| Date Span: | 1923-2003 |
| Creator: | Olvera, Mary Vásquez (1927-) |
| Extent: | 1.50 linear inches. |
| Collection Number: | IWA0559 |
| Repository: | Iowa Women's Archives |
| Summary: | Davenport, Iowa, woman whose parents came to Iowa from Mexico in the 1910s. |
Mary Vásquez Olvera was born in Fairport, Iowa, in 1927 to Jesús and José Vásquez. Jesús (later known as Jenny) Vásquez was born in Quiroga, Michoacan, Mexico. She came to Muscatine, Iowa, with her family in approximately 1910 where she worked in a button factory as a teenager. Jesús (Jenny) Vásquez later met and married railroad worker José Vásquez who was born in Nahuatzen, Michoacan, Mexico. The couple moved to Nahant, just outside of Davenport, Iowa, where they lived in a converted boxcar near the railroad tracks and the city dump. They had six children, three boys and three girls. In 1938 the Vásquez family moved to the predominantly Mexican and Mexican American community of Cook's Point in Davenport, Iowa, where they purchased a houseboat.
Mary Vásquez attended Rockingham School, the old Monroe School, and Frank L. Smart Jr. High School in Davenport. At the age of sixteen she left school and began working at the Fala Company, located near the Kohr plant, where she made covers for air rifles. Her next job was at the Black Hawk Egg Company where she worked as an egg candler. Two of Mary Vásquez's brothers enlisted in the military during World War II and both died on active duty: Albert Vásquez in December 1944 and her younger brother, Ralph Vásquez, just three months later in March 1945. Following the war, when the Vásquez family decided to purchase a home in a Davenport neighborhood outside of Cook's Point, the neighbors circulated a petition in an attempt to prevent the Mexican family from moving in. However, when neighbors learned that two Vásquez sons had died during World War II, they stopped circulating the petition and the Vásquez family moved in.
In 1948 Mary Vásquez married Augustine Olvera, a machinist who worked for the Rock Island Arsenal. The couple had four children, Albert, Donna, Augustine Jr., and Mario. Following her marriage, Mary Olvera concentrated on raising the couple's children and did not return to her factory job. Mary and Augustine Olvera were both active in politics and founded a Davenport chapter of the "Viva Kennedy" club. Augustine Olvera founded the Iowa chapter of the American G. I. Forum in 1958 and Mary Olvera was active in the Ladies Auxiliary of the organization. In this capacity she was asked to entertain Rose Kennedy when Kennedy visited Davenport during John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. As a result of their political activism, the Olveras were invited to attend the inaugurations and presidential balls of President Kennedy and President Johnson. Augustine Olvera passed away in 2005.
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. 1009) were donated by Mary Olvera in 2005.
Preferred Citation: Mary Vasquez Olvera 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 |
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Series 1: GENERAL
This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.
