IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
MYRTILLA F. LEVIN (1938- )
SUBTITLE:»
PAPERS, 1972-1997
6 linear inches
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers
(donor no. 32) were donated by Myrtilla
F. Levin in 1975 and succeeding years. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers
are open for research. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has been transferred to the University
of Iowa. |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In box 1. |
|
PROCESSED BY: |
Bridget M. Butler, 1992, and
Robert J. Jett, 1993. |
Biography
Myrtilla F. Levin was born in Iowa in 1938. She graduated from Drake University in Des
Moines with a B.A. in English and was a public school teacher in Des Moines for
two years. She married Jack D. Levin
and lived with him in Newton, Iowa, where she served twelve years in a variety
of local volunteer groups and was lay leader at her Episcopal Church. She was Jasper County Republican Party
Chairman in 1972 and 1973, an alternate to the 1972 Republican National Convention,
and a member of the state Republican Party Platform Committee in 1974. In 1973 she was elected to a two-year term
as mayor of Newton, a post she held through 1975. After leaving office Levin served as head of the Newton Chamber
of Commerce and later was executive director of the Des Moines Young Women's
Christian Association. In 1986 she was
appointed director of the newly created Iowa Business Council.
Scope and
Content Note
The papers measure 6 linear inches
and date from 1972 to 1997. The papers
are arranged in the following series: Republican Party, Newton, Iowa,
mayoralty, Iowa Business Council, and Miscellaneous. Most of the material is correspondence directly connected with
Levin's service as mayor of Newton and her role as executive director of the
Iowa Business Council. The papers do
not include any material documenting Levin's work as executive director of the
YWCA.
The Republican Party series (1972-1973) contains material from both the
state and national conventions in 1972 where Levin was, respectively, a
delegate and an alternate. Four
photographs show Levin among others at the convention, including a group photo
of the Iowa delegates and alternates with then Governor Robert D. Ray. The Jasper County Republican Party folder
contains a few letters, mostly congratulations on Levin's appointment to
chairman of the Jasper County Republican Central Committee after the
convention.
The Newton, Iowa, mayoralty series (1972-1975) consists primarily of correspondence
from constituents, such as complaints and inquiries about city sewage service,
dumping regulations, parking, road maintenance, and dog licenses; from local
corporations, schools and civic organizations asking her to speak and thanking
her for speaking; from other government officials, congratulating her on her
election, asking her for information, or responding to her requests; and
correspondence relevant to establishment of a town civil defense plan, the
search for a new police chief, a bond issue to build a new fire station, upkeep
on the town pool, and town ordinances.
Included are letters from area school children. The newspaper clippings concern Levin's tenure
as mayor and her election campaigns.
The Iowa Business Council series (1987-1997) contains correspondence
from area businesses regarding ordinances, meetings, tax laws, conventions, and
other topics, as well as some personal letters. Also included are several reports prepared by the Iowa Business
Council on welfare reform, job creation in animal agriculture, the environment,
and technology transfer.
Miscellaneous
(1971-1985) consists of a 1985 newspaper article by Levin entitled
"Feminist Movement Won't Succeed Until It Helps All" and a few items
of memorabilia from the inauguration of Richard Milhous Nixon as President of
the United States.
A partial index to correspondents
follows the box list.
Box no. Description
Box 1
Republican Party
Conventions, 1972
General
Photographs
Jasper County Republican
Party
Correspondence, June
1972-August 1973 (scattered)
Newton, Iowa, mayoralty
Correspondence
November 1973-March 1974
April-December 1974
1975
Newspaper clippings,
1972-1975 and undated
Iowa Business Council
Correspondence
January-June 1987
July-December 1987
June 1988-1989
1990
Box
2
1994
1995
1996 and undated
1997 and
undated
Newsletter
Iowa Partnership, January 1989
Reports
Welfare Reform in Iowa: Options & Opportunities, January 1989
Job Creation in Animal Agriculture in Iowa, February 1990
The Business of the Environment, March 1992
Technology Transfer Study: Preliminary Report, May 15, 1992
Miscellaneous
Memorabilia, 1971-1973
"Feminist movement
won't succeed until it helps all", Des
Moines Register, 1985
Letter [South Central Iowa
Federation of Labor], 1985
Partial index to correspondents
Avenson,
Don
1987: June 19
Baxter,
Elaine
1987: April 6
Branstad,
Terry E.
1988: December 20
1991: February 6, March 15
1994: January 4
Clark,
Dick
1973: December 3
1974: May 17, July 15, July
22
1975: January 24, February
21, April 7, May 5, May 20
Clinton, President Bill
1995: February 16
Cohen, Michael
1995: April 13, May 19
Conlin,
Roxanne Barton
1988: August 16
Corbett, Ron J.
1995: January 19
Culver,
John C.
1975: March 5, June 15
Grassley,
Charles E.
1987: February 20
1989: October 26
Harkin,
Tom
1987: February 19
Kissinger,
Henry
1975: February 28
McDonald,
John C.
1973: December 20
Neu,
Arthur A.
1973: November 8
Ray,
Billie
1974: February 20
Ray,
Robert D.
1972: August 3, November 8,
August 21
1994: July 8
1995: May 8
Smith,
Mary Louise
1973: November 21
1974: March 20
1975: February 18, July 30
Smith,
Neal
1974: March 26
1975: March 24, May 19
Tauke,
Tom
1987: February 24