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MONTH, WE’VE BEEN SHARING STORIES ABOUT A NUMBER OF INCREDIBLE WOMEN RIGHT HERE IN OUR STATE, SOME WHO’VE BROKEN RECORDS, STARTED BUSINESSES, CHANGING THEIR COMMUNITY, AND MORE. IN TONIGHT’S PROJECT, COMMUNITY. ����vlog’S KAYLA JAMES TAKES US TO IOWA CITY, WHERE THERE’S A PLACE DEDICATED TO KEEPING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF IOWA WOMEN ALIVE WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA’S MAIN LIBRARY. ON THE THIRD FLOOR AND DOWN THE HALL IS A TREASURE COVE. HER TYPEWRITER IS RIGHT THERE ON THE DESK WITH HER FILLED WITH GEMS. MILDRED WAS QUITE AN ADVENTURER. SHE GOT HER PILOT’S LICENSE IN 1960, HIGHLIGHTING HISTORY NOT COMMONLY KNOWN, FEATURING MOLLY BOLAN, NOW MOLLY KASMER. SHE IN HER SENIOR YEAR AVERAGED 55 POINTS A GAME. DOCUMENTS AND PICTURES. BOOKS LINING SHELVES. HERE YOU CAN SEE A PHOTO OF A GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM FROM 1915, ALL BRINGING LIGHT TO THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF IOWA WOMEN. WE’RE IN THE IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES, ONE OF THE VERY FEW ARCHIVAL REPOSITORIES DEDICATED TO WOMEN’S HISTORY IN THE UNITED STATES. THE ARCHIVES WAS FOUNDED IN 1992 BY TWO IOWANS, ART COLLECTOR AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST LOUISE NOUN AND MARY LOUISE SMITH, THE FIRST WOMAN TO CHAIR THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE. SO THEY GO TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA AND THEY TELL HIM THERE SHOULD BE AN IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES. AND HE SAYS, THAT IS A GREAT IDEA. AND I HAVE A SPACE FOR YOU. NOW, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR IT? WHICH IS WHERE NOUNS, ART COLLECTION CAME IN. SHE OWNED THE ORIGINAL FRIDA KAHLO PAINTING, SELF-PORTRAIT WITH LOOSE HAIR. SHE AUCTIONED THAT PAINTING OFF FOR $1.65 MILLION, AND THAT WAS A RECORD AT THE TIME FOR A LATIN AMERICAN ARTIST, AND THAT NETTED 1.5 MILLION FOR THE IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES. AND THREE DECADES LATER, ASSOCIATE CURATOR ANNA HOLLAND SAYS THERE ARE MORE THAN 1200 COLLECTIONS MAKING UP ROWS FILLED WITH BOXES AFTER BOXES, AND EACH ONE OF THEM FOCUSES ON A DIFFERENT IOWA WOMAN OR AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS BENEFITED IOWA WOMEN. ONE OF THOSE WOMEN, SHE DID OWN, THIS TYPEWRITER IS MILDRED WIRT BENSON FROM LADORA. SHE WAS THE FIRST PERSON, NOT THE FIRST WOMAN, FIRST PERSON TO GRADUATE WITH A MASTER’S IN JOURNALISM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA. BUT HER WORK PEOPLE ARE MOST FAMILIAR WITH. THIS IS BY THE FIRST. CAROLYN KEENE IS AS A GHOST WRITER FOR 23 BOOKS OF A POPULAR SERIES. SHE SAYS. THIS WAS THE FIRST BOOK EVER WRITTEN IN THE NANCY DREW SERIES FOR EDWARD STRATEMEYER. BY ME, MILDRED AUGUSTINE WIRT BENSON, THE IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES HAS ALL OF THE FIRST EDITIONS OF THE NANCY DREW BOOKS AND OTHER SERIES SHE WROTE, AND THOSE ARE HER PERSONAL COPIES. HER PAPERS ARE ALSO FULL OF SHORT STORIES THAT SHE PUBLISHED, PICTURES OF HER LIFE. SHE WAS A BIG TRAVELER, AND A LOT OF THE ARTICLES THAT SHE WROTE FOR THE TOLEDO BLADE. THE COLLECTIONS, MOSTLY DONATED, SHED LIGHT ON OTHER HISTORICAL MOMENTS. THESE MATERIALS COME FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF PEOPLE WHO PLAYED ON THE TEAM, LIKE THE IOWA CORNETS, THE IOWA CORNETS WERE THE FIRST TEAM TO JOIN THE FIRST WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE IN THE UNITED STATES, THE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL LEAGUE DISSOLVED AFTER THREE YEARS. WE HAVE A COLLECTION RELATED TO THE TEAM ITSELF, BUT NOT BEFORE KATE ORAZEM THE ARCHIVES. JEAN LLOYD JONES AND MICHAEL ARDON LYNCH, WOMEN IN POLITICS ARCHIVIST, SAYS THE TEAM LEFT ITS MARK. THE FILM WAS KIND OF CONCEIVED AS A WAY TO HELP PROMOTE THE CORNETS. THE FILM WAS CALLED DRIBBLE. IT’S A KIND OF FUN, 70S, B-MOVIE TYPE OF COMEDY NOW USED BY THE IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES TEAM IN MID-MARCH, THE IOWA CORNETS TO PUT ON A FREE SCREENING IN ACTION AND PANEL DISCUSSION. IT’S ALWAYS REALLY EXCITING TO SEE PEOPLE HAVING FUN WITH OUR RESOURCES, EXCITED ABOUT LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF SOMETHING THAT THEY’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. THE IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES IS ALSO USED HEAVILY BY RESEARCHERS. I LOVE MEETING NEW PEOPLE, AND I LOVE HEARING WHAT THEY WANT TO LOOK INTO. I LOVE HELPING THEM FIND IT. WHEN PEOPLE GET THAT MOMENT, THAT’S THE BEST FOR ME. EVERY DAY. IOWA WOMEN CONTINUE TO ACHIEVE. NOT ONLY DO THEY DO A LOT IN THE STATE, ANOTHER BASKETBALL UNIFORM THERE, BUT THEY GO OUT AND THEY AFFECT CHANGE AROUND THE WORLD. SO OUR COLLECTIONS ARE REALLY INTERNATIONAL IN SCOPE, MEANING THE NUMBER OF COLLECTIONS WITHIN THE IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES WILL CONTINUE TO GROW. THERE ARE SO MANY STORIES THAT FOR A LONG TIME WERE NOT TOLD, AND SOME THAT HAVE BEEN LOST FOREVER BECAUSE RECORDS WERE NOT KEPT. IT IS MORE CRITICAL NOW THAN EVER TO PROTECT PLACES THAT ARE DEDICATED TO THOSE HISTORIES, AND TO PRESERVING THOSE STORIES INTO THE FUTURE. IN IOWA CITY. KAYLA JAMES KCC