Mary Ellen Moore papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA0651

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The Mary Ellen Moore papers date from 1933 to 1998 and measure 5 linear inches. The bulk of Moore's papers are writing assignments she completed as a high school and college student. Most of the remaining papers cover the period when she was a teacher at Iowa City High School in Iowa City, Iowa.

Correspondence (1968 to 1998) includes a Mother's Day letter written by Moore's daughter in 1997, nine months before Moore's death. There are also several cards Moore sent to colleague and friend Janie Yates following Moore's retirement in1981, and a photograph of Moore.

Teaching contracts (1957 to 1981) includes all the teaching contracts Moore had with the Iowa City Community School District, including the 1981 contract which was never fulfilled since Moore retired before the new school year commenced.

Iowa City High School Staff Newsletter (1985 to1989) contains a complete set of the staff newsletter edited by Janie Yates. Though Moore had already retired, Yates sent her copies of the newsletter, often including personal notes in the margins. Moore sometimes sent back comments or suggestions to Yates, and a few of these are also included in this folder.

High school writing assignments (1933-1935, and undated) The pieces in these two folders are handwritten by Moore. One of the undated assignments is titled "My Autobiography." There are also several book reports, personal essays, and editorials.

American women vs. frauleins (1952) This is an essay Moore seems to have written for herself, as she was not attending school at the time. The essay was written in responseto an article Moore read that attempted to explain why American men were divorcing their wives to marry German women or other foreign women. Moore takes issue with the enslavement ofwomen through marriage and the inadequacies of American men.

College Writing Assignments (1954-1964, undated) These four folders contain some of Moore's papers, notes and tests from her college days and reflect an emphasis on literature, history and psychology courses. Of particular interest today may be Moore's essay "The Eastern Question," in which she analyzes the Palestine/Israel conflict in 1956. This paper includes an excellent 1950s bibliography of sources pertaining to the Middle East and is found in folder two for Coe College. Folder 4 in the series contains unidentified material that apparently represents college assignments since they are all typed rather than handwritten.

Dates

Creation: 1933-1997

Creator

Moore, Mary Ellen, 1919-1998 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright held by the donor has been retained by the donor.

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

Mary Ellen Moore was born Mary Ellen Hendryx in Center Point, Iowa, on August 30, 1919, to Marie Sarchett Hendryx and A. L. "Andy" Hendryx. Hendryx attended Benjamin Franklin High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. From 1936-37, Hendryx attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After graduating from the Paris Beauty Academy, Hendryx was a cosmetologist in Iowa City and Davenport, Iowa from 1938-42. Hendryx met her future husband Kenneth C. Moore in Davenport. The couple was married on September 24, 1942. Moore went with her husband to California, where she worked at the Victorville Air Force Supply while her husband served in World War II from 1942-45.

Following the war, the Moores returned to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where in October 1945, Moore gave birth to twins, James A. and Susan J. Moore, becoming a fulltime housewife until 1951. From 1951-57, Moore worked as a typist and comptometrist for McGladrey, Hansen, Dunn and Company, an auditing firm in Cedar Rapids. She returned to Coe College in 1954, graduating cum laude in 1957. Moore's husband died in February 1957. Moore began teaching at Iowa City High School in Iowa City, Iowa in the fall of 1957, where she remained until her retirement in 1981. While teaching at Iowa City High School, Moore earned her M.A. in English Education from the University of Iowa in 1962. Moore was a committed teacher who was particularly concerned about education for "the poor student and the superior student." She was an advocate of the Iowa Advanced Standing Program in English, minority literature and interdepartmental teaching methods. Moore died February 15, 1998.

Extent

5.00 linear inches

Photographs in box 1. boxes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

High school English teacher from Iowa City.

Method of Acquisition

The papers (donor no. 461) were donated by Janie Yates in 1998.

Related Materials

Janie Yates papers (IWA): Iowa City High School English and drama teacher, and literature instructor at the Iowa City Senior Citizen's Center and the Kirkwood Learning Center in Iowa City, Iowa. Yates was both a colleague and friend of Mary Ellen Moore, and donated Moore's papers to the Iowa Women's Archives.