Sewell E. Allen Papers

Collection

Identifier: MsC0337

Staff Only
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Scope and Contents

The papers of Sewell E. Allen are arranged chronologically within an alphabetical sequence and are housed in three boxes measuring 1.5 linear feet. Correspondence dating from 1910 to 1975 makes up the bulk of the papers. It deals with the business and political career of Allen, and with family life and conditions during the 1920s and World War II. Some of the letters were written by George E. Allen, father of Sewell Allen. His political career is documented with campaign material, financial records, speeches, and news clippings. They are open for research and information on literary rights is available in the repository.

Dates

Creation: 1910-1975
Creation: Majority of material found in 1941-1952

Creator

Allen, Sewell E., 1913-1975 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Biographical / Historical

Born in 1913, Iowa City, Iowa, native Sewell Ellyson Allen graduated from high school in Onawa, Iowa. He returned to Iowa City to attend law school, receiving his degree in 1939. Two years later, Allen was elected as a Democrat to Iowa's state legislature. He was defeated in the following election for a senate seat. In 1946, he was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1952, he ran for lieutenant governor, only to be defeated once again.

He remained active in the state's Democratic Party and for a long time was the Monona County Democratic Chairman. From 1963 through 1965 he served as the Monona county attorney and from 1965 through 1967 he worked in the Iowa attorney general's office. Sewell E. Allen died in 1975, at the age of sixty-two.

Extent

1.50 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Attorney and Iowa state legislator. Subject files and correspondence concerning his business, family and political career. The bulk of the papers consists of correspondence dealing with business conditions during the 1920s and WWII, politics, and family life.