A Political Dialogue: Iowa's Women Legislators consists of transcripts of oral histories of Iowa women legislators conducted by Suzanne O'Dea Schenken between 1988 and 1992 and related material. The collection measures 1.7 linear feet and is arranged in two series: Introductory material and Transcripts.

Introductory material (ca.1992) consists of an introductory overview of the A Political Dialogue project with an accompanying list of contributors, biographical information on Iowa women legislators primarily taken from Iowa Official Registers published between 1929 and 1991, two tables listing the women serving in each legislative session in Iowa between 1929 and 1992, one organized alphabetically and the other by session dates served, and an essay by Schenken entitled "Entering Men's Territory," which outlines the emergence of women in politics in Iowa beginning in 1869. This material can also be found in Schenken's dissertation, which is available here at the University of Iowa Libraries.

The Transcripts series (1988-1992) is comprised of transcripts of the oral histories conducted by Schenken. Included are forty-seven interviews with Iowa women legislators. With the exception of the interview with Helen Anderson, each transcript has a subject index. The series also contains four interviews with secondary sources about deceased legislators. These interviews are unindexed.