Iowa Women's Archives
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa

 

DALLNER-PETERSEN FAMILY

PAPERS, 1907-2001
2.5 linear inches

 

Iowa Women's Archives
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242

Phone: 319-335-5068
Fax: 319-335-5900
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Collection Overview

Acquisition:
The papers (donor no. 819) were donated by Pauline Dallner in 2001 and subsequent years.
 
Access:
The papers are open for research.
 
Copyright:
Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to the University of Iowa, with the exception of three photocopied journals, the originals of which are owned by Dana College in Blair, Nebraska.
 
Processed by:
Emily Broeckling, 2003; Janet Weaver, 2004. [DallnerPetersen.doc].
 


Biography

Pauline Petersen Nielson was born in 1884 in Elk Horn, Iowa, the sixth of ten children. Prior to her marriage, Petersen taught in rural schools near Harlan, Iowa. Her husband N.P.J. Nielson was a Lutheran pastor, and the couple served several different congregations, including Ferndale, California and Midtown, Wisconsin. The Nielsons retired in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Pauline Nielson lived to be 103 years of age.

Pauline Levendahl Dallner was born around 1918, the eldest of two daughters and the niece of Pauline Petersen Nielson. Levendahl was raised in Harlan, Iowa. Her father operated a pharmacy, and Levendahl often worked in the store as a young girl.


Scope and Content Note

The Dallner-Petersen Family papers date from 1907 to 2001 and measure 2.5 linear inches. The papers include three photocopied journals written by Pauline Petersen from 1907 to 1910. These journals document the day-to-day activities of a young woman in her twenties, living in rural Iowa. The collection also includes two memoirs written by Pauline Levendahl Dallner; one spiral notebook containing the unedited essays of Dallner, composed between 1998 and 2001; and Dallner’s written depiction of the “Rochelle Salts Mystery,” a true account of two mysterious deaths in 1925 that implicated her father’s pharmacy and resulted in a manslaughter charge.

Related Collections

The Pierce-Stuart family is associated with the Dallner-Petersen family through the friendship of Mary Stuart Clark and Pauline Dallner.


Box List

Box 1

Pauline Petersen Nielson
Journals of Pauline Petersen, 1907-1910 (3 folders)
Pauline Levendahl Dallner
Memoirs of Pauline Levendahl Dallner
1987
1989
Unedited essays of Pauline Levendahl Dallner, 1998-2001
Rochelle Salts Mystery
Handwritten recipe book, 1989

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Last updated June 11, 2004.