IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
ELIZA HICKOK KESLER (1909- )
PAPERS, 1946-1947
3 linear inches
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 40) were transfered from the University of Iowa
Libraries Special Collections Department in October 1997. |
|
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research. |
|
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has not been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
|
PROCESSED BY: |
Lisa Peperkorn, 1997. |
|
Biography
Eliza (Roby) Merrill Hickok Kesler
was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on November 29, 1909. She graduated from
Washington High School in 1927, and proceeded to Coe College where she received
a B.A. in 1931. She later attended
Northwestern University to continue her studies in journalism and received an
M.A. in 1940.
Eiza Hickok began her writing career
as a Coe campus correspondent for the Cedar Rapids Gazette. After graduation,
she took on a position as a Gazette
reporter. Hickok later worked for the radio show “The Quiz Kids,” in which
exceptionally bright young children were questioned regarding various
subjects. “The Quiz Kids” aired during
the 1940s on NBC in Chicago. By 1946
Hickok had risen to the position of Assistant Program Director at Louis G.
Cowhan and Company. In 1947 she
published a book, The Quiz Kids, and
married Carl C. Kesler.
Scope and Content Note
The Eliza Kesler papers measure 3
linear inches and date from 1946 to 1947.
They are arranged in six folders.
The Biographical folder
(1947) includes one newspaper article regarding The Quiz Kids and Hickok’s future books. The Correspondence folder (1946-1947) includes correspondence
between Kesler and her publisher, Houghton Mifflin Company, and provides
insight into the author-publisher relationship in the mid-twentieth
century. The Manuscript folders (undated, probably late 1946) contain a
printer’s copy of The Quiz Kids, and
includes penciled-in corrections.
A signed copy of The Quiz Kids, by Eliza Hickok (Houghton
Mifflin, 1947) is in the Iowa Authors collection in the Special Collections
Department, University of Iowa Libraries.
Box No. Description
Box 1
Biographical, 1947
Correspondence, 1946-1947
Manuscript,
1946 (4 folders)
Printer’s copy of The Quiz Kids