IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
ANNA COCHRANE LOMAS
(1896-1991)
PAPERS, 1917-1991
5 linear feet
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor number 107) were received from Anna Lomas' daughters,
Mary Jo Van Druff, Louise Bastron, and Margaret Brandt, in 1992. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research. |
|
ARTIFACTS: |
In boxes 10-12. |
|
AUDIOVISUAL: |
45 rpm records and slides in boxes 10 and 12. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In boxes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and oversize. |
|
PROCESSED BY: |
Bridget M. Butler, 1992. |
Biography
Anna Cochrane Lomas was born in Monroe, Iowa on June
25, 1896, the oldest child of William and Myrtle Murphy Cochrane. In 1900 her father moved the family to Red
Oak, Iowa where he became a partner in his brother-in-law's business, the
Thomas D. Murphy Art Calendar Company.
Among his numerous community services, Cochrane served on the Iowa
District Exemption Board for the Military Draft during the First World
War. Anna Cochrane attended Red Oak
public schools from 1902 to 1914 and the University of Iowa from 1914 to
1917. There she met Malcolm DeWitt Lomas
of Villisca, Iowa, whom she married on December 27, 1917. The couple settled in Red Oak, where Malcolm
managed the sales force for the Murphy calendar firm.
In 1926 William Cochrane ran successfully for state
senate on a road improvement platform.
He served in the General Assembly from 1927 to 1932. Toward the end of his political career,
Cochrane began to lose his eyesight and his daughter Anna read to him political
news, constituent correspondence, and other material necessary to his duties in
the General Assembly. She credits this
time with her father as the inspiration for her political career. William Cochrane became president and sole
owner of the calendar company in 1931.
When he died in 1941, Malcolm Lomas took over the firm.
As her children grew, Anna Lomas became increasingly
involved in politics. During World War
II she was active in local Republican women's clubs. She was a delegate to the State Republican Convention from the
1940s through the 1970s. Lomas served
as an alternate to the Republican National Convention in 1944 and was a regular
delegate to the National Convention in 1952, 1956, 1960, and 1964. She was a member of the State Republican
Committee for the 7th Congressional District of Iowa from 1944 to 1952 and was
Iowa Republican National Committeewoman from 1952 to 1964. Lomas served as a member of the White House
Conference on Aging in 1961, was a curator of the Iowa Historical Society from
1946 to 1957 and 1962 to 1965, served in the Montgomery County chapter of the
American Red Cross and was active in local church and youth groups throughout
her life.
During her long career, Lomas
remained active in Republican women's organizations. In the early 1950s the Republican party recognized the political
potential of women and began to actively encourage their participation. Lomas believed that the Republican party was
the party that best addressed women's issues and offered women the greatest
opportunities for political involvement.
She was not, however, afraid to point out when she thought the party was
dragging its feet. In a handwritten
memoir of her visit to Washington for the 1953 Presidential inauguration, she
said of the Republican National Committee organization: "There is no doubt
that men have complete control in the political field in spite of the fact that
an estimate [sic] 52% of the vote was cast
by
women." In a 1960 political
speech, she urged women to become more politically active: "In the United
States today women of voting age outnumber men by three million. They can shape this government in any way
they choose." Lomas was always
politically conservative but that never meant to her that women should not be
involved in the world in any way that they were able.
Anna Lomas died on September 30, 1991 in Red Oak,
Iowa at the age of 95.
Scope and Content Note
The Anna Lomas papers date from 1917 to 1984 and
measure 5 linear feet. The papers
document the political careers of Anna Lomas and her father William
Cochrane. The papers are arranged in
three subgroups: Personal, Political, and William Cochrane Papers. These papers would be most useful for a
researcher interested in the role and perspective of a woman in the Republican
Party at mid-century, the popular or material culture of US politics at this
time, or local and state political organizations and activities.
The Personal
Papers subgroup includes biographical information about Anna Lomas and
material from her service on the White House Conference on Aging and the Iowa
State Historical Society. There is
material from Herbert Hoover's 80th birthday commemoration and the Hoover
Presidential Library Dedication. The
subgroup also contains a speech Lomas made when honored by her sorority as well
as photographs and correspondence.
The Political
Papers are further divided into four series: Iowa Republican Party,
National Republican Party, Political Campaigns, and Artifacts. Each series is organized
chronologically. The Iowa Republican
Party series contains material on Republican party conventions from 1944 to
1972, gubernatorial inaugurations from 1955 to 1969, party workshops in the
1950s and 1960s, the Iowa Republican Party Central Committee activities in the
1950s and 1960s, and materials of the Iowa Council of Republican Women from the
1940s to the 1960s. The national party
papers are primarily from the 1950s and 1960s but contain some items from the
1940s, 1970s, and early 1980s. Material
includes programs, flyers, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs
from national conventions; programs, memoirs, meeting reports, and photographs
from presidential inaugurations; correspondence, meeting minutes, publications,
newletters, and announcements of the Republican National Committee and its
women's organizations and conferences, and publications and photographs from
the National Federation of Republican Women.
The Political Campaigns series dates from 1944 to 1968 and contains
local, state, and national levels including speeches, newspaper clippings, photographs,
flyers, sheet music, and memorabilia from the campaigns. Among the artifacts are political campaign
and Republican party buttons, jewelry, bumper stickers, ribbons, and similar
material from 1912 to 1981. In 1956
Lomas kept a scrapbook of material relevant to her political activities from
the state convention through the campaign and election and including the 1957
inaugurations of the governor and president.
The material was never pasted into the scrapbook and has been sorted and
arranged within the relevant series in this subgroup.
The William Cochrane subgroup contains papers relating to Cochrane's
service on the draft exemption board from 1917 to 1919 and extensive
correspondence from the 1931 session of the General Assembly on issues such as
a proposed state driver's license law, income tax legislation, proposed state
constabulary, school funding issues, proposal that dentists might purchase
limited amounts of whiskey for their practice, and opposition to mandatory
military training at state colleges and universities. Late in her life Lomas
privately
published a memoir of her father entitled "William Cochrane: Biography of
a Self-Made Man," a copy is included with his papers.
Summary Contents List
Personal papers box
1
Political papers
Iowa Republican Party, 1944-1972
Iowa
Republican Convention box
1
Iowa
Gubernatorial Inaugurations box
2
Iowa
Republican Party Central Committee box 2
Iowa
Republican Party Workshops box 2
Iowa
Council of Republican Women box 2
National
Republican Party, 1944-1981
Republican National Conventions boxes
2-5
Presidential Inaugurations box
5
Republican National Committee boxes
5-6
Republican National Committee-Republican
Women's Conference boxes 6-7
Republican National Committee-Republican
Women's Midwest Regional Conference box
7
National Federation of Republican Women box
7
Political
Campaigns, 1932-1968 boxes
7-9
Artifacts boxes 10-12
William Cochrane papers box 9
style='font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt'>Box no. Description
Box 1
Personal Papers
Biographical newspaper
clippings, 1956, 1991
Certificate, 1962 (in
oversize)
Correspondence
1944-1960
1966-1969
Delta Gamma Award Speech,
1957
"Ding" Darling
Cartoon, 1944 (in oversize)
Herbert Hoover's 80th
Birthday, 1954
Memorabilia
Newspaper Clippings
Herbert Hoover Library
Dedication, 1962
Memorabilia
Newspaper Clippings
Iowa State Historical
Society, 1950-1964
Memorabilia
Photographs, 1944-1977
Photographs from scrapbook,
1955-1957
Photograph, 1955 (in
oversize)
White House Conference on
Aging
1959-1961
Speech, 1961
Political Papers
Iowa Republican Party
Iowa Republican Convention
1944
1946
1950
1952
General
Newspaper clippings
Photographs
1954
1956
General
Correspondence
Memorabilia
1958
General
Newspaper clippings
1960
General
Correspondence
Newspaper clippings
1962
1964
1966
Box 2
1968
1972
Iowa Gubernatorial
Inaugurations
1955
1957
1961
General
Newspaper clippings
1963
1969
Iowa Republican Party
Central Committee
Committee Business,
1959-1962
Membership 1958-1964
Correspondence
1953
1960
Party Line newsletter, 1962-1963
Iowa Republican Centennial
Dinner, 1954
Hickenlooper Testimonial
Dinner, 1961
"Tribute to Hick"
Dinner, 1968
Lincoln Day
General
1953
1954
1960
Newspaper clippings,
1953-1960
Iowa Republican Party
Workshops
Bulletin, 1956
Practical Politics, 1958
"GOP School," 1963
Iowa Council of Republican
Women
1952
Spring Meeting
Newspaper Clippings
1956
Convention and Board Meeting
Strategy Meeting
Handbook
1959-1960
1960-1961
1963-1964
1964 Peggy Goldwater Day
The Indicator newsletter, 1944-1960
National Republican Party
Republican National Convention
1944
General
Memorabilia
1952
General
Box
3
Correspondence
Memorabilia
Newspaper clippings
Photographs
Reception Invitations
1956
General
General from scrapbook
Correspondence
Memoir
Memorabilia
Memorabilia from scrapbook
Newspaper clippings
Newspaper clippings from
scrapbook
Preparation
Role of Women
Site Committee
Box
4
1960
General
Candidate and Delegation
Appeals
Correspondence
Iowa Delegation
Newspaper clippings
Photographs of Delegates and
Alternates
Press Information
Press Releases
Republican National
Committee Women's Division Meeting
Role of Women
Social Events
1964
General
Candidate Appeals
Committee on Arrangements
Correspondence
Iowa Delegation
Newspaper clippings
Newsletters
Box
5
Barry Goldwater slides
Party-to-People Program
Photographs
Platform Committee
Social Invitations
Presidential Inaugurations
1953
General
Memoir
Newspaper clippings
1957
General
Memoir
Memorabilia
Memorabilia from scrapbook
1969
Republican National
Committee
"Building for
Victory" Report, 1961
Committee Research Reports
on Voters, 1963 1964
Conference, 1956
Correspondence
1954-1963
1952 [on Nixon's
"Checkers speech"]
1951-1960 [about Dorothy
Houghton]
Correspondence
Minutes, 1953-1954
Membership and Assignments,
1952-1964
National Victory Committee,
1971-1981
Newspaper clippings about
Dorothy Houghton, 1951-1955
"Political
Calendar" Handbook, 1956
Box
6
Republican National
Conference, 1956
"Shadow Voter"
Report, 1961
Speeches, 1955-1961
Women in Political Service
1953-1956
1957
1958
1962
"Work and Win"
Handbook, 1956
"500 Kennedy Campaign
Pledges, Promises and Programs," 1961
Republican National
Committee-Republican Women's Conference
1954
1955
General
Newspaper clippings
Photographs
1957
1958
1960
General
Newspaper clippings
1962
Box
7
Republican National
Committee-Republican Women's Mid-West Regional Conference
1953
General
Newspaper clippings
National Federation of
Republican Women
Newsletter, 1944
Washington Newsletter, 1953-1954
Convention, 1954
General
Newspaper Clippings
Regional Conference, 1961
Silver Anniversary Gala,
1963
Badges, ribbons and
membership card, 1954-1964
Photographs, ca. 1950s and
1964
Political Campaigns
1932
1944
Results
Newspaper clippings
1952
Flyers
Newspaper clippings
Photographs
Sheet Music
1954
Correspondence
Newspaper clippings
Speeches
Speech Kit
Box 8
1956
General
Correspondence
Memorabilia
National Campaign Flyers
National Ike Day Committee
Newspaper clippings
Speech Kit
Speeches
State Campaign Flyers
1958
Eisenhower Campaign Visit to
Iowa
Nixon Campaign Visit to Iowa
1960
"Gop Victory Kit"
National Campaign Flyers
Newspaper clippings
Speech Kit and Notes
Sheet Music
Speeches
State Campaign Flyers
1962
Correspondence
National Campaign Flyers
Newspaper clippings
Box
9
1964
Correspondence
National Campaign Flyers
Party Organizers' Manuals
Speeches
1968
Background Material for
Speeches
National Campaign Flyers
Speeches
Artifacts, 1912-1981 (in
boxes 9-15)
William Cochrane Papers
Correspondence
Legislative
January-February, 1931
March-April, 1931
October-November, 1931
Telegrams, 1931
State Income Tax, n.d.
"William Cochrane:
Biography of a Self-Made Man," by Anna Lomas, 1984 General Assembly
Rules and Committees,
1929-1931
Certificate of Election,
1928, 1929 (in oversize)
Photograph, 1929 (in
oversize)
William Cochrane Papers
Iowa Selective Service
Board, 1917-1919
General
Poster (in oversize)
Box
10
Artifacts (in folders)
Political
buttons 1912-1944
Ike campaign paraphernalia 1952-1958 (1 flag, 1 record,
1 paper visor, 1 metal item, 2 license plates)
Nixon campaign artifacts 1960-1962 (2 Nixon-Judd
tickets, 1 Nixon campaign kit bag)
Campaign accessories 1960-1962 (2 bracelets, 2 name
tags, 1 press button, 1 Nixon sash)
Campaign decorations 1960-1962 (4 elephants, 3
antenna flags, 1 U.S. flag, 3 elephants)
Goldwater campaign items 1964-1966 (1 booklet, 1
record, 1 pennant)
Elephant items 1964 & undated (2 sticker
packets, 1 key chain, 1 pipe cleaner, 1 paper, 1 fan, 1 key)
Nixon medals 1969 (2 in cases with stands)
Misc. political items, undated (tie, felt appliqué
kit, felt corn, gold ceiling foil, 3 Scranton button package)
Box 11
Artifacts
Tray1:
Political
buttons, 1952-1958
23 Ike buttons, 1 small statue, 1 measuring spoon, 1
Mamie Eisenhower button
3 Nixon-Ike buttons, 4 Ike/Beardsley/Nixon buttons
6 Iowa Republican National Convention buttons
8 Delegate buttons, 5 delegate ribbons, 2 Nixon
party guest tags, 3 misc. tags
10 other politician buttons
4 misc. (Elephant cluster, flower, Ike/Nixon coin w/
stand, Republican bicentennial accessory)
Tray
2:
Political
buttons, 1960-1962
4
state delegate convention buttons
12
Nixon buttons, 1 clicker, 1 pencil
8
Pat Nixon buttons, 1 ribbon, 1 comb
4
ribbons
2
Iowa buttons, 1 iron-on
7
misc. (Elephant garter belt, Chicago compact, little elephant, Iowa button,
elephant stirring stick, GOP button, Ike medal)
Tray
3:
Political buttons 1964-1981, undated
5 paper name cards, 7 nametags, 6 ribbons, 15
Republican Convention buttons
17 misc. Republican items (1 GROW pencil, 3 GROW
pins, 1 GROW bracelet, 5 elephant pins, 1 elephant earring, 2 GOP elephant
pins, 1 Republican key chain, 1 Republican button, 1 pink elephant, 1 voter
button, 1 key)
12 Goldwater items (1 pencil, 9 buttons, 1 pin, 1
book of matches)
Box
11
43 Iowa politician buttons (4 Murray, 1 Waggoner, 1
Harbor, 5 “Hick,” 3 Hultman, 3 Martin, 3 Scherle, 3 Miller, 1 Buss, 1 Fulk, 1
Talle, 1 Beck, 1 Erbe, 2 Stanley, 1 Bromwell, 1 Jepsen, 1 Sonja, 1 Junction
Days, 1 cosmetic permit, 3 Swanson buttons, 2 Swanson ribbons, 3 Johnson items)
18 national politician buttons (2 Cal, 4
Reagan/Bush, 3 Nixon re-election, 2 Ford, 4 Ray, 1 McGovern, 1 GOP, 1 Milligan)
7 misc. buttons 1966 (4 Miller, 2 Rockefeller, 1 GOP)
Box 12
Artifacts (jewelry display boards)
Board
1:
1 ribbon with miniature cup
10 elephant pieces (2 Taft ’52, ’56, 2 GOP, IKE, pin
with glasses, 2 key chains)
3 Republican centennial items (1 pair of earrings, 1
elephant pin, 1 pin)
13 Ike items (3 metal pins, 3 rhinestone pins, 3
pair rhinestone earrings, 1 hair bun sticks, 3 ’56)
Board
2:
9 Nixon pieces (2 elephant on cards, 1 bracelet, 4
elephants, 3 misc.)
3 GOP items (triangle earrings, triangle charm,
elephant)
2 elephants (1 pin, 1 pair earrings)
Oversize folder, 1960-1966 [shelved in map case:
drawer
Misc. campaign artifacts (1 New Frontier comic
coloring book, 1 Nixon flat zipper bag, 1 Goldwater poster/pamphlet, 1 Anna
Lomas welcome sign)