IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
JOSEPHINE HIRONS PULLEN
(1912- )
PAPERS, 1949-1996
2.5 linear inches
NORTHN
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ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 334) were
donated in by Josephine
Hirons Pullen in 1996. |
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ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research. |
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COPYRIGHT: |
With the exception of her five books of poetry, for which the donor retains copyright, copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
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PROCESSED BY: |
Angelisa Rowland, 1997. |
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REVISED: |
Kathryn Neal, July 16, 1998, version WORD97. |
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Biography
Josephine
“Jo” Hirons Pullen, teacher, artist, poet and author, was born to Frank G.
Hirons and Edith Culp Hirons on December 3, 1912 on a farm outside of Early,
Iowa. Josephine Hirons graduated in
1933 from the Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa)
with degrees in art, English, and drama.
Along with her interest in art, she displayed a life-long interest in
poetry and writing. Hirons taught art
in various Iowa schools until she married Charles Pullen in 1938. The couple moved to Ida Grove, Iowa, where
Jo Pullen assisted her husband in starting a rural electric co-op, a local
business cooperative that provided electricity for rural homes in the Ida Grove
area. During this time, Pullen also
began writing a column titled “Ida Says” for the Ida Grove newsletter Ida News, which was published by
her husband’s company. Pullen resumed
teaching art in the early 1960s in Ida Grove, but returned to Early, Iowa, a
few years after her husband’s death in 1972.
Pullen continued to write and began having poetry published in
1978. She later wrote articles for Acres of News, the newsletter of a local
retirement community.
Scope and
Content Note
The Josephine Hirons Pullen papers date
from 1949 to 1996 and measure 2.5 linear inches. The papers
are arranged in two series: Biographical material and Writings. The Biographical material
consists of newspaper clippings that document Pullen’s poetry-book signings and
various community activities. Also
included is a People magazine article
in which Pullen described the difficulties faced by her small farm community of
Early, Iowa, in the 1980s. The Writings series includes copies of the Ida News, for which Pullen wrote a
column called “Ida Says.” Included also
are copies of Acres of News, a
newsletter for the residents of the Wesley Acres Retirement Community, for
which Pullen wrote a column called “I Was Just Thinking»...”, and one copy of each of her five published
books of poetry entitled Poems Book I:
This Mustard Seed, Poems Book II: Growing Season, Poems Book III: Kaleidoscope,
Poems Book IV: People and Places, and
Poems Book V: Turn, Turn, Turn. The
last folder contains a photograph of Pullen at an amateur art exhibition in
1972.
Box no. Description
Box 1
Biographical material
Newspaper clippings,
1969-1982 and undated
Leah Rosen, “Small Town, Big
Trouble: Is It Too Late for Early
Iowa?,” People, November 3, 1986
Writings
Ida News (incomplete)
1949-1952
1953-1956
1957-1964
Acres of News, 1995-1996
Books of poetry
Poems Book I: This Mustard Seed (FAS Publishing, 1978)
Poems Book II: Growing Season (FAS Publishing, 1978)
Poems Book III: Kaleidoscope (FAS Publishing, 1980)
Poems Book IV: People and
Places
(Miller Printing and
Publishing, 1982)
Poems Book V: Turn, Turn, Turn (Dunbar-Jones
Partnership and Farmers
Mutual Hail Insurance Company
of Iowa, 1994)
Photograph, 1972