Interviews with Iowa women legislators conducted by Suzanne O'Dea Schenken.

Records of the women’s organization activities associated with an Iowa City synagogue.

Picture of a Hanukah party in Denisen, Iowa in 1952.

The Ben and Betty Shapiro papers date from 1913 to 1993 and measure 2.5 linear inches. The Shapiro family genealogical files includes a ship passenger list, obituaries, death and hospital registries, certificates of immigration and naturalization, a family tree, and an article on the family’s history written for Los Angeles Genealogical Society newsletter. Also included is a book called “Climbing Jacob’s ladder: Life Stories of Jake Shapiro”, written by Ben Shapiro and published in 2006. The papers also include loose recipe pages and a recipe book published by the Shaare Zion Women’s League at the Shaare Zion Synagogue, Sioux City, Iowa in 1976. Finally, the Ben and Betty Shapiro Family papers include a photo of the Shapiro family, photos of family gravestones, and photo of a building in Russia.

Writer and life-long student who was active in the Sisterhood (Jewish aid society) at the Beth El Jacob Synagogue in Des Moines and Hadassah, a national organization aiding disadvantaged Jews, primarily children.

English professor and poet active in the Quad Cities writers’ community who as chairman of Iowa AAUW located dozens of WPA murals throughout the state.

Civic activist involved in the Jewish community, the Des Moines symphony, the League of Women Voters, and the Proteus Club.

Photographs from the life of a woman who lived in Hawarden, Iowa in the 1940s.

A prominent Jewish family in Iowa City, Iowa that included Nathan and Dora Chapman, owners of the Englert Theater, and Ansel Chapman, a State Distrcit Court judge.

Memoir of a Renate Nadler’s experience as a Jewish child in Nazi Germany written by her son, and an account of her son’s visit to her birthplace several decades following World War II.

Council Bluffs family that owned two grocery stores and attended B'Nai Israel Synagogue.

Community activist in civic and Jewish organizations in Waterloo, Iowa.

Essays about the Beth El Synagogue and the Fort Dodge Jewish community.

A Sioux City Jewish family that owned and operated the auto repair shop, Ben Fish Tire.

Co-director of the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Los Angeles, California who specialized in lesbian health care.

Member of the Iowa House of Representatives, 1965-1966, and the first Jewish woman elected to the Iowa Legislature.

Des Moines, Iowa community activist whose husband, Don D. Alt served as a State House Representative.

A philanthropist and member of the Jewish community in Sioux City, Iowa.

Jewish immigrant who fled Nazi-occupied Austria in 1939 and settled in Mount Vernon, Iowa