IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
LEMME FAMILY
PAPERS, 1970, 1998 and undated
5 items
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers
(donor no. 362) were donated by Lawrence
Lemme in 1996. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers
are open for research. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
PROCESSED BY: |
Kristen Rassbach, 1997 and
Kathryn M. Neal, 1998. |
|
REVISION: |
May 11, 1999, Bobby Jett |
Biography
Frances Helen Renfrow Lemme, known as
Helen Lemme, a civil rights and community leader in Iowa City, Iowa, was born
on February 25, 1905 in Grinnell, Iowa.
She was a research technician in the Department of Internal Medicine at
the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa) and was active in
many organizations, including the League of Women Voters of Johnson County and
the Iowa City Area Council of Churches.
During the 1930s and 1940s, she and husband Allyn Lemme opened their
home to African-American male students (and occasionally to African-American
female graduate students) when they were not allowed to live in University of
Iowa dormitories. In 1955, Helen Lemme
was elected the first Woman of the Year in Iowa City. Lemme died in a house fire on December 15, 1968. The Helen Lemme Elementary School in Iowa
City, Iowa is named in her honor.
Helen and Allyn Lemme had two
children, Lawrence and Paul.
Scope and
Content Note
The Lemme Family papers date from 1970 and 1998 and consist of five
items: an undated genealogy of the family; two newspaper clippings; an article
in Everybody magazine regarding the
opening of the Helen Lemme Elementary School in 1970; and questions and answers
concerning Helen Lemme. The questions
relating to Helen Lemme were addressed to the Lemme family by students at Lemme
Elementary School on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the school’s founding.
Related Collections
League
of Women Voters of Johnson County records
Helen Lemme actively participated in this organization
during the 1940s and 1950s. Throughout those decades, she held various
positions of leadership, including serving as chair of the Education
Department, as a member of the Board of Directors, as local program chair, as
second vice-president of the local league,
as a delegate to the League of Women Voters’ National
Convention, as director
of Voters Service, and as chair of the Speakers
Bureau. For documentation of her
involvement, see, for example, annual reports, 1941-1955; Board of Directors
files, 1941-1980; and membership lists, 1944-1967.