculty constitution,
University of Northern Iowa, 1971-1972, 1975
Faculty/staff policies,
1972
Gateway Hills Project,
Iowa State University, 1976
Governance, 1971-1973,
1976 and undated
Graduate study in Iowa,
1973
Higher Education Study
Committee
1970-1971
1971-1972, 1976
Institutional policies,
1972 and undated
Institutional statistics,
1972-1976, 1982
Insurance, 1972-1973,
1976
Interinstitutional
Committee for Equal Employment Opportunity, 1972-1973
and
undated
Interinstitutional
Committee on Educational Coordination, 1973-1974
Iowa Braille and Sight
Saving School
1970-1972, 1976
1977
and undated
Iowa City downtown
traffic planning, 1972
Iowa Coordinating Council
for Post-High School Education, 1976
Iowa Mental Health
Authority
1971-1972
1973
and undated
Iowa School for the Deaf,
1972-1973, 1976-1977
Iowa State University
Stadium, 1976 and undated
Box
6
Legal Action
1972-1974
1975
1976-1977
Liaison-Advisory
Committee on Transfer Students, 1975
Liberal Studies Degree
Program, 1975 and undated
Library Statement, Iowa
State University, 1976
Married student housing,
University of Northern Iowa, 1972-1974 and
undated
Medical issues [newspaper
clippings], 1971-1973 and undated
Merit System Pay Plan,
1972-1973, 1975-1977 and undated
Non-traditional
education, 1973-1975
Nursing program,
University of Iowa, undated
Organization and function
of affiliated organizations of Regent Universities,
1975
Personal conduct/ethics
regulations, 1973, 1975, 1977
Public Administration
Service, 1972 and undated
Regional Educational
Cooperation, 1973-1975 and undated
Residency and tuition
status, 1970-1973 and undated
Special Education
Committee, 1976
State Board of Regents
legislative requests, 1973-1975
Stephen Ford legal case,
1971-1972
Student activity fee,
1971-1974 and undated
Student membership on the
Board of Regents, 1971-1972 and undated
Box
7
Student policies,
1970-1976 and undated
Title IX violations, 1976
and undated
raffic and parking
regulations, University of Iowa, 1971
Universities Program
Abroad, 1973-1974
University of Iowa/Iowa
State University football series, 1973, 1977
University of
Mid-America, 1974-1976
Women in engineering,
1972, 1974, 1976
Women's issues in Iowa,
1970, 1974-1975 and undated
Women's Week, 1974-1975
and undated
World Food Conference,
Iowa State University, 1976
Political
Correspondence
Hughes, Harold E.
1966-1967
Common Cause, 1973
Conlin, Roxanne
Gubernatorial Campaign
Campaign personnel, undated
Canvassing, 1982
Gubernatorial Raw Audit, Iowa Democratic Party, 1982 [oversize: in
box 8]
Interest group programs, 1982
Lists of volunteers' names, 1982
Mahaska County Democratic Platform Committee Report, 1982
Memoranda from campaign officials, 1982
Newspaper clippings, 1982
Notes, undated
Precinct Leaders' Handbook, undated
Polling Records
Democrats [who] Voted [in] '78 or '80 Primary
Precincts Adams through Oskaloosa 2,
1982
Precincts Oskaloosa 3 through White
Oak, 1982
Democrats [who] Voted [in] Some School or Muni[cipal], 1982
Iowa Democratic Party, Registered
Independents Not Surveyed
Precincts Adams through Oskaloosa 3,
1982 [oversize: in box
8]
Precincts Oskaloosa 4 through White Oak, 1982
[oversize in box
8]
Priority 3 Voters
Pollwatching
Targeting formula, Mahaska County, 1982 [oversize: in box 8]
Voter registration kit, 1982
Iowa Political Caucus,
Spring Creek Precinct/Township, Mahaska County,
1972
Iowa Women's Political
Caucus, 1973-1974, 1982 and undated
League of Women Voters of
Iowa, 1974, 1979-1980, 1985-1988
Vogel, David Campaign
Literature, undated
Photographs
Personal, 1937, 1947, 1985, 1989 and
undated
Noun, Louise, 1974 [shelved in map case:
drawer 2]
Box
7
Oversize
Board of Regents scrapbook, 1972-1979
Political
Subject files
Conlin, Roxanne,
gubernatorial campaign
Gubernatorial Raw Audit, Iowa Democratic Party, 1982
Polling Records
Iowa Democratic Party, Registered Independents Not Surveyed
Precincts Adams through Oskaloosa 3,
1982
Precincts Oskaloosa 4 through White
Oak, 1982
Targeting Formula, Mahaska County, 1982