IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
DOROTHY ASHBY POWNALL
(1895-1979)
PAPERS, 1918-1974
2.5 linear inches
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers
(donor no. 26) were donated by Dorothy Ashby Pownall in 1972. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are
open for research. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright
has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In box 1. |
|
PROCESSED
BY: |
Robert J.
Jett, 1992. |
Biography
Dorothy Ashby Pownall was born June 20, 1895, in Superior,
Wisconsin to George and Harriet Clark Ashby.
She graduated from Central High School in Superior in 1912 and attended
Lawrence College in Appleton from 1913 to 1915. Her college years were cut short due to the death of her father
in 1915. Forced to leave college and go
out on her own, she was fortunate in securing a job with the St. Paul Daily News at a time when women
reporters were few. Pownall worked for
the St. Paul Daily News from 1915 to
1917. She was hired as a feature writer
for the Des Moines Capital in
1917. During World War I she was
assigned to report the human interest side of the 88th Division of the National
Army at Camp Dodge, the cantonment near Des Moines. Pownall was the only girl reporter covering Camp Dodge from it's
opening in 1917 until it was demobilized in 1919.
In 1918 she married Fred M. Pownall, who was telegraph
editor of the same paper. She continued
working for the Des Moines Capital
until the birth their first child in 1920.
The Pownalls had two daughters, Dorothy and Eleanor. Dorothy Pownall moved to Iowa City in 1927
with her husband when he became the director of publications at the University
of Iowa.
Using the pseudonym "Mary Manners", Pownall
wrote an advice column for the Cedar
Rapids Gazette, where she was employed from 1929 to 1939. Pownall was the woman's editor for the Iowa City Press-Citizen from 1947 to
1955. She continued as a free-lance
writer after retiring from the Iowa City
Press-Citizen. Her poems and
articles were published in numerous newspapers and journals, among them the New York Herald Tribune, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Christian Science Monitor, Saturday
Evening Post, and Parents
magazine. She was active in a number of
organizations, including the League of Women Voters, Iowa Press Women, Inc.,
Theta Sigma Phi, Kappa Alpha Theta, the University Club, and the Iowa City
Craft Guild.
She received many awards including the Iowa Golden Merit
Award given by the Iowa Press Women, Inc. for outstanding contribution to the
profession of journalism (1956) and three first-place awards from the National
Federation of Press Women (1955, 1956
and 1967) in the categories of circulation, special article, and special series
of articles.
Pownall died in 1979.
Scope and Content Note
The Dorothy Ashby Pownall papers date from 1918 to 1974
and measure 2.5 linear inches. The
papers are divided into seven series: Biographical information, Correspondence,
Lists of published articles, poems and speeches, "Woman of the year"
speech, Newspaper clippings, Scrapbook, and Photograph.
Biographical information (1939-1974 and undated)
consists of clippings from various newspapers.
Pownall's "Woman of the year" speech (April 27, 1966)
provides a sketch of her career and offers insight into the experience of being
a woman in the largely male field of journalism.
The Correspondence (1919-1970 and undated)
reflects some of Pownall's literary contacts.
Most of the letters are from editors notifying Pownall that her work had
been accepted for publication. Included
are letters from Gardner Cowles, Jr., W. Earl Hall, W. C. Jarnagin, Florence
King Harding, Frank Luther Mott, Wilbur Schramm, and Ellery Sedgwick. Also included are two letters written to
"Mary Manners" at the Cedar Rapids
Gazette.
The Lists of published articles, poems and speeches
are representative of some of the awards Pownall received during her career as
a writer, as well as a partial list of published articles and poems.
Newspaper clippings (1922-1969 and undated) contain
articles that Pownall wrote during the course of her career for various
newspapers. In addition, a program for
the University Club's 1917-1967 Golden Anniversary May Breakfast, written by
Pownall; an issue of Palimpsest from
1966 which is dedicated to "a girl reporter at Camp Dodge", and two
original typed poems are included.
A Scrapbook (1918-1922, 1935) makes up the bulk of
the collection and contains early newspaper articles by Pownall, mostly written
while she was employed by the Des Moines
Capital. Many of the articles focus
on Camp Dodge. Because Pownall was
often assigned feature stories on women's topics, the scrapbook includes
clippings on women's organizations and on Iowa women with unusual occupations.
The Photograph is of Pownall,
dating from 1961.
Box no. Description
Box 1
Biographical information, 1939-1974 and undated
Correspondence, 1919-1970 and undated
Incoming
Bennett, Mr. & Mrs.
James
Blackman, Earl A.
1935
Bowers, Y. L.
1919
Brown, Eugenia Whitmore
1945
Conover, James F.
Cornish, George A.
1935,
1936
Cowles, Gardner
1934,
1956
Dillingham, Charles
1923
Dresser, Mrs. Howard
1969
Elbert, B. F.
1922
Gallup, Opley
Gilmore, E. A.
1936
Gould, Beatrice B.
1935-1944
Gropney, Hazel
1936
Hall, W. Earl
1966
Harding, Florence King
1920
Jarnagin, W. C.
1919
Mason-Brown, Mrs. John
1969
McElroy, Edith Wasson
1967
Meredith, Patricia
1936
Miller, Mrs. Earl (Dorothy)
1969
Moon, Marjorie
1967
Morgan, William H.
1935
Mott, Frank Luther
1962
Plummer, Edward H.
Reizenstein, Jake
1956
Schramm, Wilbur L.
1936
Sedgwick, Ellery
1936
Spalding, Keith
1963
Van Allen, Mrs. James Alfred
1970
Watkins, Emma
Wallace, Morgan
1926
Waterman, Denison R.
1969
Whitley, Mrs. Francis
1937
Young, Lafe Jr.
Miscellaneous, 1963
Outgoing
Christmas card to Sue Lind, undated
Letters to “Mary Manner”, undated
Lists of published articles, poems and speeches, undated
Newspaper clippings, 1922-1969 and undated
Scrapbook, 1918-1922, 1935
"Woman of the year" speech, 27 April 1966
Photograph, 1961