Biography

Her Own Story: Ten Benton County Women is a women's oral history project of the Vinton, Iowa, American Association of University Women (AAUW). In 1984 members of the AAUW interviewed and taped the histories of ten Benton County women. In 1985 the tapes were transcribed, resulting in over 900 pages of typescript. To put the transcripts into a more accessible form, Bettie McKenzie of Red Oak, Iowa, volunteered in 1988 to edit them. In 1992 the book, Her Own Story: Ten Benton County Women, was completed. Two bound copies were placed in the Vinton Public Library and are available on inter-library loan. A slide-tape show was produced based on these interviews and is also available at the Vinton library. All of the women, who were born at the turn of the twentieth century, were asked questions about family background, education, work history, personal memories and historical events. Their stories reveal ten individuals of varying backgrounds and experiences, yet who are typical of women on farms and in small towns of the Midwest. The project was supported with grants from the Iowa Humanities Board and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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