IOWA WOMEN'S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
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BETTE BROOKS STONE (1927-)
PAPERS, 1941-1993
7 linear inches
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ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 503) were donated by
Bette Stone in 1998. |
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ACCESS: |
The papers are open for
research. |
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ARTIFACTS: |
In Box 2. |
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COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
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PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In Box 1. |
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PROCESSED BY: |
Heather Stecklein, 2002. [StoneBette.doc] |
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Biography
Bette Brooks Stone was born in 1927
in Mapleton, Iowa to Beulah and Earl Brooks. The Brooks family raised six
additional children: Bob, Marian, Shirley, Jimmy, Janet, and Barbara Brooks. Bette
Brooks attended Mapleton High School during World War II and was active as a
drum majorette, basketball player, softball player and member of a girls’ vocal
sextet that earned its way to state competition. She participated in a number
of scrap drives and worked at the Office of Price Administration distributing
rationing stamps. Following her graduation from high school in 1945, Brooks
traveled to Omaha, Nebraska to train at the Western Union headquarters. She
then moved to Chicago, where she spent the next two years sending telegrams for
Western Union. She shared an apartment with other Western Union operators and
spent her free time visiting museums and meeting servicemen. She met her
husband James Stone in March of 1946 and married him on Thanksgiving Day of the
same year. Jim and Bette Stone raised five children, and Bette Stone worked
sporadically through the years including a stint at Oak Electro/Netics
Corporation in the mid 1960s. Bette Stone and her husband retired in Mapleton,
Iowa.
Scope and
Content Note
The Bette Brooks Stone papers date from
1941 to 1993 and measure 7 linear inches. The papers
include Stone’s memoir, “My life during World War II” detailing her activities
as a high school student during the war, a note from Jacqueline Kennedy
thanking her family for their sympathy, and championship patches from Women’s
International Bowling Congress tournaments. Stone’s high school memorabilia
include programs and table items from her prom and a schedule and
identification card from her girls’ singing sextet that competed at the state
competition. Stone’s collection of
items from her life in Chicago includes samples of the cigarettes her friends
smoked and programs from events she attended including ice skating shows with
Sonja Henie. Her scrapbook has been disbound and trimmed for preservation and
contains memorabilia with comments from throughout Stone’s life. The
photographs from Mapleton include her prom portrait, as well as images of her
high school friends and of Stone in her drum majorette uniform, which is housed
in Box 2. The photographs from Chicago depict Stone with fellow Western Union
workers and some of the service men she met in the wake of the war. The
engagement and honeymoon photographs include Stone’s camping trip with her
fiancé and honeymoon vistas. Stone’s artifacts include her satin high school
drum majorette uniform, a handkerchief sent to Stone by a serviceman in the
Philippines, and a black rubber exercise device with illustrated instructions.