Iowa Women in Health and Medicine: An Iowa Women's Archives Resource Guide: Educators

A guide to primary sources held at the Iowa Women's Archives that feature women in the medical profession including physicians, nurses, midwives, and pharmacists.

From the University of Iowa Dental Hygiene Program records

The Dental Hygiene Program records include images of students both working hard and having fun like this photograph from the early 1990s.

These wax teeth were used as instructional aids.

From the Brine, Pelton, and Thompson v. University of Iowa records

After the University of Iowa closed the Dental Hygiene program in 1995, three former faculty filed suit, alleging gender discrimination.

Advocates for the Dental Hygiene Program accrued evidence to suggest that university budget cuts disproportionately hurt women.

Papers of Educators and records of Educational Institutions

Aydelotte, Myrtle Kitchell (1917 - 2010)
Papers, 1934 – 2001. 21 linear feet. When the University of Iowa’s School of Nursing was superseded by the College of Nursing in 1949, Myrtle Kitchell was its first dean. Her papers, extending to fifty-one boxes, chronicle her professional experiences in detail including her research and conference presentations focused on the intersection of societal change and nursing. The papers also include administrative documentation from her positions at the University of Iowa and positions within professional organizations such as the American Nursing Association.
Bechtel, Esther Snitker (1919 - 2000)
Papers, 1938 – 1940. 7.5 linear inches. Esther Snitker Bechtel was a nursing student at the State University of Iowa (today the University of Iowa) from 1938 to 1940. Her papers comprise solely of handwritten notes and typewritten handouts from her courses during that time. The coursework included represents a broad array of subjects such as obstetrics, pediatrics, urology, food and nutrition and even sociology.
Berg, Mary (1950 - )
Papers, 1911 – 2004. 4.75 linear feet. Dr. Mary Berg received a PharmD from the University of Kentucky in 1978 and joined the University of Iowa’s College of Pharmacy as an assistant professor in 1980. She became the first woman to be promoted to full professor in the College of Pharmacy in 1995. Berg’s research in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics focused on gender-related differences in medication response. Her collection includes her edited volumes and text from her numerous international presentations around the topic of gender-specific medicine. References to Berg’s experience as a woman in a male-dominated field can be found in the General folder of the Presentations series and in her application to promote to full professor.
Brine, Pelton, and Thompson v. The University of Iowa
Records (1985 – 1996). 10.25 linear feet. After the University of Iowa closed its Dental Hygiene Program in 1995, former faculty members Elizabeth Pelton, Nancy Thompson, and Pauline Brine sued the university, alleging discrimination against an all-female program. The records of the suit are thorough and include copies of every exhibit, full trial transcripts, multiple letters of support, and newspaper articles from regional newspapers following the case.
Clark, Marion Jones (1916 - 2011)
Papers, 1930 – 2003. 10 linear inches. Marion Jones Clark joined the Department of Bacteriology at the State University of Iowa in 1940, first as an assistant hospital bacteriologist and later as an assistant professor. She left the university in 1960. Her collection includes her master’s thesis, “Experimental Endocarditis Lenta in Rabbits,” and copies of several of her publications, which focus on tissue culture methods in microbiology and physiology. Two laboratory manuals detail the semester schedules for classes she taught: diagnostic bacteriology and medical bacteriology, and nurses’ laboratory instruction.
Donahue, Mary Patricia (1939 - 2023)
Papers, 1872 – 2006. 3 linear feet. Donahue’s papers cover her professional career in which she published widely about oncology, terminal illness, and the history of American nursing. Most of her papers are taken up with her publications, including the book “Nursing, the Finest Art: An Illustrated History.” Other highlights include Donahue’s ongoing correspondence with Yamanishi School of Nursing in Japan, which culminated in a faculty exchange with the University of Iowa in 2002, and a 1969 interview with Lucile Petry Leone, the founding director of the Cadet Nurse Corps, conducted by nursing historian, Teresa E. Christy.
Lyford, Marjorie Elizabeth (1910 - 2004)
Papers, 1865 – 2002. 4.6 linear feet. The nursing materials in Lyford’s collection focus dually on her education and her teaching career. Lyford saved scrapbooks, photographs, and correspondence with her parents from her days at Kahler Hospital School of Nursing in Rochester, Minnesota. Scrapbooks also contain sporadic references to courses she offered on infant and prenatal care as a public nurse. Finally, Lyford taught at the University of Iowa and was briefly appointed interim dean of the College of Nursing in 1964. Her papers include photographs, newspaper clippings, and a curriculum vitae from this time.
Meyer, Marie Schultz (1918 - 1993)
Papers, 1901 – 1993. 12.5 linear inches. Meyer’s papers are dominated by several scrapbooks which document her years as a student at the State University of Iowa (today the University of Iowa). Meyer attended the School of Nursing from 1936 – 1939 and her scrapbooks document daily life on campus along with photographs of her and her classmates in nursing uniforms. Her collection also includes class notes, and several issues of alumni newsletters.
University of Iowa College of Nursing records
Records (1887 – 2005). 5.75 linear feet. The University of Iowa housed a School of Nursing from 1896 to 1947 and a College of Nursing from 1948 to the present day. Both iterations of the institution are covered in the College of Nursing records. The records include a smattering of historical documents such as commencements and brochures for the program over several decades. Photographs of nursing students in and outside of class and examples of nursing equipment and uniforms are also highlights of the collection.
University of Iowa Dental Hygiene Program
Records (1913 – 2005). 20.25 linear feet. The University of Iowa’s Dental Hygiene program operated from 1949 to 1995, catering mostly to female students. The collection houses intriguing artifacts such as an instructional skull and carved wax teeth, but most of the records are tied to the day-to-day operations of the department. In addition to extensive administrative records, highlights of the collection include files from the program’s community health initiative, in which dental hygiene students served Iowans outside the University setting, and several scrapbooks documenting student life.

From the Mary Patricia Donahue papers

A professor and Associate Dean in the University of Iowa's College of Nursing, Mary Patricia "Pat" Donahue was known for her work as a nurse historian. She is pictured here in front of a copy of her best-known work, Nursing, The Finest Art: An Illustrated History (1985).

From the University of Iowa College of Nursing records

College of Nursing records include many images and other records of students such as these women above from 1907 and the early 1930s.

The University of Iowa's nursing building c. 1969.