| Date Span: | 1876-1998 |
| Creator: | Swope and DeLand |
| Extent: | 5.00 linear inches. |
| Collection Number: | IWA0391 |
| Repository: | Iowa Women's Archives |
| Summary: | Family papers and subject files concerning women artists, women writers, and peace activism in Northwest Iowa. |
Sarah Jane Beall married the Methodist minister John H. Swope, in 1864, in Maryland before coming to Des Moines, in 1872. When he died in 1876, his wife and five children supported themselves by delivering milk within the community. One son, Howard Swope, married his orphaned neighbor Jessie West and together they became small town merchants in Storm Lake and real estate developers in Minneapolis during the Depression. They sent their daughter, Mary Lurene Swope (1896 -1978), to Western Female College in Oxford, Ohio. She subsequently worked in Washington, D.C. at the Office of Procurement during World War One. In 1921, Mary Lurene Swope married her Storm Lake neighbor James Lael DeLand (1894-1986), called Lael.
The father of James Lael DeLand was James DeLand, a state district judge in Storm Lake, and his mother, Ida Sherman, was the daughter of a local dentist. DeLand and Sherman had married in 1882 and afterwards were active in the growth of Storm Lake, socializing with other prosperous families and engaging in various benevolent activities.
The marriage of Mary Lurene and James Lael DeLand ended in divorce in 1938. Afterward, Mary Lurene Swope DeLand worked in the Buena Vista County Treasurerīs Office for fifty dollars a month and raised her two daughters Barbara Jean and Janet DeLand. She became increasingly incapacitated with Muscular Dystrophy.
Barbara DeLand spent her first year of college at the University of South Dakota. She also attended Buena Vista College and the University of Minnesota, where she graduated in 1945 in Social Work. She married Dick Kearney, her childhood friend, and they lived in Storm Lake where they raised two daughters and two sons. Barbara Kearney was active as a photographer and writer. She became a peace activist during the 1980s.
Access: The papers are open for research.
Use: Copyright for original poetry has been retained by the donor. Copyright for other materials has been transferred to The University of Iowa.
Acquisition: The papers (donor no. 561) were donated by Barbara DeLand Kearney in 1998 and 1999.
Preferred Citation: Swope and DeLand Family 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 |
Browse by Series:
Series 1: SARAH JANE BUELL SWOPE
Series 2: IDA SHERMAN DELAND
Series 3: MARY LURENE SWOPE DELAND
Series 4: BARBARA KEARNEY
This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.
