Julia A. Power, Student Life Papers
Scope and Contents
The Julia A. Power, Student Life Papers includes Power’s published and unpublished manuscripts, diplomas and teaching certificates, correspondence, and news clippings related to the Rose Mary Crawshay Prize for English Literature she was awarded in 1941. Also included are studio photographs of Power, a handwritten description of her home farm, and a 1909-1916 photo album.
A significant part of the collection is Power’s unpublished memoir, Teacher on the Hoof: Experiences of an Itinerant Teacher. Spanning Power’s life up to the mid-1940s, the memoir vividly presents moments and routines in the day-to-day life of students and teachers. With wit and reflection, Power makes frank observations about the individuals in her life – including University of Nebraska professors – and captures details about the living conditions and social life of an unmarried, working woman. Her memoir also touches on broader events such as World War I, the 1918 influenza pandemic, and the Great Depression and describes the many communities she lived in.
Dates
- 1909-1950
Creator
- Power, Julia, 1887-1960 (Person)
Biographical / Historical
Born in Dixon County, Nebraska, in 1887, Power enrolled at the university in 1911 after attending Nebraska Normal College in Wayne, Nebraska, and working at rural schools in Nebraska and Iowa. She earned her BA (1918) and MA (1924) from the University of Nebraska. In 1938 she completed her PhD with the thesis Shelley in America in the nineteenth century: His relation to American thought and his influence. Possessing a curiosity for new places and experiences, Power traveled extensively to pursue teaching jobs and continue her education. Power’s career included teaching stints in Nebraska, Colorado, Idaho, and Montana, as well as other locations in the Midwest and West, and ranged from teaching at a one-room schoolhouse to working as a trade school instructor for disabled veterans and teaching college-level courses. Power died in 1960 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Extent
2 Boxes
0.75 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
- Autobiography Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Education Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- University of Nebraska. Alumni and alumnae Subject Source: Local sources
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries Repository
Archives & Special Collections
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries
P.O. Box 884100
Lincoln NE 68588-4100 United States
402-472-2531
archives@unl.edu
