IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
LAURA F. HUTCHISON DAVIS
(1916-1993)
PAPERS, 1880, 1918-1993
(bulk 1937-1985)
8.75 linear feet and
audiovisual material
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 132) were donated by Joyce Nielsen in 1994. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research, except for all tax and income
records which are closed until January 1, 2004. |
|
AUDIOVISUAL: |
Three audiocassettes (AC275, AC360 and AC361) located in the audiocassette collection. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In boxes 6, 18 and 19. |
|
PROCESSED BY: |
Randel W. Lackore, 1995 and 1997. [DavisLaura.doc] |
Biography
Laura Francis Hutchison Davis, social worker and
community volunteer, was born in Webster County, Iowa, on October 26, 1916, one
of eleven children. Her formal
education began in 1922 in a rural public school and ended when she became the
first graduate of the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa)
School of Social Work in 1950. In the
field of social work, Davis held positions as case worker, case consultant,
instructor and program planner.
Laura Hutchison received her
undergraduate education at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, earning her
bachelor's degree in 1938 before starting to work for the Linn County Relief
Department. She married Lloyd L. Davis,
a Linn County road engineer, in 1942.
They had no children. As the
first child welfare worker in the county in 1943, she established daycare
centers for mothers employed in war plants during World War II.
President Lyndon Johnson's war on
poverty brought a change in how assistance to the needy was provided, including
the creation of community action programs that encouraged low-wage earners to
become involved in the effort to end economic hardship. Davis began to work as a case consultant for
the Linn Economic Action Project (LEAP) in 1965. She was promoted to program planner in 1968 when LEAP merged with
the Johnson County Community Action Program and was renamed the Hawkeye Area
Community Action Program (HACAP).
Volunteer service characterized
Davis's contribution to others. She
served on the Board of Directors of the Young Women's Christian Association
(YWCA) (1962-1965), United Community Service (1963-1964), the Geneva
Corporation and Foundation (1965-1979) and the Family Services Agency
(1959-1965), all in Cedar Rapids. On
the state level Davis served on several Governor's commissions, most notably
the Iowa Commission for Senior Citizens (1960-1962). Davis chaired the Social Services Committee of this commission
and was a delegate to the 1961 White House Conference on Aging.
Scope and
Content Note
The Laura H. Davis papers date from 1880 to 1993 and measure 8.75 linear
feet. The papers are
arranged in five series: Social work; Clubs, church and civic
groups; Education; Personal; and Financial records. This collection provides a glimpse of one woman's role in social
welfare from Roosevelt's New Deal of the 1930s to the period following
Johnson's war on poverty of the 1960s.
Davis's professional life is
illuminated through the Social work series (1942-1985 and undated). The series documents her role in various
positions, from paid caseworker to her voluntary membership on community boards
and task forces. Davis worked to start
a Family Service Agency in Cedar Rapids and this effort is documented by a report
in 1956 and through her involvement with the committee that hired the first
director of the agency. The topical
speeches and notes provide insight into Davis's views on child welfare, the
elderly and the community's role in the life of all individuals. The series also contains Davis's notes and
the policy statement she wrote for the 1961 White House Conference on Aging.
Davis was involved in her community
through volunteer activities that closely corresponded with her professional
social work. The Clubs, church and
civic groups series (1880-1989 and undated) documents her connection with
the Red Cross, YWCA, Quota Club and the Westminster Presbyterian Church of
Cedar Rapids. Through her church, Davis
volunteered as the secretary of the Board of Directors of the Geneva
Corporation and Foundation which built the thirteen-story retirement apartment
building, Geneva Tower, in downtown Cedar Rapids. The series includes three booklets entitled Topics for Prayer Meetings
that date from 1880s.
The Education series
([1928]-1993 and undated) contains records of Davis's education from primary
school to the graduate level, with notes and papers she wrote for grade school
through her master's degree in social work.
The series also includes the outlines and lecture notes Davis used for
the classes in community organization and sociology she taught at Mount Mercy
College and St. Luke's School of Nursing located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Davis was interviewed by the University of
Iowa School of Social Work in 1988 as part of an oral history project. The transcript of this interview provides
insight into the changing public view of social work from the 1930s through the
1950s.
Davis's domestic and married life
are represented in the Personal series (1918-1993 and undated), which
includes extensive correspondence with family and friends. This series also includes papers and letters
to and from Lloyd Davis during World War II.
There is one folder of victory mail (V-mail), used to minimize the bulk
of mail delivered and to expedite delivery during the war. The series has many photographs of Davis and
family members. The photograph album of
Davis's maternal aunt, Bessie C. Thompson, depicts Thompson's life as a young
school teacher in 1918 in Iowa and Wyoming.
The Financial records series (1891-1993) contains
Laura Lloyd Davis' personal tax records and estate papers of relatives. This series is closed to researchers.
Related
Collections
Mrs. Lloyd (Laura) Davis
Collection, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City
Box no. Description
Box 1
Social work
Social agencies
Council of Social Planning
Board of Directors
Correspondence, 1955-1959,
1963, 1965 and undated
Minutes, 1955-1959, 1962
Committee on Care for the
Aged
Correspondence, 1955-1959
Minutes and program reports,
1955-1956
History, 1962 and undated
"Note on the Council of
Social Planning," 1955
Family Service Agency
Board of Directors
Correspondence, 1957-1962
Minutes, 1959-1965
Personnel committee
Notes and reports, 1959-1963
Personnel policy and
practices, [1962]
Search for first Director of
the agency: correspondence
1959
1960
Study committee
"Chronological Report
of Activities Related to Securing a Family Service Agency in Linn County,"
1956
Minutes, 1956, 1959
Notes and survey results,
undated
"Range and Emphasis of a
Family Service Program," 1963
Homemaker services,
1961-1962 and undated
Heritage Agency on Aging
Abstract of the Area Ten
Agency on Aging, [1973]
Advisory council minutes
1973-1974
1975
1976
Assessment report, 1974
Box
2
By-laws and constitution,
undated
Care review committee
report, 1980
Handbook, 1978
Introduction to the Heritage
Agency on Aging
Advisory council
Task force
Nutrition council
Task force minutes
Nutrition council minutes
Policy study group on the
elderly of the Regents' institutions in Iowa
Nursing home standards
Public hearing results
Task force evaluation
Iowa regional conference on
aging, 1974
Linn County task force
Appointment to the task
force, 1979-1985
By-laws, undated
Minutes
1972-1974
1975
1976, 1978
Box
3
News releases, 1973,
1976-1977
Notification of grant award,
1973
Nutrition program, 1973-1975
Progress reports, 1974
Statistics on the elderly in
the Heritage Agency on Aging area, 1973
State Tuberculosis
Sanatorium
Annual report, 1951
Correspondence, 1951-1953
Monthly social services
reports, undated
Training outlines, 1951
Office of Civilian Defense
Day care, 1942-1943 and
undated
United Community Service
(UCS)
Correspondence, 1963, 1965,
1980
Community Action Programs
(CAP)
Hawkeye Area Community
Action Program (HACAP)
Comments on CAP mission
objectives, 1968
Fifteenth anniversary,
1979-1980
History, 1968
Merger of HACAP and LEAP
programs, 1967-1968
United Community Service
(UCS) (cont.)
Community action programs
(CAP) (cont.)
Linn Economic Action Project
(LEAP) (cont.)
Notes on organizational
structure and purpose, 1972 and undated
Personnel action, 1966-1979
Program planning, 1971 and
undated
Saving HACAP, 1973
Staff training, 1966,
1968-1972
Linn Economic Action Project
(LEAP)
Adult basic education, 1965
Case work reports, 1965-1969
Neighborhood centers,
1966-1968 and undated
Staff meeting notes, 1966
and undated
Staff training, undated
Box
4
Community needs, 1965
"History of Jane
Boyd" committee, 1979-1980, 1986 and undated
Human services planning resource
center, 1980-1981
Health services
Comments on the financing of
the Mental Health Center of Linn County, 1957 and undated
Evaluation committee report,
1977
Maternal child health grant
for expansion into rural Linn County, undated
A proposal for the
administrative structure of the Health Service Center, Linn County, Iowa, 1967
Report to committee on
health services to the medically indigent, 1976-1977
Conferences and commissions
Conference on the Status of
Women, 1965
White House Conference on
Aging
Correspondence, 1960-1961
Family life and social
service work group
Notes and policy statement,
1961
News release, 1960
Linn County survey,
1957-1963
Governor's special
commissions
Aid to dependent children,
[1946]
Alcoholism, 1960
Conferences and commissions
(cont.)
Governor's special
commissions (cont.)
Employment of the physically
handicapped, 1957-1959
Iowa Commission for Senior
Citizens, 1960-1961 [oversize appointment certificate closed for conservation]
Juvenile behavior, 1958
Professional associations
Iowa Welfare Association,
1944-1949, 1953, 1961-1968 and undated
National Association of
Social Workers (NASW), 1951, 1958-1961, 1972, 1975, 1981-1982 and undated
Speeches and notes
Adoption, 1949 and undated
"Case work: Definition,
Attitudes, Treatment and the Family," undated
Child development, undated
Child welfare service,
undated
Community priorities,
undated
"The Content of the
Liberal Education," undated
"Growing Up and Growing
Old," undated
"Inadequacy, Jealousy,
Alcohol and Aging," undated
Juvenile delinquency, 1945
"People and
Puzzles," 1967
Public health nursing,
undated
Box
5
Clubs, church and civic groups
American Red Cross, Linn
County Chapter
Disaster Committee,
1966-1967, 1985-1987
Home Service Committee,
1942, 1963-1966
United Community Service
Committee, 1962-1964, 1970
Volunteer recognition, 1982,
1989
Westminster Presbyterian
Church
Board of Deacons
Budget material, 1962
Resource for Deacons,
1982-1983
Geneva Tower
Beginnings
Introduction and history,
[1971]
Board of Directors for
retirement home in downtown Cedar Rapids
Correspondence, 1967
Membership, 1967
Board of Directors for
retirement home in downtown Cedar Rapids (cont.)
Resolution recommended to
the Presbytery of Northeast Iowa, 1967
Housing for the aged
committee, 1967
Summary of Cedar Rapids
housing survey, 1967 and undated
Geneva Corporation
Administration
Articles of incorporation,
1967-1972
Board of Directors
Minutes
1967-1972
1973-1979
Retirement, 1980
Brochure development,
undated
By-laws, 1970
Correspondence
1966-1969
1970-1974
1976-1979
Directory of tenants, 1973
Management program and staff
manual, 1970-1971
Newspaper clippings,
1968-1974 and undated
Personnel relations
committee, 1972-1978
Box
6
Construction
Builder's risk insurance
quotes, 1970
Dedication service, 1971
Ground floor area plan, 1971
Photographs of construction, 1970-1971
Solarium addition plan,
undated
Timetable for construction,
1967-1968
Finance
Audits
1971-1972
1974-1977
1978-1979
Deed and mortgage
modifications, 1972, 1978
HUD contract, 1976-1977 and
undated
Income and expense reports,
1970, 1979
Geneva Foundation
Articles of incorporation,
1968
Audits, 1975-1979
Board of Directors minutes,
1968-1978
Religious education
Bible class notes, 1965 and
undated
"God Himself is With
Us," selected worship aid, 1982
Topics for prayer meetings,
1880-1881, 1889
Box
7
Quota Club of Cedar Rapids,
Iowa
By-laws committee, 1974-1976
Committee appointments,
1958, 1963-1968, 1976
Membership classification,
1945, 1949
Service committee, 1966-1967
and undated
Young Women's Christian
Association (YWCA) of Cedar Rapids and Linn County, Iowa
Board of Directors,
1962-1965
Evaluation committee, 1946
Industrial committee, 1939
and undated
Program planning committee,
1963-1964 and undated
Education
Primary
Composition book (6th
grade), [1928]
Diploma (8th grade) [closed
for conservation], 1930
Spelling certificates
[closed for conservation], 1929-1930
Secondary
English, 1932 and undated
Geometry, 1932
Latin, undated
Nutrition, undated
Sewing, 1931
Undergraduate (Coe College,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
Course work
Abnormal psychology, 1937
English 1R, 1934
English 203, 1934
French, undated
General economics, 1936
Geology log, 1937
Old testament history, 1934
Psychology, 1935
Restoration English, 1938
Diploma, 1938
Box
8
Grades, 1937-1938
Graduation, 1938
Reunion memorabilia
Twenty-fifth, 1963-1964
Forty-fifth, 1983 [includes
group photograph]
Fiftieth, 1988
Fifty-fifth, 1993
Graduate
Loyola University
Advanced social casework,
1940
State University of Iowa
Correspondence, 1968,
1979-1980, 1983, 1990-1991
Course work
"Old school"
Casework theory, 1939
Child welfare, undated
Field work supervisors, 1941
Social administration,
1939-1940
Social casework, undated
Social insurance
Class notes, 1939
"The Iowa Old Age
Assistance System," 1939
"New school"
Advanced psychiatric social
work, 1950
Community organization, 1950
Box
9
Culture and personality,
1949
Education in human
relations, 1948-1949
Methods of social research,
1949
Psychodynamics, 1949-1950
Public welfare services,
1949-1950
Social case work
Assignments, 1949-1950
Class notes, 1949-1950
Examinations, 1949-1950
Social group work
Analysis of family group,
1949
Class notes, 1949
Diploma, 1950
Box
10
Thesis notes, 1949
Transcript of grades, 1950
Twenty-fifth anniversary of
the University of Iowa School of Social Work, 1975
Teaching
Mount Mercy College (Cedar
Rapids, Iowa)
Community organization,
1964-1967
Social services, 1970-1974
Saint Luke's School of
Nursing (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
Sociology, 1945
Personal
Awards, 1960-1989
Biographical information
Birth certificate, 1976
Joyce Nielsen's activity log
with the Davises, 1992-1993
Memorial service, 1993
[shelved in audiocassette collection: AC360]
Correspondence
1918-1929
1930-1933
1934-1935
1936-1937
1938-1939
1940
1941
Folder 1
Box
11
Folder 2
World War II
Incoming
Davis, Lloyd (husband)
1942
July-September
October-December
1943
1944
1945
Friends and family
1942
January-May
June-September
October-December
1943
1944
1945
Box
12
Outgoing
Davis, Lloyd (husband)
1942
January
February
July-August
September-October
November-December
1943
Folder 1
Box
13
Folder 2 (V-mail)
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950-1953
1954-1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
Box
15
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
Box
16
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
Box
17
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
Letters to legislators,
1983-1986
1990
1991
1992
1993
Undated
Box
18
Family
Davis, Lloyd L. (husband)
Incoming correspondence
1942
1943
1944
1945
Military documents,
1942-1945
Memorial service, 1993
[shelved in audiocassette collection: AC361]
Souvenir currency
European currency, undated
German reichmarks, undated
North African francs,
undated
Genealogy
Davis family, undated
Dice family, undated
Hutchison family, 1986-1992
and undated
Straume family, undated
Stromme family, 1973-1978
Thompson family, undated
Townsend family, undated
Marriage certificates, 1942
Oral history interview by
the Junior League of Cedar Rapids
Interview, 1984 (45 minutes)
[shelved in audiocassette collection: AC275]
Transcript, 1984-1985
Oral history transcript
State University of Iowa, School of Social Work, 1988
Recipes, undated
Resume information,
1941-1978 and undated
Photographs
Davis, Laura, 1942 and undated
Davis, Laura and Lloyd L.,
[1941-1942], 1967, 1976 and undated
Box
19
Davis, Lloyd L.
Civilian life, 1924-1928,
[1941], 1969 and undated
Davis, Perry M. family,
[1906] and undated
World War II
France, 1941 and undated
Germany, 1945
North Africa, 1944 and
undated
Recruit training, [1942]
Friends, 1946-1979 and
undated
Moorehead family album,
1869-1905
Thompson, Bessie C. (aunt)
Album, 1918 and undated
Dallas, Texas, 1949-1950
Thompson, Laura (mother),
undated
Box
20
[CLOSED]
Financial records
Estate papers
Davis, Lloyd L., 1993
Davis, Millie, 1942-1943
Davis, Perry M.
Deeds and mortgages,
1891-1896, 1943
Probate documents, 1941-1946
Hutchison, Bessie C.,
1964-1966
Hutchison, Glen, 1967-1992
Hutchison, Ida M., 1987
Hutchison, John, 1957
Hutchison, John J.,
1991-1993
Hutchison, Kenneth J., 1978
Hutchison, Tom J., 1982-1993
Woodside, James H.,
1965-1966
Donations, 1943, 1977-1985
Box
21
Last will and testament,
1991-1993
Revocable living trust,
1991-1993
Tax records
1937-1944
1945-1949
1950-1954
1955-1959
1960-1964
1965-1969
Estate papers
1971-1974
1975-1979
1980-1984
1985-1988, 1992
Social security payments for
housekeepers, 1965-1967, 1980-1982