IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES

IOWA CITY, IOWA

 

 

 

 

MARJORIE VANDERVELDE (1908- )

NORTHN

PAPERS, 1837-2003

6 linear feet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACQUISITION:

The» papers (donor no. 534) were donated» by Marjorie Vandervelde in 1999, and subsequent years.

ACCESS:

The papers are open for research.

COPYRIGHT:

Copyright has been retained by the donor.

AUDIOCASSETTES:

AC 505; AC548; AC 553 to AC620 in Audiocassette Collection.

PHOTOGRAPHS:

Boxes 12 and 13.

PROCESSED BY:

ADDITIONS:

Doris Malkmus, 2001

 Janet Weaver, 2003.  [VanderveldeM.doc]


 

»Biography

Marjorie Mills Vandervelde, writer, traveller, and photojournalist, was born September 13, 1908, the ninth of ten children of Anna Burgess Mills and Dr. Ernest Mills.  Ernest married Anna Burgess and moved to the mining community of Payson, Illinois, where he practiced as a doctor.  When he developed symptoms of tuberculosis that he felt were aggravated by the dust from the mining operations, he moved his family and his medical practice to the rural town of Le Grand, Iowa.  In LeGrand, the Mills joined in the civic life of the town and became members of the Friends church.  The Mills family had shared the Friends’ abolitionist persuasion, but were never pacifists.  During World War One, the oldest sons Glenn and Max enlisted in the military and Dr. Ernest Mills attempted to enlist as a medic, but was told to he would be needed in the United States to deal with the flu pandemic of 1918.  The youngest Mills son, Ernest, Jr., enlisted in the military and was killed during World War Two.  Additional biographical materials about the Mills family are located in the Family series.

Marjorie Mills’ sister Ursula provided most of the care for her younger sister during her childhood, but her mother’s encouragement kindled a spirit of adventure in the children.  Anna Burgess Mills may have inherited her spirit from her father Joe Burgess, who joined the California Gold Rush in 1849.  Marjorie Mills Vandervelde was also influenced by her mother’s sister, Nellie Burgess, a reporter for the Chicago Daily News until 1908.  At that time, she quit her job to homestead in Idaho.  Her adventures as a single-woman homesteader, her stories of bears and rugged landscape shaped the imagination of Marjorie Vandervelde during her childhood.  Marjorie Vandervelde graduated from Le Grand High School and attended Penn (now William Penn) College and Iowa State University, where she met Andrew “Vandy” Vandervelde.  The couple was married December 31, 1929 in the Friends Church in LeGrand.  After marrying, they rented a farm near Emmetsburg where Andrew Vandervelde had grown up.  The Depression ensued, slashing the price of corn.  The Vanderveldes turned to breeding hybrid seed corn and began their own seed company, “Vandy’s Hybrid Seed Corn, Best by Test,” at the parental Vandervelde farm.  The company operated for many years and a portion of the proceeds were used to support scholarships in Le Grand and Emmetsburg.

Andrew and Marjorie Mills Vandervelde raised three sons, Gerry, Kent, and Donald.  When the children were young, the family was active in 4-H Clubs, the Methodist Church, school bands and athletics, and the Canter Club.  They vacationed by car with their children and when the youngest was in high school, Marjorie and Andrew Vandervelde began travelling overseas. Andrew and Marjorie Vandervelde took extended trips with her sister Ursula Mills Johnson beginning in the 1960s.  When her sons were pursuing college degrees and serving in the military, Marjorie Vandervelde became interested in writing about people in developing cultures in isolated regions of the world.  Her free-lance writing and photojournalist career led her to live among pre-modern peoples in isolated regions of the Arctic, Latin America, and the South Pacific. (See the list of international travels below).  During her travels, she adopted the lifestyle of the peoples she wrote about, learning their customs and beliefs through her own experience. Her older sister, Ursula Johnson accompanied her on many of her trips and kept detailed journals of their experiences.  These experiences formed the basis for some of the numerous newspaper and magazine articles she sold between the early 1960s and 2001.  Her many photographs were used to illustrate her writings.

Vandervelde became particularly interested in and returned many times to live among the Kuna Indians of the San Blas Archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Panama and South America.  She and her son Gerald supported the medical education of two men from this tribe.  She also formed an enduring friendship with Marvel Iglesias, a Michigan-born woman who married a Kuna Indian and lived in San Blas among the Kuna the rest of her life.  Marjorie Vandervelde continues to serve on the advisory board of a group which coordinates assistance to the Kuna Indians.

            Vandervelde wrote extensively for the juvenile press feeling a strong desire “to help children of different cultures and religions understand each other.”  In her writings for adults she has attempted to convey her respect for the dignity of primitive peoples.

Vandervelde published seven books: Keep Out of Paradise, 1966, Sam and the Golden People, 1970 (juvenile), Could It Be Old Hiari?, 1970 (juvenile), Across the Tundra, 1972 (juvenile), Beauty Is—A Ring in My Nose?, 1975, Born Primitive,1982, and Me Run Fast Good, 1983 (juvenile). She won numerous awards from the Iowa Press Women and the National Press Women award in 1973 for Across the Tundra.

See the autobiographical sketch by Marjorie Vandervelde in the first folder of the Family series.

 

Scope and Content Note

 

            The Marjorie Vandervelde collection dates from 1855 to 2003 and measures 6 linear feet.  The majority of the collection consists of published writings and original photographs from newspapers, magazines, and juvenile magazines from the late 1950s to 2001. The collection consists of five series: Family, Correspondence, Writings, Presentations, Awards, and Photographs. Marjorie Vandervelde organized much of the material according to subject before donation.  Her explanatory and identifying notes are included with the materials or in the first folder of sub-series.  The series order reflects the organization of Vandervelde wherever possible.  This collection is extraordinary for its writing and photography about primitive peoples and isolated cultures around the world, but also includes personal papers and records from the Mills family and extensive correspondence from Kent Vandervelde while he served in the military from the late 1950s until the 1980s.

 

            The Family series consists of items from and about the Burgess, Mills, and Vandervelde families.  A medical account book of Ernest Mills from his practice in Illinois from 1896 to 1900 provides valuable medical history.  Stories by Marjorie, Glenn, and Ernest Mills about family members are included here along with a color photocopy of the cartooned life of Glenn Mills by Dean Gaunt. Of particular note is the original World War I photograph album of Glenn Mills depicting his service in the Navy during the war.  There is also a set of maps and drawings of the Vandervelde family farm drawn by Andrew Vandervelde in 1923.  This series also includes a scrapbook of family photographs and writings.  An audiocassette tape of Kent Vandervelde describing his Navy experiences as well as an interview by Emmetsburg High School student Jess Horsley and his mother Maureen Horsley are included in this series.

 

 

            The Correspondence series includes letters between Marjorie and her brothers Ernest and Glenn and her son Kent. Letters by her son Kent from1965 include several from Vietnam where he was stationed during the conflict.  A list of contents is located in the folder of correspondence from notable correspondents.  This series includes a photocopy of an informative 1941 letter from Grant Wood to Nellie Burgess.  This series also includes letters taped onto audiocassettes that Marjorie Vandervelde sent and received from her close friend Marvel Iglesias and interviews with other Kuna tribal members.

 

            The Writings series forms the bulk of the collection.  Vandervelde combined a love of travel and adventure and a commitment to help children understand people of diverse cultures to devote much of her writing career to juvenile magazine articles.  These, along with news and magazine features about travel and characters comprise the majority of the series.  Three scrapbooks of her writings are included in this series.  Her books are available in the Iowa Authors section of the University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections Department.

 

            The Presentations and Awards series includes the scripts of various talks she gave around the state about her experience travelling and writing.  It also includes various writing awards Vandervelde and other family members received.

 

            The Photographs series consists of many photographs that Vandervelde took to illustrate her stories and articles.  These are almost exclusively of diverse peoples and cultures, with additional photographs of family members and family activities.

 

 

Partial list of Vandervelde travels

 

Carribean, 1952

Southwestern United States and Mexico (?),1956

Cuba, 1958

Northwest Territories, 1958

Taos, 1961

Florida, Appalachians, and Texas, 1962

Seattle World Fair, 1962

San Blas Islands, 1963 and every three years through 1993

Southern United States, 1964

Hawaii, 1966

Mexico and Guatemala 1967; Mexico, 1970

Alaska in 1967, and British Columbia, 1971; 1976, 1979, and 1982

Southern United States, 1968

Tonga and Samoa, 1969

Europe and Iceland, 1970

South America, 1972

Bering Sea, 1975

Middle East, 1978

Haiti, 1978

Wyoming, 1984

China, 1987

Africa, 1988

Box no.   Description

 

Box 1

                        Family

                           Autobiographical sketch by Marjorie Vandervelde, 2000

                           Burgess

                                1837-1899 and undated

 

                                Chapbook, 1855

                           Mills

                                1887, 1996, and undated

                                Dr. E. M. Mills’ accounts receivable book, 1896-1900

                                “The Country Doctor,” undated

                                Ernest, 1944-1978

                                Glenn

                                    1908-1917, 1989

                                    1917-1991 and undated

                                    cartooned life of Glenn Mills [shelved in map case]

                                    World War I photo album [oversize: box 17]

                                Le Grand Quaker Church, 1950 and undated

                                “Who’s Who in Le Grand: A Community Cartooned,” 1938

                                Le Grand “Alumni Album,” 1991

                                        LeGrand Road Race photograph, 1908 [shelved in map case]

                           Vandervelde

                                1914-1995 and undated

 

Box 2

                                Farm, 1920-1987

                                Travel documents, 1954-1983

                                Kent, 1965-1995

                                    Reminiscence on audiocassette of Navy experiences, undated, AC505

 

                        Correspondence

                             Family

                                  1918-1991

                                  1992-2001

                             Mills, Glenn, 1918-1987

                             Mills, Harlow, 1962-1963

                             Vandervelde, Kent

                                  1957

                                  1958

                                  1959

                                  1962-1964

                                  1965

                                  1966-1975

 

Box 3

                                  1976-1982

                                  1982-1984

                             Notables, 1941-1984

                                  Editors

                                  1957-1969

                                  1970-1989

                                  1990-2000

                             Readers

                                  1960-1969

                                  1970-1989

                                  1990-2000

                                  From “The Upper Room,” 1973-1995 and undated

                                  Undated

                             Smith, H. Morgan, 1965-1983 and undated

                             Tonga schoolchildren letters, 1969

                             Niuafoo Islander correspondents, 1969-1971

                             Slwooko, Grace, 1975

 

Box 4

                             Martinez, Gregorio, 1975-1995

                             Kuna correspondents

                                  1978-2000

                                   Marjorie Vandervelde to Marvel Iglesias (29 audiocassettes; AC576-AC604), 1980s

The Two Worlds of Marvel Iglesias, excerpts from the 1980s (AC576)

San Blas Letters from Iglesias to Vandervelde, 1982 (Crazy Medicines) (AC577)

Marvel Iglesias on her Life among the Kunas, Jan. 1974 (AC 578)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, My car accident/Kuna trouble for Gruvers/E'burg man wants me to write book/Crooked corn rows/music/traditional Kuna ways, 1 of 3, 1981 (AC579)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias: Days of my life/paternal roots and their helping runaway slaves, 8-12-81 (AC 580)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias: Carlitos, Mack, Gerry and I locked in at Ailigandi, Aunt Nellie, Dec. 18, 1981 (AC581)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Cockroaches are nervous, Gruvers to CA. Rosa Tasom, Charlotte sings. Sula on piano, Aug. 31, 1981 (AC582)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Jane's cancer, Jud/Oran/Xmas bits/How I created book characters, Dec. 1982 (AC583)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Kuna chief's tomb is empty?, book business, Jane has cancer, Dec. 1982-Jan. 1983 (AC584)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Book publishing business/blizzard/medical, Jan. 29, 1983. (AC585)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Kathy to visit, co-authored book details, ice, farm markets, Greece, Feb. 1983 (AC586)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Mexico hideaway, Pacific, Mission board, Sept. trip to Panama, illegal goose, June 1983 (AC587)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Eye surgery, Oct. 1983(AC588)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Stick bridge, surgery joke, old piano, book unveiling, Xmas box to Arabian Sea, October 28, 1983 (AC589)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, First farm, eyes, wedding, retirement homes, mola quilt, Nov. 1983 (AC590)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Eye, yard, birds, Rookettes, no rocking chair missionary, our book, Nov. 1983. (AC591)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Voices, cockroach mola, Xmas, freighter food, new stove for Marvel, Kent's airplane carrier, Dec. 1983 (AC592)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Rooks, Alicia, Lost corpse, Puerto Rico and Morocco, Jan. 1984 (AC593)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Rookettes, Alicio, funeral, Puerto Rico, Boxes to Panama, Jan. 1984 (AC594)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, GV's room like my father's 1890 doctor office, Quaker thoughts, Jesse Jackson, Jan. 1984 (AC595)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Atilio's kiss, Greg's problem, Galvas (albino), Jan. 1984 (AC596)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Jungle farm, blizzard, the bomb, NY journalists visit Iowa, Feb. 24, 1984 (AC597)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Alicio, Atilio, Loco Kuna, Sula, Mar. 20, 1984 (AC598)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Travel plans, drugs, Puerto Rico trip, mola quilt, Chief Ceferino, Guaymi Indian with a chauffeur, Mar. 1984 (AC599)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Glenn, Reba Pierce, Circle program, Ulbaldino, Salvador refugees, June 10, 1984 (AC600)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Rhubarb, canoe in cornfield, KV Air Boss on carrier Ranger vs Russians, July 1, 1984 (AC601)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Cabin in forest, my sons, trivia, July 13, 1984 (AC602)

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, Maria and Perrine guests, El Salvador Quaker medic, Economics, USA, July 25, 1984 (AC603)

 

 

Letter, Vandervelde to Iglesias, I bought Marvel a kitchen stove, a sewing machine.  She bought a coffin.  All came by boat.  Pigs killed as evil spirits, 1984 (AC604)

                                 Marvel Iglesias to Marjorie Vandervelde (16 audiocassettes; AC605-620), 1980s.

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Daily life of the only non-Indian living with Kunas, 1981 (AC605)

                                                  Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Nov. 1983 (AC606)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Feb. 1980 (AC607)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Dec, 1982 (AC608)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, (Best, most complete) letter, jungle cures, no date (AC609)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Chants, sermon, Christmas, 1983 (AC610)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Nov. 1983 (AC611)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Peter Miller sings, Dec. 1983 (AC612)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Dec. 1983 to Jan. 1984 (AC613)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, 1984 (AC614)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Kills pigs, Jan. 1984 (AC615)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Mack Preston's Xmas message, Kuna father and his children, 50th year since Marvel started mission schools, no date (AC616)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, Feb. 1984 (AC617)

                                      Letter, Iglesias to Vandervelde, March, 1984 (AC618)

                                      Marvel Iglesias, Nov. 2, 1984, Collegiate Presbyterian Church, Ames, Iowa [Sound quality poor.] (AC619)

                                      Marvel Iglesias, I married a San Blas Indian, no date [Sound quality poor.] (AC620)

                                  Kuna Indians (23 audiocassettes; AC 553-AC575), 1980s

"Honor Program for M. Vandervelde, Apr. 12, 1993.  The speeches. (AC 553)

                                      Kuna Medicine Man Chant, Aligandi, 1973 (AC 554)

                                      Atilio Rivera's sermon, August 14, 1983 (AC 555)

                                      Atilio Rivera's sermon, October, 1986 (AC 556)

                                      Kuna Milton Morris re: San Blas Medical Mission-Tape 1 (AC557)

                                                  Kuna Milton Morris re: San Blas Medical Mission-Tape 2 (AC558)

                                                  Kuna Milton Morris re: San Blas Medical Mission-recalls Lonnie incident (AC559)                                                    

                                      Kuna Milton Morris and M. Vandervelde re: San Blas Medical Mission (AC560)

                                      Kuna Peter Miller, Aligandi, Jan. 1976 (AC561)

                                      Kuna music from A to Z plus a snake bite chant, plus kids sing "old Chon Brown." (AC562)

                                      Kuna Les Chambers, Feb.24, 1982 (AC563)

                                      Kuna Peter Miller, Aligandi, 1982 (AC564)

                                      Kuna Peter Miller, "Fishy conversation," on the road to Ames, Iowa, Oct. 27, 1986 (AC565)

                                      Kuna Pablo, Mar. 10, 1982 (AC566)

                                      Kuna Atilio Rivera, Mar. 15, 1982 [in Kuna] (AC567)

                                      Kuna Rhoda Gaskim and Jud Iglesias, Mar. 6, 1982 (AC568)

                                      Kuna Alicia Tigre, Mar. 1982 (AC569)

                                      San Blas Church Music, no date (1982) (AC570)

                                      Kuna Fish Stories and Jungle Life (AC571)

                                      Within the culture, Kuna Chants and Music (AC572)

                                      Kuna Fish Stories and Jungle Stories, 1991 (AC573)

                                      Kuna Fish Stories and Jungle Stories, 1991--copy 2 (AC574)

                                      Kuna Fish Stories and Jungle Stories, 1991--copy 3 (AC575)

                             Stevens, Elmer and Vera, 1984-1986

                             Boersma, Ann, 1999-2000

 

                        Writings

                             Autobiographical, undated

                             Travel accounts

                                  Alaska

                                       1950s-1960s

                                  Panama

                                       1963-1981

                                       1983-1990

                                  San Blas

                                       1985-1986

                                       1992

                                       1993

                                  China, 1987

                                  Africa, 1988

                             Travel accounts by Ursula Johnson [see Box 11]

                             Violet Hensley story file, 1974-1977

                             Story typescripts, Undated                                                                          

                                          

Box 5              

                             Africa typescripts, 1988 and undated

                             Poetry, undated

                             Books [other books by Marjorie Vandervelde are located in Iowa Authors Collections, Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries]

                                  Across the Tundra, 1972

                                  Christmas: The Annual of Christmas Literature and Art, 1989

                             Magazine stories, 1986

                             Scrapbooks

                                  Writings, 1959-1962 [oversize: box 14]

                                  Middle America experiences, 1960s-1990s [oversize: box 15]

                                  Panama, 1960s-1990s [oversize box 15, includes Kuna chant book]

                                  Family, 1960s-1990s [oversize: box 16]

                             Juvenile magazine

                                  1958-1972

                                  Africa, 1963, 1976

                                  Alaska, 1963-1981

                                  Appalachia, 1964-1970

                                  Middle and South America, 1963-1993

                                  South Asia, 1964-1975

                                  South Pacific, 1967-1976

                                  United States, 1964-1980

 

Box 6

                                  Native Americans, 1964-1970

                                  Religious topics, 1965-1981

                                  Science topics, 1965-1967

                                  Braille format, Undated

                             Magazine features

                                  Alaska, 1964-1983

                                  American life, 1964-1993

                                  American West, 1967-1977

                                  Asia, 1963-1989

                                  Europe, 1968 and undated

                                  Central and South America, 1966-1993

                                  Middle East, 1978, 1981

                                  South Pacific, 1963-1975

                                  American family topics, 1964-1992

                                  Horses, 1964-1972

                                  Religious topics, 1964-1994

                                  Writing topics, 1972

                            

 

                             Newspaper columns

                                  “World At Our Feet”

                                       1958

                                       1959-1960

 

Box 7                            

                                       1961-1962