The Mildred A. Wirt Benson Archives

Mildred donated papers, photographs, and working copies of manuscripts among other special items to her alma mater, The University of Iowa. These archives are housed in the Iowa Women's Archives. The University of Iowa also houses a special collection of Millie's books including the elusive Pirate Brig, a historical novel, which was published in 1950. I encourage all of you when in the area to make a special trip to the archives. Curator Karen Mason and her staff are very helpful. You will be surprised at the volume of items within the archives and see interesting photographs that Millie donated, including a special memory book kept throughout her high school and college days. Copies of items in the archives and photographs can be made for a fee. Most of all, I encourage anyone who has items related to Millie's such as correspondence, work-product, signed items, photographs, and more to donate them to the Iowa Womens' Archives so that they may be preserved for future generations. If you have books you wish to donate to the Special Collections Deparment, you may contact them here.

The collection has now gone digital and can be viewed here. I recommend going through the digital collection online!

To view the Iowa Women's Archives page of the contents of Mildred's archives, to read the Books at Iowa article that Millie wrote in 1973, or to read long time collector and Mildred Wirt Benson fan, Geoffrey Lapin's article from Books at Iowa, click on the links below:

The University of Iowa, Iowa Womens' Archives, Mildred Wirt Benson

The Ghost of Ladora by Mildred Wirt Benson

The Ghost of Nancy Drew by Geoffrey S. Lapin