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Prentiss Family papers

 Collection
Identifier: IWA0060

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Scope and Contents

The papers date from 1891 to1996 and measure 2 linear feet. The papers are arranged in nine series: Genealogical information, Lue Bradley Prentiss, Henry Prentiss, Henry Prentiss birth family, Lilian Prentiss Schwarz and family, Lue (Biddy) Childs and family, Henry Prentiss, Jr. and family, Robert Prentiss and family, Artifacts and Photographs. The collection is devoted primarily to correspondence among the members of the Prentiss family. Lue Bradley's correspondence with her parents and diaries she kept between the ages of eleven and twenty-one (1879-1891) are in the Bradley Family papers. The papers of Cornelia Prentiss Shrauger, the eldest child of Lue and Henry Prentiss, are included in the Shrauger Family papers and the Cornelia Shrauger Day papers. Three books by Malissa Childs Redfield The Country of Love (1966), Games of Chance with Strangers (1971), and Scenes from Country Life (1979) are shelved with the printed works in the Iowa Women's Archives.

Dates

  • Creation: 1891-1996

Creator

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

In 1895 Lué Bradley and Dr. Henry Prentiss were married in Dobbs Ferry, New York, at "Palavista," the home of the Bradley family. Ten years later when Dr. Prentiss was appointed to establish the Department of Anatomy at the State University of Iowa (now the University of Iowa), the Prentisses moved to Iowa City with their children, Cornelia, Lilian, Henry, Jr., and Lué. (Lué's twin brother, David, had died at age one.) Another son, Robert, was born in Iowa City. Lué Bradley Prentiss lived until 1922 when she died at age fifty-three of cancer. Dr. Prentiss taught at the University until his death in 1931. Each of the Prentiss children graduated from the State University of Iowa (University of Iowa). Cornelia Prentiss (1896-1985) married Harold Shrauger of Atlantic, Iowa. Their three children were Harold Shrauger, Jr., (who married Frances Kephart), Cornelia (who married John Robert Day), and Virginia (who married and later divorced Joe Allen Jones). (See Shrauger Family Papers).

Lilian Prentiss (1897-1935) and Frank Schwarz, both artists, had two daughters, Cornelia and Henrietta. She and her husband lived in Scarsdale, New York, where she taught art in the public school system. She also taught art in Denton, Texas, and at Hunter College in New York City. Lilian died tragically in 1935 at the age of thirty-eight when she drowned attempting to rescue her nephew, Joseph Middlebrook, in a lake in upstate New York. Henry Prentiss, Jr. (1898-1922) died from an accidental fall soon after he graduated from college. His wife was Marion Chase. Lué Prentiss (1902-1968) married the noted author and critic, Marquis Childs. They resided in Washington, D. C. with their two children, Prentiss and Malissa. Malissa wrote three novels and a memoir of rural life in Vermont. Robert Prentiss (1908-1972), a urologist who practiced in San Diego, was married to Alice Pogemiller. Their three daughters were Julia, Penelope, and Susan. Susan married Carl Martin, and the couple lived in South Carolina.

Extent

2.00 Linear Feet

One CD [d0002]; Photographs in Box 5 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The family came to Iowa City in 1905 when Henry Prentiss established the Anatomy Department at the State University of Iowa.

Method of Acquisition

The papers were donated by Virginia Jones (donor no. 112) in 1987 and succeeding years; Prentiss Childs (donor no. 454) in 1997; Philip Purdy (donor no. 801) in 2001; and Susan Martin (donor no. 1099) in 2006.

Related Materials

Bradley Family papers (IWA) Cornelia Shrauger Day papers (IWA) Shrauger Family papers (IWA) Marquis Childs papers (Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries)

Author
Natalie S. Brody, 1997; Robert Jett, 1999; Fiona McDougall, 2006; Kate Stewart, 2007.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
eng

Repository Details

Part of the Iowa Women's Archives Repository

Contact:
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5068
319-335-5900 (Fax)