IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
MARY ELLEN MOORE (1919-1998)
PAPERS, 1933-1997
5 linear inches
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ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 461) were donated by Janie Yates in 1998. |
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ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research. |
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COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright held by the donor has not been transferred to The University of Iowa. |
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PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In Box 1 - Correspondence |
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PROCESSED BY: |
Lisa Mott, 2002.
[MooreMaryEllen.doc] |
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Biography
Mary Ellen Moore was born Mary Ellen Hendryx in Center Point, Iowa, on August 30, 1919, to Marie Sarchett Hendryx and A. L. “Andy” Hendryx. Hendryx attended Benjamin Franklin High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. From 1936-37, Hendryx attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After graduating from the Paris Beauty Academy, Hendryx was a cosmetologist in Iowa City and Davenport, Iowa from 1938-42. Hendryx met her future husband Kenneth C. Moore in Davenport. The couple was married on September 24, 1942. Moore went with her husband to California, where she worked at the Victorville Air Force Supply while her husband served in World War II from 1942-45.
Following
the war, the Moores returned to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where in October 1945, Moore
gave birth to twins, James A. and Susan J. Moore, becoming a fulltime housewife
until 1951. From 1951-57, Moore worked as a typist and comptometrist for
McGladrey, Hansen, Dunn & Company, an auditing firm in Cedar Rapids. She returned to Coe College in 1954,
graduating cum laude in 1957. Moore’s
husband died in February 1957. Moore
began teaching at Iowa City High School in Iowa City, Iowa in the fall of 1957,
where she remained until her retirement in 1981. While teaching at Iowa City High School, Moore earned her M.A. in
English Education from the University of Iowa in 1962. Moore was a committed teacher who was
particularly concerned about education for “the poor student and the superior
student.” She was an advocate of the
Iowa Advanced Standing Program in English, minority literature and
interdepartmental teaching methods.
Moore died February 15, 1998.
Scope and Content Note
The Mary Ellen Moore papers date from 1933 to 1998 and measure 5 linear inches. The bulk of Moore’s papers are writing
assignments she completed as a high school and college student. Most of the
remaining papers cover the period when she was a teacher at Iowa City High
School in Iowa City, Iowa.
Correspondence (1968 to 1998) includes
a Mother’s Day letter written by Moore’s daughter in 1997, nine months before
Moore’s death. There are also several
cards
Moore sent to colleague and friend Janie Yates following Moore’s retirement in
1981, and a photograph of Moore.
Teaching contracts (1957 to 1981)
includes all the teaching contracts Moore had with the Iowa City Community
School District, including the 1981 contract which was never fulfilled since
Moore retired before the new school year commenced.
Iowa City High School Staff Newsletter (1985 to
1989)
contains a complete set of the staff newsletter edited by Janie Yates. Though
Moore had already retired, Yates sent her copies of the newsletter, often
including personal notes in the margins. Moore sometimes sent back comments or
suggestions to Yates, and a few of these are also included in this folder.
High school writing assignments (1933-1935, and undated) The pieces
in these two folders are handwritten by Moore.
One of the undated assignments is titled “My Autobiography.” There are also several book reports,
personal essays, and editorials.
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American women vs. frauleins (1952) This is an essay Moore
seems to have written for herself, as she was not attending school at the
time. The essay was written in response
to an article Moore read that attempted to explain why American men were
divorcing their wives to marry German women or other foreign women. Moore takes issue with the enslavement of
women through marriage and the inadequacies of American men.
College Writing Assignments (1954-1964, undated) These four folders contain some of Moore’s papers, notes and tests from
her college days and reflect an emphasis on literature, history and psychology
courses. Of particular interest today may be Moore’s essay “The Eastern
Question,” in which she analyzes the Palestine/Israel conflict in 1956. This paper includes an excellent 1950s
bibliography of sources pertaining to the Middle East and is found in folder
two for Coe College. Folder 4 in the series contains unidentified material that
apparently represents college assignments since they are all typed rather than
handwritten.
Related Collections
Janie
Yates papers
Iowa City High School English and drama teacher, and literature instructor at the Iowa City Senior Citizen’s Center and the Kirkwood Learning Center in Iowa City, Iowa. Yates was both a colleague and friend of Mary Ellen Moore, and donated Moore’s papers to the Iowa Women’s Archives.
Box no. Description
Box 1 Biographical information & vitae, 1977, 1998
Correspondence, 1969-1998
[includes photograph]
High school transcript,
1933
Cosmetology school
tests, 1938
Coe College, 1955-1957
State University of
Iowa, 1954-1967, undated
Iowa Board of Instruction,
1957, 1964, 1972 and undated
Teaching Contracts,
1957-1981
Teaching Evaluation,
1972
IPERS – estimated
retirement benefits, 1981
Iowa City High School
Staff Newsletter, 1985-1989
ISEA membership verification, undated
NDEA Institute for Advanced Study in English, 1965
High school writing assignments, 1933-1935,
undated (2
folders)
American women vs. frauleins, 1952
College writing assignments
Coe College, 1954-1957 (2
folders)
State University of Iowa,
1958-1964