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

HELEN GUNDERSON (1945- )

PAPERS, 1994-2004)
1 linear inch

Collection Overview

Biography

Independent photographer, video producer, and regional historian Helen D. Gunderson, a fourth generation Iowan, was born in 1945 to Marion Abbott Gunderson and Deane Gunderson; she was raised with her five siblings on a farm in northwest Iowa near the town of Rolfe. Gunderson earned a BA in physical education at Iowa State University in 1967, an MA in Instructional Media Technology from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 1975, and a Master of Divinity Degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1985. Gunderson returned to Iowa in 1993 and took up residence in Gilbert, Iowa, where she started Gunder-friend Productions and served on the city council from 2000 to 2002. Gunderson’s photographs, videos, and books interpret the history, culture, and heritage of rural Iowa.

Scope and Content Note

The Helen D. Gunderson papers date from 1994 to 2004 and measure 1 linear inch. They consist of two folders and a videocassette. The first folder contains photographs Gunderson took of the Suffrage Day Parade on Equality Day in Des Moines in 1995. It includes a photo of Louise Noun and Mary Louise Smith, and many photos of women with ERA NOW and other banners. The second folder contains a CD (and some hard copies) of documents related to the local government of Gilbert, Iowa, dating from 1999 to 2004. These include editorials Gunderson published in the Gilbert Gazette, an unofficial community web site that she started, and emails between Gunderson and city officials related to issues of open government and the transformation of a farm town to a suburban area. The videocassette, produced by Gunderson and Robert B. Lindemeyer in 1994, is titled “Doing Local History With Video.” It includes interviews with Mary Bennett and Loren Horton of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and Iowa historian Dorothy Schweider of Iowa State University. The videocassette was removed from papers donated by Verda Williams and placed with Gunderson’s collection.

Related Collections

 Helen D. Gunderson Papers, Iowa State University, Parks Library, Special Collections Department, Ames, Iowa.

SCVF

Gunderson, Helen (two folders) “Doing Local History With Video” [shelved in videocassette collection: V339]

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