IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES
IOWA CITY, IOWA
MARTHA STOESSEL WAHL
(1916- )
PAPERS, 1938-1995 (bulk 1961-1985)
7 linear inches and
audiovisual material
|
ACQUISITION: |
The papers (donor no. 148) were donated
by Martha Stoessel Wahl in
1993 and succeeding years. |
|
ACCESS: |
The papers are open for research. |
|
COPYRIGHT: |
»Copyright has been transferred to the University of Iowa. |
|
ARTIFACTS: |
»In boxes 2 and 4. |
|
AUDIOVISUAL: |
»One multi-media kit located in box 2 and two super 8mm films shelved in the film collection (F2-F3). |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS: |
»In boxes 1 and 3. |
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PROCESSED
BY: |
Your name, year»Kristen Rassbach, 1996. |
Biography
Martha
"Stacey" Stoessel Wahl was an educator and a self-proclaimed
"gadgeter." She was born in
Ottumwa, Iowa, on March 9, 1916. Wahl
received her B.A. from the State University of Iowa, now the University of
Iowa, in 1938 and her M.A. from Columbia University. She taught high school mathematics for seven years and, until
1986 when she retired, she taught math at the college and university
levels. She married John Wahl, a
nuclear physicist, in 1943. They had
three children.
After retiring as a full professor of math and computer
science at Western Connecticut State University, Wahl gave regional and
national workshops at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
meetings. She holds two patents for
educational toys, has written several professional articles, collaborated on a book with her husband John
Wahl, and created a multi-media kit for the teaching of mathematics to
children.
Scope and Content Note
The Martha Stoessel Wahl papers date
from 1938 to 1995 and measure 7 linear inches. The papers
are arranged in two series: Personal and
Professional. The scrapbook contained
in the Personal series consists of
newspaper clippings concerning both her private life and her professional life.
Dr. Ruth Lane was Wahl's mentor and the woman who turned
her professional aspirations from history to the teaching of mathematics. Lane supervised Wahl's student teaching at
University High in Iowa City, Iowa. It
is to her memory that this collection is dedicated.
The Professional
series includes Wahl’s published articles, presentations she gave to illustrate
various methods of teaching mathematics, artifacts and kits she devised to
teach mathematics to children, photographs, and two films.
Wahl's two books, I
Can Count the Petals of a Flower (1976), co-authored with John Wahl, and The Flavor of Our Lives: Grandma Stacey's Memoirs (1995), are
shelved in the printed works collection of the Iowa Women's Archives. The
Flavor of Our Lives includes sections on her experiences in Iowa City in
the 1940s, when her husband was helping to develop the atom smasher at the
State University of Iowa, and on her experiences teaching and raising her
family.
Box no. Description
Box 1
Personal
Biographical information,
1984, 1988, 1992 and undated
Awards, 1977
Documents
Permission for entry into
China, 1986
Teaching contract, 1943
Interests
History, 1981
Travel displays, 1972-1991
Lane, Dr. Ruth (1919-1943),
undated
Newspaper clippings,
1947-1999 and undated
Significant events in the
life of a native Iowan, undated
Scrapbook, 1961-1995 and
undated [oversize: shelved in box 3]
Professional
Correspondence, 1961-1984
Films
Dot numbers, undated
[shelved with the film collection: F2]
A mop handle tetrahedron,
undated [shelved with the film collection: F3]
Mathematical aids
A Percentage Visualizer, ca.
1990 [oversize: shelved in box 4]
Counting Experiences
Information, 1978-1979
Multi-media kit, 1978 [in
box 2]
Discovery cubes
Cubes [in box 2]
Patents, 1982
I Can Count the Petals of a Flower
Information, undated
Photographs, 1980, 1987 and undated
Wahlgram, undated
Presentations
Fun with Ven Diagrams, 1966
Original project for Dr.
Ruth Lane, 1938
Pattern learning
Information, undated
Photographs, undated
Probability and statistics,
1959
Products using negative
factors illustrated with cuisenaire rods
Information, 1978
Photographs, undated
Pursuit curves as an activity
Information, undated
Photographs, undated
Slide rule instruction, 1964
The wrapping function using
zippers (cont.)
Information, 1980
Photographs, undated
Box 1 (cont.)
Professional (cont.)
Published articles
List of articles, undated
"The Altitude to the
Hypotenuse of a Right Triangle."
Connecticut Mathematics Journal. 4(2) May 1972: 7-12.
"Computer-enriched
instruction for the elementary
teacher." The Arithmetic Teacher. March 1969: 189-192.
"An easy-to-paste model
of the rhombic dodecahedron." Mathematics Teacher. November 1978:
689-693.
"Easy-to-paste
solids." The Arithmetic Teacher.
October 1965: 145-148.
"How to tell time by
the big dipper." The Communicator.
Summer 1978: 38-39.
"Marshmallow
math." Early Years. 1 April
1977: 32-34.
Article
Photographs, 1978, 1981
"Marshmallows,
Toothpicks, and Geodesic Domes." The
Arithmetic Teacher. December 1977: 39-42.
"The
orthotetrakaidekahedron--a cell model for
biology classes." The
Mathematics Teacher. March 1977: 244-247.
"A percentage
visualizer." In Manipulative
Activities and Games in the Mathematics Classroom, edited by Lee E. Vochko.
National Education Association. 1979: 48-49.
"A
permanent-soap-bubble geometry." The
Arithmetic Teacher. 19(4) April 1972: 307-308.
Article
Photographs, 1971
"Polygons with
congruent edges." New England
Mathematics Journal. X(1) January 1978: 3-9.
"Simpson's rule for
volume and the hand held calculator," undated
"'We made it and it
works!' the classroom construction of sundials." The Arithmetic Teacher. April 1970: 301-304.
Photographs
Teaching, 1986 and undated
Box 2
Professional
Mathematical aids
Counting Experiences
Multi-media kit, 1978
Discovery cubes
Box 3
Oversize:
Personal
Scrapbook, 1961-1995 and undated
Box 4
Artifacts:
Professional
A Percentage Visualizer, ca. 1990