Skip to main content

Saffold, Millie, 2009

 File

  • Staff Only
  • Please navigate to collection organization to place requests.

Scope and Contents

Millie Saffold describes working as a cleaning lady for several white families in Iowa. She says she was not made to wear a uniform, she entered the house through the front door, and was permitted to use the restroom in the house. She also described unfair treatment, such as irregular employment from an employer who vacationed out of state for extended periods of time.

Dates

  • Creation: 2009

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research. Audio recordings of three oral history interviews are closed, but the associated transcripts are open.

Biographical / Historical

Millie Harriet Russell Saffold was born in Lexington, Mississippi, in 1921 to Penny (Mims) and Bertha Russell. She attended All Saints Industrial School. Millie Russell married Sylvester Saffold, whom she met in Lexington, in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1947. They were later divorced. The couple had one daughter, Barbara Ruth Culpepper-Scheel; three grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. Millie Saffold worked as a food preparer at the Colony Club and as a domestic worker. She was an avid gardener. Millie Saffold died in 2023 at the age of 101. [Biographical information found in Saffold’s obituary as published in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier]

Extent

From the Collection: 5 linear inches

From the Collection: 19 audiocassettes

From the Collection: 31.5 Gigabytes

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Repository Details

Part of the Iowa Women's Archives Repository

Contact:
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5068
319-335-5900 (Fax)