IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
ZELLA WHITE STEWART
(1878-1943)
PAPERS, 1917-1943
(bulk 1924-1927)
3.5 linear inches
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 250) were
transferred from the University
of Iowa Archives. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
»Copyright has not been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
PROCESSED
BY: |
Your name, year»Marnie Schroer, 1995. |
Biography
Dr. Zella White Stewart, an allergist,
was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada, on January 9, 1878. She received her medical degree from Cornell
University in 1903. In 1904, she
married George Walter Stewart, a physicist.
They had one son, Rodney, and also raised two nephews, Paul and Lyman
White. The Stewarts also helped at
least two other relatives, their nieces Mary and Betty White, through
college. Stewart died at her home on
August 4, 1943 after several months of ill health.
During her life, Zella White Stewart participated
actively in both professional and social endeavors. She practiced medicine in Grand Forks, North Dakota, from 1904
until 1910 and in Iowa City, Iowa, from 1910 until 1938. For the last twenty years of her career, she
specialized in the study and treatment of allergies. Stewart authored many professional papers in this field and was a
member of both the American Association for the Study of Allergies and the
International Correspondence Club for the Study of Allergy. She also founded a chapter of the League of
Women Voters in Iowa City and was a charter member of the Business and
Professional Women's Club, the Iowa City Women's Club and the University
Club. In addition, her husband's
position as head of the University of Iowa's physics department involved
Stewart in the university community.
The Stewart home was used for several years "as an international
house for university students of all nationalities."
Scope and
Content Note
The Zella White Stewart papers date from 1917 to 1927 and measure 3.5 linear inches.
The papers are arranged in two series: Biographical
materials and Correspondence. The
collection would be of use to anyone interested in the study of allergies in the
early twentieth century, the professional and domestic life of a female
physician, or the biography of Zella White Stewart.
The Biographical materials
series (1943 and undated) consists of one folder containing copies of two
obituaries and a family tree.
The Correspondence series (1917-1927 and
undated) comprises the rest of this collection. Zella White Stewart's papers
contain a mix of professional and personal correspondence. Following the original order of Stewart's
files, the series is arranged alphabetically by the writer's name or by the
name of the organization he/she represents.
Within an alphabetical grouping, letters are filed chronologically. When a series of letters by the same writer
exists, they have been grouped together.
Some letters are accompanied by a carbon copy of Stewart's reply.
Stewart's professional papers include correspondence
with other doctors in the field of allergy research, business transactions with
pharmaceutical companies, correspondence with patients, and a series of letters
and bills connected to a dispute with a collection agency hired by
Stewart.
Stewart's correspondence also offers insight into
the status of women professionals. In
fact, she specifically documents her attitude towards combining career and
family in a letter written in response to a survey by The Woman Citizen. Both the
original query and a rough draft of Stewart's response are located in the W-Z
folder.
Stewart's personal letters range in content. Subjects covered include the failing health
of her mother and an arrangement for two of her nieces to live with her and
attend the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa). There are also a number of letters relating
to other issues including the establishment of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority
house, hiring domestic help, the management of apartments rented from the
Stewarts and scattered references to the League of Women Voters.
A Biographical Portrait of
Zella White Stewart, M.D., written by her husband George Walter Stewart, is shelved in the
printed works collection of the Iowa Women's Archives.
Related
Collections
League of Women Voters of Johnson County
Zella White Stewart was the founder
of the League of
Women
Voters in Iowa City. However, her correspondence
contains
only scattered references to it--primarily in
regard
to a national meeting in St. Louis, Missouri.
Zella
White Stewart papers (Johnson County Historical
Society, Coralville, Iowa)
Box no. Description
Box 1
Biographical material, 1943 and undated
Correspondence
A-B, 1917, 1923-1927 and undated
C-G, 1923, 1925-1927 and undated
H-L, 1924-1927 and undated
M-R, 1924-1927 and undated
S-V, 1920-1927 and undated [includes Alice Stone
Blackwell letter]
W-Z, 1923, 1924, 1925-1927 and undated