IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
VINA THORPE (1906- )
PAPERS, 1893-1995
(bulk 1907-1995)
1.25 linear feet
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers
were donated by Vina Thorpe
(donor no. 355) and Deborah Conger (donor no. 358) in 1996. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers
are open for research. |
|
AUDIOVISUAL: |
One videocassette shelved in videocassette
collection (V88). |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
In boxes 1 to 4. |
|
PROCESSED BY: |
Kristen Rassbach, 1996. |
Biography
Vina Roberts was born on March 25, 1906,
in Centerville, Iowa, to Clyde L. and Dora Belle Roberts. Roberts married Ray Thorpe in 1933. She worked at Western Union for twenty years
before quitting to join her husband in the newspaper business in 1947. Together they ran Thorpe Publications in Des
Moines, Iowa, which published and distributed nine weekly newspapers in central
Iowa, among them the Grimes Citizen
and the Waukee Citizen. Even after her husband died in 1961, Thorpe
continued to write for and edit the weekly newspapers her husband had
established.
Scope and
Content Note
The Vina Thorpe papers date from 1893 to 1995 and measure 1.25 linear feet.
The papers are arranged in four series: Personal, Professional,
Travel columns, and Photographs.
The Personal series (1893, 1900, 1907-1995) contains many of Thorpe's
writings about herself, her family's history, and other interests including the
Questers, a group devoted to promoting the study and appreciation of antiques
and their historical backgrounds. There
is also biographical information on her husband Ray Thorpe, and some
correspondence. Vina Thorpe's journals
(1979-1995) concern her daily activities, thoughts, and concerns.
The Professional series (1953-1975 and undated) contains information on
Thorpe Publications and many of the "Linotype Chatter" columns she wrote
for the Thorpe newspapers.
The Travel columns series (1948-1967) contains the travelogue columns
Thorpe wrote while on vacation plus photographs which she took on her trips.
The Photographs series (1893-1986 and undated) contains many photographs of Thorpe and her
family, several of which pre-date her birth.
Other photographs are of her travels and of the people employed by
Thorpe Publications.
Related
Collections
Wilma Belden Collins papers
Collins was a newspaper corespondent for Thorpe
Publications Weekly from 1946 to 1947.
Box no. Description
Box 1
Personal
Biographical writings
"Imported French
Organdy," undated
"It's a Virus,"
undated
"Reminiscing,"
1989
"The Life and Times of
Vina P. Thorpe," 1986
"Vignettes of
Childhood," undated
Family history writings
"A History of the
Mikels Clan," 1973
"Christmas a Long Time
Ago," 1993
"Dora Belle's 'An Old
Fashioned Thanksgiving,'" undated
"Genealogy of Lyman
Mikels," 1993
"The Valentine,"
undated
"Recollections of Dora Belle
Mikels Roberts as told to her daughter Vina Roberts Thorpe," undated
"Great Grandfather
Clyde Leslie Roberts," 1962
"Childhood Memories: My
Most Unforgettable Character," 1989
"The Murphy Farm,"
undated
"Where my Grandmother
Went to School," 1959
Journals
1979-1992
1992-1995
Twenty-fifth anniversary,
1958
Newspaper clippings, 1941,
1955
Ray E. Thorpe, 1961, 1964,
1981, 1983 and undated
Essays
Questers, 1962, 1986, 1994
Remembrances, 1992, 1993 and
undated
Articles, 1978, 1979 and
undated
Memorials, 1983, 1986 and
undated
Miscellaneous, 1975-1994 and
undated
Correspondence, 1960-1994
(scattered)
Videotaped reminiscences,
1996 (also includes Evelyn Reames discussing the Reames Noodle Co. and with
Iowa Women's Archives curator Karen Mason) [shelved with videocassette
collection: V88]
Professional
Thorpe Publications,
1953-1975 and undated
Linotype Chatter, 1950-1969 and undated
Scrapbook [Linotype Chatter], 1950-1965 and undated
[oversize: shelved in box 3]
Colorado, 1948
Smokey Mountains, 1950
Park Rapids, MN, 1953
Mississippi River, 1954
Wisconsin, 1954
Lake Michigan, 1955
Box 2
Yellowstone, 1956
New Mexico, 1957
Texas, 1957
Michigan, 1958
Florida, 1959
Scrapbook [oversize: shelved
in box 4]
Mexico, 1959
Hawaii, 1962
New England, 1963
Europe, 1967
Photographs
Family, 1912 and undated
Family and friends, 1893,
1900, 1920, 1924, 1941 and undated
Mexico trip, 1959
Ray Thorpe, 1913, 1958, 1959
and undated
Twenty-fifth anniversary,
1958
Thorpe Publications,
1953-1975 and undated
Vina Roberts Thorpe, 1907,
1908, 1916, 1919, 1924, 1986 and undated
Vina and Ray Thorpe, 1933,
1960 and undated
Miscellaneous
Vacation, 1933, 1951
"The Bloomer
Girls," undated
Box
3
Oversize:
Professional
Scrapbook [Linotype Chatter], 1950-1965
Box
4
Travel columns
Florida, 1959 (Scrapbook)