Iowa Women's Archives
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa

MAE ATKINSON ROBINSON (1887-1952)

PAPERS, 1898-1954
5 linear inches

Collection Overview

Biography

Laura Mae Atkinson Robinson was born in 1887 in Ovando, Montana, to Benjamin Franklin Atkinson and Josephine Curry Atkinson. After Benjamin Atkinson was killed in a logging accident, Josephine Atkinson married Adelbert Armstrong and moved back to Iowa Falls, Iowa. Mae Atkinson graduated from Iowa Falls High School. As a teenager, Atkinson took sewing classes at Edgewood, a community center for girls in Iowa Falls founded by Mrs. Eva Simplot. Atkinson later took business courses at Ellsworth College in Iowa Falls.

Mae Atkinson moved to Des Moines, Iowa, and took a job with the Home Insurance Company. During this time, she began corresponding with her cousin, Ralph Benjamin Robinson, who lived in Minnesota. In 1917, Mae Atkinson and Ralph Robinson married at Atkinson’s home in Iowa Falls. The couple farmed land in Minnesota and together they had three children: Glenn, Ruth, and Don. The family moved back to Iowa in 1933. Mae Robinson died in Iowa Falls, Iowa, in 1952.

Scope and Content Note

The Mae Atkinson Robinson papers date from 1898 to 1944 and measure 5 linear inches. The papers are arranged alphabetically and consist of correspondence, Robinson’s diaries, and an autograph book.

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence documenting the courtship of Mae Atkinson and Ralph Robinson. Most of these letters, by both Atkinson and Robinson, were written in 1916 and 1917. The correspondence also contains letters to Ralph Robinson and Mae Atkinson Robinson from others.

Mae Atkinson began her 1907 diary when she started taking classes at Ellsworth College. Her 1941 diary documents her life in rural Iowa. The Ralph Robinson school records contain grade reports, German homework, and a congratulatory letter on his graduation from high school. The photographs are full color copies.

Box List

Box 1

Autograph book, 1903-1907 Correspondence

1898-1917 (11 folders) 1941 and undate Postcards, 1910-1916, 1942-1943 and undated

Diaries, 1907, 1941 Historical information on Ellsworth College and Edgewood community center, Iowa Falls, Iowa, 1944 Ralph Robinson school records, 1907-1910 Photographs, 1907

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This page created June 2006.