Jane Christoffer Rubel papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA0346

Staff Only
Please navigate to collection organization to place requests.

Scope and Contents

The Jane Christoffer Rubel papers date from 1969 to 1993 and measure 5 linear inches. The papers contain the official document describing Rubel's lawsuit against the Iowa Girls' High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU); a letter of acknowledgment of the discrimination suit from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; newspaper clippings; letters of support; and a transcript of a Channel 9 KCRG editorial. The collection also includes a scrapbook composed by Rubel of newspaper clippings about the Ruthven girls' basketball team as well as her case against IGHSAU.

Dates

Creation: 1969-1993

Creator

Rubel, Jane Christoffer (1953 - ) (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

Jane Ann Christoffer was born December 31, 1953 in Emmetsburg, Iowa. Her family moved to Ruthven, Iowa where she became an outstanding participant in six-on-six girls' basketball. As a sophomore Rubel took the Ruthven Consolidated High School team to the state tournament, having scored 46.7 points per game and hitting 60 per cent of her shots for the season.

Christoffer married Kenny Rubel in her junior year, subsequently giving birth to daughter Jennifer. When she returned to play basketball her senior year the Iowa Girls' High School Athletic Union forbade Jane Rubel's participation, quoting a rule that a "student is ineligible for any Girls Union-sponsored activity after being associated with a marital status..." Rubel filed a $125,000 damage suit in federal court. Rubel had the full backing of the Ruthven school administration and community and also the service of the American Civil Liberties Union.

In November 1971 the girls' union Executive Secretary E. Wayne Cooley and the union's board repealed the seventeen-year old ruling which forbade married mothers from interscholastic competition. Rubel played her senior season, averaging thirty points a game and leading her team to within one game of the state tournament. Jane Rubel later became postmaster in Ruthven.