The Harriet E. Palmer papers date from 1922 to 1926 and measure 2.5 linear inches. The papers consist of Coral Rose Johnson's 1912 commencement program from the State University of Iowa College of Medicine and a scrapbook kept by Harriet Emalyn Johnson from 1922 to 1926. The photographs, letters, and newspaper clippings in the scrapbook portray a young woman surrounded by her friends and nursing school cohort, engaged both her profession and a social life that calls to mind the "Roaring Twenties." Several of the photographs depict friends Palmer refers to as "The Bunch" or "The Dirty Five" clad in their nursing uniforms at school. Off work, the women are photographed picnicking in Ames and Greenwood Park and posing by the water on seaside vacations. Newspaper clippings include wedding announcements, police reports of public intoxication, and articles on local nursing schools or hospitals. Toward the end of the scrapbook, several photos captioned "The Juana Scenes - Scenes at La Jolla," depict Johnson and her friends on vacation in Tijuana, Mexico. One of these photos features two men laughing behind bottles of Oporto and whiskey, with the caption, "Thru Rose Colored Glasses." The clippings include quotes about success and hard work interspersed with witticisms of a new age: "A flapper is one who bobs her hair, powders her nose, and says to herself, 'Clothes, I am going downtown, if you want to come along, hang on.'" Palmer's clippings also highlight her scholastic life.  Photographs in the scrapbook depict nurses assisting in the operating theater, caring for an African American child, and other aspects of the profession. It is noted that there appears to be a mistake in the commencement program for Johnson's graduation in 1925 in which Johnson's name is listed as "Harriet Elizabeth Johnson" rather than "Harriet Emalyn Johnson." This was most likely due to a mix-up between Johnson and her grandmother's name, as all of Johnson's other papers refer to her as "Harriet Emalyn Johnson."