Skip to main content

Magdalena "Helen" Tylee papers

 Collection
Identifier: IWA0471

  • Staff Only
  • Please navigate to collection organization to place requests.

Scope and Contents

The Magdalena Tylee papers date from 1917 to 1988 and measure 2.25 linear feet. The papers are arranged in four series: Biographical, Diaries, Photographs, and Scrapbooks.

The Biographical series (1921-1988) includes many letters Helen Tylee wrote to her husband during his service in World War II, and also a large collection of letters she received from family members in Germany (written in German). Tylee's letters to her husband illuminate her daily life managing the family farm while he was stationed in Texas and Florida during World War II. The radio transcript in this series is an interview with Tylee that aired on a Waterloo, Iowa, radio station; the topics covered include why she came to Iowa, how Iowa differs from Germany, and how she managed to handle the farm without her husband. The poetry and a brief memoir of Helen Tylee's mother-in-law, Frances "Frankie" Tylee, a telephone operator in Toddville, Iowa, are also included. Frankie Tylee's poetry addresses many themes including her work, her religious convictions, family issues, and historical events such as World War II and JFK's assassination.

The Diaries series (1936-1987) include nearly twenty diaries Tylee kept over her lifetime. Entries in the late 1930s, 1940s and 1950s are scattered and sketchy, while those of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s are more regular and detailed (1970 is the only year for which there is no diary in these later decades). Tylee described her activities on and off the farm, always noted the day's weather and temperature, and sometimes pasted in short newspaper clippings. A travel diary she kept during a trip to Germany in 1958 is also included.

The Photographs series (1917-1984) holds a substantial collection of photographs of Tylee's family members in Germany; most are undated, but appear to be from both the World War I and World War II eras. The series includes a few photos of the Tylees later in life, but the majority of them were taken before 1970. Also included (in folder 5) are the original, 8x10 prints of photos, taken by the Cedar Rapids Gazette in 1942, of Helen Tylee doing farm chores during her husband's military service in the Second World War. The Gazette published the photos in an article on Tylee called "She's a Soldier, Too." A copy of the article is in the photo album in this series. The photo album also includes family photos taken from the 1940s-1980s.

The Scrapbooks series consists of three albums of newspaper clippings. The bulk of the first and third albums have clippings from the late 1930s through late 1950s including stories about family and friends, and news of interest to Helen Tylee such as articles about the Dionne quints, the British royal family, and inspirational poems. The second album is full of editorial cartoons about World War II, and includes a copy of "She's a Soldier, Too."

Dates

  • Creation: 1917-1988

Creator

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

Magdalena "Helen" Gerhard Tylee was born in 1894 in Kindel, Germany, to Johann and Suzanna Gerhard, and came to Iowa as a war bride in 1922. She was the fourth of ten children. As a teenager, Helen Gerhard lived with and worked for a wealthy German family in Alf, Germany, where she learned English from the family's two daughters. During World War I she cooked for Russian POWs. In 1921, she met her husband, Ben Tylee, an American soldier who was stationed in Andernach, Germany, with the American occupation army following World War I.

They married in 1922 and moved to Iowa where they took up farming in Linn County. Tylee lived the rest of her life in Iowa but made numerous trips back to Germany throughout the years. The Tylees raised one daughter, Peggy Drymon Stokes. In 1942, the Cedar Rapids Gazette published a feature story about Helen Tylee titled "She's a Soldier, Too." The article, complete with photos, emphasized that German-born Helen Tylee opposed the Nazis and was doing her part on the home front--while her husband served in the armed forces--to defeat them. The Tylees had been married sixty-six years at the time of Helen Tylee's death in 1988.

Extent

2.25 Linear Feet

Photographs in Box 4. boxes

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

A German war bride who came to Iowa in 1922. During World War II she ran the family farm while her husband was serving in the armed forces.

Method of Acquisition

The papers (donor no. 779) were donated by Peggy Stokes in 2001.

Author
Britt Nelson, 2005.
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)