IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES

IOWA CITY, IOWA

TITLE:»

SUBTITLE:»JANET SHIPTON (1923- )

»PAPERS, DATES:»1936-1991

3.5 linear feet»DATES:»

»QUANTITY:»

ACQUISITION:	The »papers (donor no. 368) were donated by Janet Attlee Shipton» in 1996.»
ACCESS:		The »papers are open for research.
COPYRIGHT:		»Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa.
PHOTOGRAPHS:		In boxes 3 and 6.
PROCESSED BY:		Margaret Richardson, 1998.Your name, year»

»Biography

Janet Attlee, politician, was born in 1923 in England to Clement and Violet Attlee. She married Harold Shipton in 1947 and moved with him and their two daughters to the United States in 1958, settling in Iowa City. They relocated to St. Louis, Missouri in 1980. Her life’s work has involved advocacy for community well-being wherever she has lived. As an articulate speaker and concise writer, she was an early organizer of the Hoover Health Council, was active in the Johnson County Health Council, and was Johnson County coordinator of Iowa 2000. In 1976 she ran for the position of Johnson County Supervisor and lost, but won the position in 1978. She announced her candidacy for the 1980 election but withdrew when the move to St. Louis presented itself. Other organizations in which Shipton provided leadership include the League of Women Voters in both Iowa and Missouri, the Missouri Women’s Network where she established a Voter’s Registration Project and a state-wide mammography conference, and the Missouri Older Women’s League.

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Scope and Content Note

The Janet Attlee Shipton» papers date from 1936» to 1991 and measure 3» linear feet. The »papers »are arranged in three» series: »Biographical, Political, and Business.

The Biographical series contains many letters to Shipton at boarding school and college, and while a member of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) during World War II. Upon her move to the United States Shipton maintained an active correspondence with many people in England, both family and friends. Shipton corresponded extensively with her long-time friend, Joan O’Donovan, a British poet and novelist. Included are two letters from her father, Clement Attlee, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1945 to 1951. There is correspondence and other material regarding Shipton’s daughters, Ann Shipton and Susan Collins, as they matriculated through public school and college and then into marriage and family.

The Political series concerns Shipton’s activity in the political arena, beginning with her volunteer work with the Hoover Health Council and the Johnson County Health Council and her elected position on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors. The collection contains complete minutes and assorted correspondence of the Board of Supervisors for 1979-1980, papers and programs from the League of Women Voters, the Iowa 2000 Project, the Missouri Women’s Network, and the Older Women’s League.

The Business series reveals Shipton’s business involvement. She built a fourplex in West Branch, Iowa, which she rented only to low-income people. In Missouri she invested in and managed the ABC Condominiums.

The Artifacts are two handbags dating from the early 1940s.

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Box no. Description

Box 1

Biographical

Correspondence

1936-1945

Undated [written from England, pre-1947] (2 folders)

1947-1961

1964-1966

1967-1968

1969

1970-1971

1972-1975

1976

Box 2

1977

1978

1979-1981 and undated (2 folders)

1977-1990, scattered

Christmas cards, 1957, 1972-78 and undated

Wedding, November 20, 1947

Silver Wedding, 1972

Clement Attlee, Violet Attlee (parents), 1962, 1964

Clement Attlee death (father) October 1967

Harold Shipton (husband), undated

Box 3

Susan Collins (daughter), 1964-1974

Susan Collins, 1974-1983 and undated

Ann Shipton (daughter), 1964-1978

Ann Shipton, undated (2 folders)

Diaries, licenses, photographs, and biographical articles, Janet Shipton, 1939-1990 (scattered)

Newspaper articles: Felicity Attlee (sister) and Martin

Attlee (brother), 1946, 1970

School records

Ann Shipton, 1958-1969

Susan Collins, 1958-1968

Wedding, Ann Shipton, 1969

Box 4

Political

Hoover Health Council (southeastern Iowa)

Minutes, correspondence

1966, 1969

January-August 1970

September-December 1970

January-October 1971

November-December 1971 and undated

January-April 1972

May-November 1972

1973-1974

Box 5

1978 and undated

Cash transactions, 1971-1973

Ambulance Service, 1970-1972, undated

Licensing applications, undated

Johnson County Health Council

Minutes, correspondence

1969-1974

1975-1979

Iowa 2000, Johnson County Coordinator, 1977

Johnson County Board of Supervisors

Campaign, 1975-1976

General, 1975-76

Newspaper clippings, 1976

Campaign: 1978

General, 1978

Newspaper clippings, 1978

Box 6

Contributions, 1978 (2 folders)

Financial records, 1978

Pamphlets, 1978

Photographs, 1978

Board of Supervisors minutes

February-July 1979

August-December 1979

January-February 1980

Box 7

March-April 1980

May-June 1980

July-August 1980

September-October 1980

November-December 1980

Campaign: 1980

League of Women Voters, Iowa, 1963-1980

League of Women Voters, Missouri

1984-1989

Box 8

1990 and undated

Missouri Women’s Network

Minutes, 1985-1991

Educational Fund, 1985-1990

Mammography Conference, 1989

Newsletter, Women Networking, 1984-1991

Vote Project, 1984-1986 and undated

Older Women’s League, Missouri, 1991

Other civic involvement, 1964-1990

Writings, 1944-1977 (scattered)

Business

Letters, 1982-1984

Attlee apartments, West Branch, Iowa

Records

1972-1976

1977-1980

Box 9

1980-1981

Tenant records and expense accounts, 1976-1980

ABC Condominium, St. Louis, Missouri

January 1986-February 1988

Newsletter, ABSEEING, January-November 1987 and undated

Box 10

Artifacts

Handbags (2 items) 1940s