“Noted Colored People of Iowa and Davenport in Particular” scrapbook

Item

Identifier: IWA1415

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“Noted Colored People of Iowa and Davenport in Particular” scrapbook

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Scope and Contents

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The scrapbook is dated approximately 1884 through 1933 and measures 2 linear inches (1 volume).

The scrapbook’s cover title reads, “Prominent Colored Citizens of Davenport.” The title, as written on the spine, reads, “Noted Colored People of Iowa and Davenport in Particular.” The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings and handwritten notes regarding individuals featured in the clippings. The content of the newspaper clippings includes the cultural, educational, and professional achievements of African American residents of Davenport, stories about formerly enslaved people (including Dred Scott), obituaries, World War I, efforts for racial equality, and local church news. Additionally, there is a handwritten list titled “List of Colored Soldiers from Davenport in World War, 1917 to 1918.” Dates for some of the newspaper clippings are added by hand. One of the earliest clippings is dated 1884. Others are undated. Clippings are dated as recently as 1933, indicating they were added after the scrapbook’s donation to the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences library.

Dates

Creation: 1884 - 1933

Creator

Irish Preston, Ruth Ann, 1859-1949 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The scrapbook is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

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The donor retains full ownership of copyright they hold in the donated materials, but grants the university a nonexclusive right to use and to authorize all non-commercial uses of these materials for research, scholarly, or other educational purposes pursuant to a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial license.

However, copyright status for 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 University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections and Archives as the source of the material. For further information, visit the Special Collections and Archives website.

Biographical / Historical

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The Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences was established in 1867 in Davenport, Iowa. As the institution grew and expanded its scope, the name was changed to the Davenport Public Museum. According to the museum’s website, “Since that time, the Museum has focused its collection on objects, artifacts, and specimens from eastern Iowa and western Illinois.” In 1974, the museum again changed names, becoming the Putnam Museum, in honor of the Putnam family (Joseph Duncan Putnam and his mother, Mary Louisa Duncan Putnam). As a teenager, Joseph Duncan Putnam donated his collection of insects, minerals, and geological specimens. In 1869, he and Mary Louisa Duncan Putnam were both elected to membership. In 2014, the museum became known as the Putnam Museum and Science Center. Timeline of institutional names: 1867 – 1900: Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences 1900 – 1927: Davenport Academy of Sciences 1927 – 1970: Davenport Public Museum 1970 – 1974: Davenport Museum 1974 – 1990: Putnam Museum 1990 – 2014: Putnam Museum of History and Natural Science 2014 – present: Putnam Museum and Science Center [Information for this Biographical Note was found on the Putnam Museum and Science Center’s “History of the Museum” webpage]

Biographical / Historical

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Ruth Irish Preston was born in 1859 in Toledo, Iowa, to Charles Wood Irish and Susannah Abigail Irish. The family later lived in Tama County and Iowa City. Ruth Irish attended St. Agatha’s Seminary and McClain’s Academy in Iowa City. At the age of 16, she began teaching school in Coralville and Iowa City. In 1887, Ruth Irish married Charles Hicklen Preston, of Davenport, Iowa, and the couple had three children. In Davenport, Ruth Preston was involved with the First Unitarian Church, the Sunday Evening Guild, the Ladies Working Society, the Hannah Caldwell Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Tuesday Club. She was also active in the women’s suffrage movement. Preston worked as a librarian at the historical library at the Davenport Public Museum (originally the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences, now the Putnam Museum and Science Center). Ruth Irish Preston died in 1949 at the age of 90.

[Information for this Biographical Note was found in Ruth Irish Preston’s obituary as published in The Daily Times in 1949 and "Manuscript Collections: the Irish-Preston Papers, 1832-1972," The Annals of Iowa, Vol. 44, No. 6 (Fall 1978)]

Full Extent

1 Volumes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Scrapbook documenting the cultural, educational, and professional achievements of African American residents of Davenport, Iowa, stories about formerly enslaved people (including Dred Scott), obituaries, World War I, efforts for racial equality, and local church news.

Custodial History

The scrapbook was donated to the Davenport Academy of Natural Sciences (now the Putnam Museum and Science Center) in 1917 by Ruth Irish Preston, a librarian who worked at the museum library. Preston likely compiled the scrapbook herself. Handwritten notes in the scrapbook dated after its 1917 donation to the museum indicate that Preston may have continued adding to the scrapbook. Her obituary reads, “She was an ardent student of history, doing a great deal toward preserving items of local interest, especially those involving the First World War.”

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The scrapbook was loaned for digitization by the Putnam Museum and Science Center in Davenport, Iowa, (donor no. 1769) in 2025.

Existence and Location of Originals

The original scrapbook is held by the Putnam Museum and Science Center in Davenport, Iowa.

Existence and Location of Copies

The scrapbook has been digitized and is available in the Iowa Digital Library. The scrapbook contains 44 blank pages between images 081-082 that were not digitized.