Sara Markovitz Strauss papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA0836

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The Sara Markovitz Strauss papers measure 2.5 inches and date between 1920 and 2009. The bulk of the contents relate to Markovitz's adolescence and early adulthood (1920s-1940s). The papers are arranged in one series: Biographical.

The Biographical series contains two newspaper clippings, including Sara Markovitz Strauss's wedding announcement, and her 2009 obituary. Additionally, the series contains several photographs of Sara Markovitz Strauss, her family and her community in Iowa City from the family’s early years in Iowa City until 1970.

Dates

Creation: 1912-1970

Creator

Sara Markovitz Strauss, 1912 - 2009 (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

Sara Markovitz was born in Russia in 1912, the second daughter of Samuel and Anna Markovitz. In 1921, the Markovitz family emigrated, settling in Iowa City where Samuel Markovitz worked as a coal yard proprietor. Markovitz's brother, Meyer, was born shortly thereafter. The family joined Iowa City’s small community of Jewish Russian immigrants just one year after the city’s first synagogue was built. Markovitz and her sisters, Rebecca “Rhea” and Belle, attended Hebrew school and high school in Iowa City.

Sara Markovitz later graduated from the University of Iowa. In 1937, Sara Markovitz married Simeon Strauss of Chicago. The couple had three children. Sara Markovitz Strauss was active throughout her adult life in Iowa City's Agudas Achim Synagogue's Sisterhood and Hadassah, once serving as president of the Agudas Achim Sisterhood. She died in West Branch, Iowa in 2009.