BEULAH WIEDERRECHT (1905-1983)
PAPERS, 1946-1995
4 linear inches
Acquisition: The papers (donor no. 882) were donated by H. Elaine Lindgren in 2007.
Access: The papers are open for research.
Copyright: Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to The University of Iowa.
Preferred Citation: Beulah Wiederrecht Papers, Iowa Women's Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, IA.
Photographs: None.
Audiovisual: None.
Processed by: Sharon M. Lake, 2007.
Iowa Women's Archives
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242
Phone: 319-335-5068
Fax: 319-335-5900
E-mail the Iowa Women's Archives
Biography
Beulah Minder Wiederrecht, a teacher and homemaker, was born in 1905 to Hannah and John Minder on their farm near Muscatine, Iowa. She began teaching in a country school at age eighteen, and later, after receiving a teaching certificate from Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa), taught in the Wapello public schools. In 1931 she married Kenneth Wiederrecht and retired from teaching. The couple lived on a farm near Wapello, Iowa, and had two daughters: Lois and Elaine. After World War II, relief agencies solicited clothing and other items for the European victims of World War II. Beulah Wiederrecht donated some clothing, and the families who received it wrote to thank her. Wiederrecht located a Polish woman living in Burlington, Iowa, who translated the letters for her, and thus began a four-year correspondence between Wiederrecht and the two Polish families. Wiederrecht maintained a lifelong interest in world affairs, taught Sunday school, and was a 4-H leader for many years. Beulah Wiederrecht died in 1983.
Scope and Content Note
The Beulah Wiederrecht papers date from 1946 to circa 1995 and measure 4 linear inches. The papers consist of an unpublished essay written by Wiederrecht’s daughter, sociologist H. Elaine Lindgren, that analyzes the correspondence between Wiederrecht and two Polish families after World War II, and the documents that formed the basis for the essay. Those documents include the original Polish letters, the translations of those letters, notes written by the translator, letters written by Beulah Wiederrecht to the Przybysz and Zwingeta families in Poland, and a few newspaper articles about the translator’s life story. Lindgren’s essay seeks to show “the possibility of establishing primary ties, even with strangers, in order to reestablish a sense of order in chaotic circumstances.”
Related Collections
Land in Her Own Name by H. Elaine Lindgren shelved in the IWA printed works collection
[call number F636 L56 1991]
Box List
Box 1
For more information about this collection contact the Iowa Women's Archives.
Iowa Women’s Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City IA 52242.
Please send comments to: lib-women@uiowa.edu
URL: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa
Page created November 2007.
