CORNELIA SHRAUGER DAY
(1919-2004)
PAPERS, 1912-1995
6 linear feet
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ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 218) were donated by
Cornelia Day in 1994 and succeeding years. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has been transferred to the |
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PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In |
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PROCESSED BY: |
Natalie S. Brody, 1995 and succeeding years. |
|
REVISION: |
Jett, September 8, 1999. [DayCornelia.doc] |
Biography
Cornelia Shrauger Day was born on May 7, 1919, the
daughter of Cornelia Prentiss Shrauger and Harold Shrauger, Sr. of
Cornelia Day worked as a journalist for the Washington Evening Journal from 1948
until 1951, when she began her illustrious career as a devoted community
activist. She was active, locally and
nationally, in the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), Planned
Parenthood, and UNICEF. She was deeply
committed to numerous programs for social reform and was officially recognized
for her outstanding contributions. She
was recognized as the YWCA Friend of the Child (1990) and was elected to the
Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame (1990). In 1995 the Days received the Distinguished
Alumni Service Award from the
The Days hosted more than one hundred foreign
visitors through the Experiment in International Living, a national program
with headquarters in Vermont; the Foreign Leader Exchange Program of the U.S.
State Department; the Rotary Club Foreign Student Exchange Program and the
American Field Service Student Program.
Cornelia Day and her husband were inveterate
travelers, having visited all fifty states and more than fifty countries in
Europe, Asia, Africa, and
Scope and
Content Note
The Cornelia Day
papers date from 1912 to 1995 and measure 4.5 linear feet. The papers are arranged in seven series: Biographical information, Family, Civic
activities, Correspondence, Foreign visitors, Foreign trips, and
Photographs. The papers consist of
correspondence, memorabilia, and photographs of the Shrauger and Day families
as well as materials highlighting Day's commitment to the local, national, and
international community.
The Biographical information
series (1919-1990) includes background data about the donor, Cornelia Shrauger
Day, and her husband, primarily from two bound pamphlets, one written on the
occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary (1990), the other celebrating
fifty years of Robert Day's law practice (1992).
Correspondence, newspaper clippings
and memorabilia of Cornelia Day's mother, Cornelia Prentiss Shrauger, and other
family members comprise the Family series (1906-1980s). Many of the clippings and much of the
memorabilia were originally included in the two scrapbooks which were disbound
for inclusion in the collection.
Cornelia Day's social commitment is
documented in the Community activities series (1962-1995) comprising
information primarily about her involvement in the YWCA and Planned Parenthood
of Southeast Iowa. Materials from other
organizations to which Day belonged, and histories she wrote of the
Presbyterian church in
The bulk of the Correspondence
series (1936-1994) is devoted to letters written by Cornelia Day to her
parents, Cornelia and Harold Shrauger, Sr., from 1936 to 1973. Letters from her husband, Robert Day, before
their marriage in 1940 and many written during World War II from the Pacific,
where he served as an officer in the United States Navy, are part of this
series. Also included are letters to
Cornelia Day's father-in-law, Wilbur Day, and from her children, Dennis and
Ed. The entire set of the Christmas
letters from Cornelia and Robert Day to their friends and family (1945-1994)
completes the series.
The Days' involvement with the
international community is revealed in the Foreign visitors series
(1963-1980) which documents, mostly in the form of correspondence, their
participation in the Experiment in International Living and the Governmental
Affairs Institute, a private cultural exchange organization in Washington, D.
C. Completing the series are individual
folders for each of the more than sixty foreign visitors the Days hosted. They
are arranged alphabetically.
Itineraries, correspondence,
brochures and diaries of their foreign visits form the Foreign travel
series (1956-1993).
The Photographs series (1913-1990?) includes
photographs of most of the Prentiss and Shrauger families, particularly of Cornelia
Day's mother, Cornelia Prentiss Shrauger.
Many of the photographs were taken from the scrapbooks that were
disbound to preserve them for the collection.
Box no. Description
Biographical information
Cornelia and Robert Day,
1919-2004
Cedar Rapids Gazette profile, December 14, 1994 [shelved in map case:
drawer 5]
Family
Cornelia Prentiss Shrauger
Correspondence, 1912-1979
(scattered)
Newspaper clippings and
memorabilia
1912-1916 (2 folders)
1922-1965 (scattered)
Harold and Cornelia Shrauger
European trip, 1953
1970s and 1980s
Condolences on her death,
1985 (2 folders)
Lue Bradley Prentiss,
1906-1917
Henry Prentiss, 1931
Prentiss and Shrauger family
newspaper clippings and memorabilia, 1912-1992 (scattered)
Community
activities
YWCA
1964-1995
The First Seventy Years: The "Incomplete" Complete History of
the
Planned Parenthood of
Presbyterian Church History, Washington county, 1841-1989
Other local organizations,
1969-1995
Correspondence
Cornelia Day to parents,
Cornelia and Harold Shrauger
1936-1939
1940-1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1959, 1950s and undated
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1973
1984
Robert Day to Cornelia Day
1938-1939
1939?
February-May 1945
June-July 1945
August-September 1945
October-November 1945
December 1945
January 1946 and undated
Christmas newsletters,
1945-1994
Dennis and Diane Day to parents and grandparents, 1980-1982
Ed Day to parents, 1967-1982
Cornelia Day to the Wilbur
Days
1942-1943
1944-1945
Other family and friends,
1927-1993 (scattered)
Foreign visitors
Experiment in International
Living
Correspondence
1965-1967
1968-1969
1970-1971
1972-1974
Governmental Affairs
Institute, 1962-1970
Other programs, 1972-1989
Individuals, 1963-1980
A-M (33 folders)
Individuals, 1963-1980
N-Z (33 folders)
Foreign travel
Orient, 1968
Correspondence
Itinerary
South Pacific, 1973 (2
folders)
Around the world, 1974 (3
folders)
Photographs
Henry Prentiss, his parents
and sister, undated
Lue Bradley Prentiss and
parents, 1883-1894, 1915 and undated
Lue Prentiss Childs and
family, 1946, 1952 and undated
Robert Prentiss and
Henry J. Prentiss, Jr., 1919 and undated
Lilian Prentiss Schwarz,
undated
Harold Shrauger, Sr. and Harold
Shrauger, Jr., 1927, 1857, 1962 and undated
Cornelia Prentiss Shrauger
Trips
Eastern United States and
1913
1914
1915 and undated
1940s-1980s (scattered)
Friends, relatives, and
unidentified, 1913-1973 (scattered) and undated