|
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 Women's
Archives so that they may be preserved for future generations. If you have books you wish to donate to the Special Collections
Department, you may contact them
here.
Do you own original letters or documents of Mildred's? I'd love to get photocopies for research - photo copies can be sent to me at Jennifer Fisher, P.O. Box 128, Higley, AZ 85236-0128. I'm happy to reimburse for your kindness in doing this.
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 Mysterious Mildred Benson
The life and works of a ghost writer from Iowa
The University of Iowa, Iowa Women's Archives, Mildred Wirt Benson Digital Archive
The University of Iowa, Iowa Women's Archives, Mildred Wirt Benson - Finding Aid
The Ghost of Ladora by Mildred Wirt Benson
The Ghost of Nancy Drew by Geoffrey S. Lapin
|
