Vina Thorpe papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA0253

Staff Only

The Vina Thorpe papers date from 1893 to 1995 and measure 1.25 linear feet. The papers are arranged in four series: Personal, Professional, Travel columns, and Photographs.

The Personal series (1893, 1900, 1907-1995) contains many of Thorpe's writings about herself, her family's history, and other interests including the Questers, a group devoted to promoting the study and appreciation of antiques and their historical backgrounds. There is also biographical information on her husband Ray Thorpe, and some correspondence. Vina Thorpe's journals(1979-1995) concern her daily activities, thoughts, and concerns.

The Professional series (1953-1975 and undated) contains information on Thorpe Publications and many of the "Linotype Chatter" columns she wrote for the Thorpe newspapers.

The Travel columns series (1948-1967) contains the travelogue columns Thorpe wrote while on vacation plus photographs which she took on her trips.

The Photographs series (1893-1986 and undated) contains many photographs of Thorpe and her family, several of which pre-date her birth. Other photographs are of her travels and of the people employed by Thorpe Publications.

Dates

1893-1995
1907-1995

Creator

Thorpe, Vina, 1906- (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Extent

1.25 linear feet

Photographs in boxes 1-4 other_unmapped

Additional Description

Abstract

Des Moines newspaper columnist and editor who ran Thorpe Publications with her husband.

Biographical / Historical

Vina Roberts was born on March 25, 1906 in Centerville, Iowa, to Clyde L. and Dora Belle Roberts. Roberts married Ray Thorpe in 1933. She worked at Western Union for twenty years before quitting to join her husband in the newspaper business in 1947. Together they ran Thorpe Publications in Des Moines, Iowa, which published and distributed nine weekly newspapers in central Iowa, among them the Grimes Citizen and the Waukee Citizen. Even after her husband died in 1961, Thorpe continued to write for and edit the weekly newspapers her husband had established.