IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
VAN ZANTE AND DE COOK FAMILIES
PAPERS, 1888-1960s
1 linear inch
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 586) were
donated by June Van Haaften
in 1999. |
|
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research. |
|
|
COPYRIGHT: |
Copyright of the Besse DeCook diary has been transferred to the University of Iowa. Copyright of all other material has been retained by the owner. |
|
|
PROCESSED BY: |
Doris Malkmus, 1999. [WORD 7 VanZanteDeCook.doc] |
|
Biography
The
Anthony and Elizabeth Van Zante and their fourteen children were Dutch-American
immigrants who farmed near Pella, Iowa in the late nineteenth century. Mary Van Zante, born in 1876, went to rural school
in South Porterville and attended Pella First Reformed Church. She married Conrad De Cook, a neighboring
farmer, and together they had three sons.
Her husband died of a heart attack in 1926, and the boys farmed her farm
on shares until she died in 1949.
Ernest De Cook, one of the three sons of Mary and Conrad DeCook, married
Bess De Prenger in 1929. Their daughter
June De Cook married Willis Van Haaften, the son of Mabel Korver Van Haaften.
Scope and
Content Note
The
Van Zante and De Cook Family papers consist of photocopies of diaries and
reminiscences and measures one linear inch. The diary of Mary Van Zante De Cook
is a well-written, factual diary of a twelve-year old daughter of a Dutch
immigrant farm family near Pella, Iowa.
It recounts her day-by-day activities--school, church, chores, and other
farm events--from 1888 to 1900. A
second item in the collection are her son, Ernest De Cook’s, three brief
reminiscences: one about chicken thieves; another describing the drop in land
prices after 1920; and a third about country doctors. A second item in the collection is the 1932 diary of his wife,
Besse De Prenger De Cook, that details the daily activities on their farm the
year their daughter June De Cook was born.
The collection thus provides an interesting comparison between
generations, and between farm-girl adolescence and the life of a young married
farm woman.
Related Collections
Mabel
Korver Van Haaften
Box no. Description
**PRESS <control n> to indent each level.**
SCVF