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Guide to the Henry Wallace Papers

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Collection Overview
Date Span: 1860-1924
Creator: Wallace, Henry (1836-1916)
Extent: 6.25 linear feet.
Collection Number: MSC0180
Repository: University of Iowa Special Collections
Summary: First editor of Wallaces' Farmer. Arranged in broad subject categories and then in chronological order. Available on microfilm for use in repository, for interlibrary loan, and for purchase.

Access: These papers are open for research by students and scholars. A microfilm edition of these records is available for loan or purchase.

Use: Please read The University of Iowa Libraries' statement on "Property Rights, Copyright Law, and Permissions to Use Unpublished Materials.

Acquisition:

Preferred Citation: Henry Wallace Papers, The University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.

Repository: University of Iowa Special Collections
Address: Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone: 319-335-5921
Curator: Greg Prickman
Email: lib-spec@uiowa.edu
Website: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc

Henry Wallace was born in 1836 on a farm in Pennsylvania. A Presbyterian minister, Wallace's first church was in Monroe County, Iowa, in 1862. The following year he married Nancy Cantwell, and they moved to Rock Island, Illinois, where he had congregations on both sides of the Mississippi River. His next two pastorates were in Morning Sun and Winterset, Iowa. Having contracted tuberculosis, Wallace (or Uncle Henry, as he was commonly known) retired from the ministry and began farming full-time in Winterset. He began to write about farm subjects, including livestock breeding, soil conservation, and crop rotation. As his health improved, he began making speeches about farm issues. He was invited to become a columnist and farm-editor for the Winterset Madisonian and later for the Chronicle. In 1883, he began writing for the Iowa Homestead, a Des Moines paper. He quit in 1895, after having some of his editorials censored. In 1896, he founded Wallace's Farm and Dairy with his two sons, Henry C. and John. The publication changed its name to Wallaces' Farmer in 1899. Working with his sons and grandson, Uncle Henry remained editor until his death in 1916.

Despite the success of Wallaces' Farmer, Henry Wallace is probably best known as the father of Henry Cantwell Wallace (Secretary of Agriculture under President Warren G. Harding) and as the grandfather of Vice-President Henry A. Wallace (who also served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Franklin D. Roosevelt).

The papers of Henry Wallace consist of 2.5 linear feet of manuscripts dating from 1860 to 1924. They are arranged alphabetically subject file. Included are speeches, sermons, diaries, photographs, published and unpublished writings, genealogies, obituaries, and newspaper clippings. There are correspondence files which include letters from: James Wilson, Daniel A. Wallace, Gifford Pinchot, Theodore Roosevelt, Walter H.Page, Charles W. Fairbanks, Albert B. Cummins, John P. Wallace, Nannie C. Wallace, and Henry C. Wallace.

Browse by Series:
Series 1: GENERAL
Series 2: WEEKLY SABBATH SCHOOL LESSONS FOR WALLACE'S FARMER

  • Series 1: GENERAL
  • Sub-Series: Writings
  • Box 1:
  • Alexander, Dr. A.S. "The Inquiring Mind and the Seeing Eye" Better Crops With Plant Food, vol. 18, no. 1 (April - May 1932) pp. 14 - 16, 59 - 61.
    Article about Henry Wallace
  • "Nannie Cantwell Wallace" Typescript of a biography
  • "Uncle Henry Wallace" Typescript of a biography
  • Ashby, Wallace Little
    Newspaper clipping on wedding
  • Biography of the Wallace family done in pictures by Nannie Cantwell Wallace - 1894
  • "Twenty-Five Years After. The Roosevelt Country Life Commission" by Chris L. Christensen - 1934
  • "Good Farming, Clear Thinking, Right Living" by Henry Wallace - 1916
  • Letters to Farm Folk
    Publicity pamphlet
  • Class of 1859 - Jefferson College by Henry Walalce
  • Sub-Series: Correspondence and Diaries
  • Box 1:
  • 1860-1899
    Including letters from James Wilson
  • 1900-1907
    Including letters from James Wilson
  • 1908-1910
    Including letters from: Theodore Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, Albert B. Cummins, James Wilson, Walter H. Page, and Daniel A. Wallace
  • 1911-1912
    Including letters from: Theodore Roosevelt, Charles W. Fairbanks, Walter H. Page, and Daniel A. Wallace
  • 1913
    Including letters from Gifford Pinchot and Daniel A. Wallace
  • Box 2:
  • 1914-1915
    Including letters from: James Wilson, Daniel A. Wallace, John P. Wallace, and Henry C. Wallace
  • 1916-1936
    Including letters from Daniel A. Wallace
  • Undated
  • Henry Wallace Student Diary - 1854-1858
  • Henry Wallace Diary - 1862
  • Henry Wallace Diary - 1865
  • Nancy Wallace Diary (1891), Josephine Wallace Diary (1911)
  • Nannie C. Wallace Diary - 1901
  • Sub-Series: Miscellaneous
  • Box 2:
  • Death Announcements of Henry Wallace - 1916
  • Genealogy
  • The Henry Wallace Calendar - 1917
  • Farmer's University Needed
    Brochure reprinted from Wallace's Farmer
  • Box 3:
  • Newspaper clippings by or about Henry Wallace - 1910-1916
  • Newspaper clippings concerning the deaths of Henry Wallace and Henry C. Wallace - 1916, 1924
  • Photo of Henry, Henry C., and [John P?] Wallace
  • Photo of John P. Wallace?
  • Photo of the Devil's Back Bone at Winterset, Iowa - 1888
  • Photograph Album of Wallaces Homes
  • Miscellaneous Photographs 1
  • Miscellaneous Photographs 2
  • Phrenology Report on Henry Wallace by Prof. O.S. Fowler
  • Poetry by Henry Wallace - 1917
  • Poetry by Nannie C. Wallace
  • Sermon by Henry Wallace - 1868
  • Speeches - 1863-1912
  • Speeches - 1913
  • Box 4:
  • Undated Speeches 1
  • Undated Speeches 2
  • Student Essays - 1858-1859
  • Uncle Henry's Own Story
    Typescript draft with corrections and revisions, pg. 1-153.
  • Uncle Henry's Own Story
    Pages 171-360
  • Uncle Henry's Own Story
    Pages 361-511
  • Josephine Wallace
    Clippings, etc.
  • Nannie Cantwell Wallace - Funeral Service - 1909
  • Wallace's Farmer, Bills - 1903-1905
  • Box 5: Oversized Box
    Shelved in oversized.
  • Wallace's Farmer Vol. 41, nos. 9, 10, and 11 - 1916
  • Wallace's Farmer Vol. 42, no. 8 - 1917
  • Series 2: WEEKLY SABBATH SCHOOL LESSONS FOR WALLACE'S FARMER
  • Box 6:
  • January 10, 1902 - December 23, 1904 (Incomplete)
  • January 6, 1905 - December 29, 1905 (Incomplete)
  • January 5, 1906 - December 29, 1906 (Incomplete)
  • January 4, 1907 - December 27, 1907
  • January 3, 1908 - December 25, 1908
  • January 1, 1909 - December 31, 1909 (Incomplete)
  • January 7, 1910 - December 30, 1910 (Incomplete)
  • January 6, 1911 - December 29, 1911 (Incomplete)
  • January 5, 1912 - December 27, 1912 (Incomplete)
  • Box 7:
  • January 3, 1913 - December 19, 1913
  • January 2, 1914 - December 25, 1914 (Incomplete)
  • January 1, 1915 - December 31, 1915 (Incomplete)
  • January 7, 1916 - December 24, 1916 (Incomplete) and Typewritten Manuscripts from May 14, 1916 - December 24, 1916
  • January 5, 1917 - December 14, 1917 (Incomplete?)
  • Box 8:
  • January 4, 1918 - December 27, 1918
  • January 3, 1919 - December 26, 1919
  • January 2, 1920 - December 31, 1920
  • January 7, 1921 - December 30, 1921
  • January 6, 1922 - December 29, 1922
  • Box 9:
  • January 5, 1923 - December 28, 1923
  • January 4, 1924 - December 26, 1924
  • January 2, 1925 - December 25, 1925 (Incomplete)
  • January 1, 1926 - December 24, 1926
  • January 7, 1927 - December 30, 1927 (Incomplete)
  • January 6, 1928 - December 28, 1928 (Incomplete)
  • Box 10:
  • January 4, 1929 - December 28, 1929 (Incomplete)
  • January 4, 1939 - December 27, 1930 (Incomplete)
  • January 3, 1931 - December 26, 1931 (Incomplete)
  • January 2, 1932 - December 10, 1932 (Incomplete)
    Clippings
  • January 2, 1932 - December 26, 1932 (Incomplete)
    Proofs
  • February 4, 1933 - December 23, 1933 (Incomplete)
  • Box 11:
  • January 6, 1934 - December 22, 1934
  • January 5, 1935 - December 21, 1935
  • January 4, 1936 - December 19, 1936
  • January 2, 1937 - Novemeber 6, 1937
  • Notes, Drafts and Clippings
    Miscellaneous dates
  • Box 12:
  • "International Sunday School Lessons" - 1924-1938
  • "Sabbath School Lesson"
    Drafts and Proofs for Wallace's Farmer
  • Clipping of "Age of Joining Christ"
    Miscellaneous dates
  • Letters to Wallace's Farmer about "Sabbath School Lesson" and replies
    Miscellaneous dates
  • Copy of H.C. Wallace's Education for the Iowa Farm Boy - 1910
  • Uncle Henry's Saving Calendar - 1926

This collection is indexed under the following subject terms.


Corporate Names:
United States. Dept. of Agriculture

Dates:
20th century

Topics:
Agriculture
Farms

Occupations:
Journalists

Geographic Names:
United States -- Iowa

Genre/Form of Materials:
Correspondence
Diaries
Family papers

Title:
Wallaces' farmer

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English & American Literature
Writers Archive at Iowa
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