Bridging the Generations Exhibit: Master Farm Homemakers Guild records

Collection

Identifier: IWA0589

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection includes a brief history of the creation of the exhibit, letters supporting a grant application to the Iowa Humanities Board, and a teaching packet for using the exhibit with school groups. Materials also include photographs of the travelling exhibit, a travel schedule for 1998-2001, and a supplemental booklet for exhibit viewers. The video, "Celebrating Farm Homemaking," is available in the Audiovisual collection.

Dates

1992-1999

Creator

Master Farm Homemakers Guild (Iowa) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

The records are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Biographical / Historical

The non-profit Master Farm Homemakers Guild is an honorary association of approximately 160 farm women who have demonstrated noteworthy leadership and community involvement. Wallace's Farmer inducts four women annually from a pool of women nominated by community groups across the state. The Guild celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 1992 by creating a video "Celebrating Farm Homemaking." In the spring of 1996, they determined to expand their efforts to publicize the history of the Master Farm Homemakers in Iowa. With a grant from the Iowa Humanities Board, they created a travelling exhibit of photographs, biographies and history of selected farm homemakers through the last century. Featured women included Carrie Chapman Catt, Sarah Gillespie Huftalen, Fannie R. Buchanan, Jessie Field Shambaugh, Miriam Pyle Johnson, Ruth Buxton Sayre, Alice Van Wert Murray, and Beverly George Everett. The exhibit, entitled "Bridging the Generations: The Lives and Contributions of Rural Iowa Women," has been on display in various towns across the state in subsequent years.