Date Span: | 1853-1974 |
Creator: | Platt, Elvira Gaston (1818-1914) |
Extent: | 1.00 linear inch. |
Collection Number: | IWA0181 |
Repository: | Iowa Women's Archives |
Summary: | Teacher and abolitionist who assisted fleeing slaves on the Underground Railroad while living in Fremont County, Iowa. Taught school to Pawnee children in Pennsylvania and Nebraska. |
Alternate Extent Statement: Photographs in Box 1.
Access: The papers are open for research.
Use: Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to The University of Iowa.
Acquisition: The papers (donor no. 261) were donated by Jean Ricketts Schobert in 1995.
Preferred Citation: Elvira Gaston Platt papers, Iowa Women's Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City.
Repository: | Iowa Women's Archives |
Address: | 100 Main Library University of Iowa Libraries Iowa City, IA 52242 |
Phone: | 319-335-5068 |
Curator: | Kären Mason |
Email: | lib-women@uiowa.edu |
Website: | http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/iwa |
Elvira Gaston Platt, teacher and abolitionist and underground railroad worker, was born in Danby, Thompkins County, New York, on July 15, 1818. She studied at Oberlin College in Ohio in 1835 and 1836 and began teaching in area rural schools. In 1841 Elvira Gaston married Lester Ward Platt and in 1842 they began teaching Pawnee Indians in the western territory, in what is now Nebraska. In 1847 they moved to Fremont County, Iowa, turned to farming, and began assisting fleeing slaves on the underground railroad.
In 1861 Elvira Platt returned to teaching Pawnee children, which she continued until 1872 with a few interruptions for Civil War work. Lester Platt died in 1875 and Elvira Platt joined the staff of the Industrial School for Indians in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1880. Three years later she became matron of a new school for Native Americans in Genoa, Nebraska, where she worked until she retired in 1887. She lived in Tabor, Iowa, until 1897, when she moved to Oberlin, Ohio. She died there on January 25, 1914.
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Series 1: BIOGRAPHICAL
This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.