Pearl Knoop papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA0379

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The Pearl Knoop papers date from 1933 to 1998 and measure 3.25 linear feet. The papers are a record of Knoop's bird watching activities during these years; they also contain weather data from newspaper clippings and a card file of her bird sightings. The daily bird watching diaries provide some insight into Knoop's daily life, noting where she was and what she was doing when she sighted particular birds. On April 28, 1937, for example, she wrote, "Came back from Floyd again Monday evening as school closed on account of Scarlet Fever. Went over to Schwartz' this afternoon, saw two Shrikes on way over... Clair saw a Franklin Gull today."

Records from 1933-1940 and 1996-1998 are less complete than records from other periods. The 1967 list contains an article written by Knoop on her bird watching activities for the Charles City Press.Â In "Iowa Birds: Aunt Pearl's List," Knoop wrote about how she became interested in bird watching. "We liked our Baltimore Orioles," she writes. "Now the AOU [American Ornithologist Union] has changed their names to Northern Orioles. I didn't approve."

Dates

Creation: 1933-1998

Creator

Knoop, Pearl, 1905-1998 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to the University of Iowa.

However, copyright status for some collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge the Iowa Women’s Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/

Biographical / Historical

Pearl Knoop lived most of her life in Marble Rock, Iowa. She attended Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) in Cedar Falls and taught in Marble Rock, Iowa, and in South Dakota. She also ran the Marble Rock library and was a correspondent for the Charles City newspaper. Her major hobby was bird watching, and she kept detailed journals of her bird watching activities for over sixty years. Pearl Knoop died on November 25, 1998.