Kingston Hill records
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No requestable containers
Scope and Contents
The Kingston Hill records date from 1887 to 2016 and measure seven linear feet. The collection is divided into five series: History (1904-2016), Administrative (1888-2013), Financial (1909-2007), Residents (1887-2010), and Photographs (1916-1991).
The bulk of the History series is made up of research and drafts for Ruby Klatt’s book, The Story of Kingston Hill. Klatt was matron of Kingston Hill from 1964 to 1980. It summarizes the history Kingston Hill from its founding to its centennial, and includes illustrations and anecdotes. There is one copy of the finished book in this series. This series also provides historical context for Kingston Hill through books and pamphlets about Linn County, Iowa’s social welfare services.
The Administrative series focuses on the daily operation of Kingston Hill, covering facilities, admissions, board correspondence, employment, and certifications. It has one sub-series: staff. The bulk of the Administrative series is made up of meeting minutes from the Board of Managers, also known as the Women’s Board, and corporate records. The series also includes several versions of the organization’s bylaws, a few committee reports, a small amount of publicity and advertisements, and a short run of newsletters.
The Staff sub-series contains records that pertain to the work, hiring, and requirements of the Kingston Hill staff. The sub-series is largely made up of employee time sheets and nurses’ station records. The nurses’ station records are notebooks with handwritten accounts of what happened on a nurse’s shift. The Employees, general file includes newspaper clippings featuring employees and position descriptions. It particularly emphasizes the position of matron.
The Financial series focuses on Kingston Hill’s income, contributions, and financial status. It includes tax documents, financial reports, treasurer’s reports, balance sheets, and several handwritten notebooks entitled Business of the Home which detail the Home’s expenditures on a monthly basis. Additionally, the financial series includes correspondence from both the Women’s and Men’s boards about finances, including the financial contributions of residents. There are files concerning Kingston Hill’s involvement in the local Chamber of Commerce, and with United Community Service, which contributed to funding Kingston Hill on several occasions. The series also contains examples of checks, bills, and receipts that Kingston Hill accumulated through its daily business.
The Residents series concerns the women who lived in Kingston Hill. It includes records of events that the women participated in at Kingston Hill, such as a fashion show aimed at older women, and guest books that date back to 1897. There are several files dedicated to the writings of residents, including poetry, correspondence, and one Christmas issue of the Kingston Kourier. The Kingston Kourier is filled with stories written by Kingston Hill residents. It is not clear if any additional issues were printed. A large portion of the Residents series is dedicated to Residents’ records. These records, compiled at different times, each contain a distinct combination of information on residents. This information often includes names, family member’s names, dates and locations of birth and death, the years they entered and left Kingston Hill, and emergency contacts.
The Photograph series contains photographs of staff, residents, and events at Kingston Hill. The bulk of the images originated in the second half of the twentieth century. They include informal portraits of residents and staff, and images from events such as a visit from Santa Claus and Kingston Hill’s centennial celebration. Additional photographs which were used in the book The Story of Kingston Hill by Ruby Klatt, are included in the History series.
Dates
- Creation: 1887-2016
Creator
- Kingston Hill. (Home for Aged Women) (1887 - 2016) (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
The records are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to the University of Iowa.
However, copyright status for some collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge the Iowa Women’s Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/
Biographical / Historical
In 1887, Catherine Hinkley, a widow in Cedar Rapids, offered to pay her neighbor, Elsie Stewart, a small sum in exchange for staying in her home. For women such as Hinkley, who were alone and unable to support themselves, Cedar Rapids had few options besides the “poor farm.” Within the year several more women had come to Stewart offering to pay what they could and asking to stay with her. After the sudden death of Stewart’s husband, she and her friends kept the household going by establishing a Women’s Board of Managers for what they started to call the Old Ladies Home.
By 1889, Board of Managers arranged to purchase the home where the women had been living and hired a matron to manage it as well as staff for housekeeping and repairs. They also established a Men’s Board of Trustees to manage the home’s finances. The distinction between the “Women’s Board” (Board of Managers) and the “Men’s Board” (Board of Trustees) continued decades into the 20th century. When a woman entered the Home for Aged Women, she paid an entrance fee and turned over her investments, savings, and real estate to the Board of Trustees to manage. Upon her death, her property would become the property of the Home.
By the 1890s, the Old Ladies Home was no longer large enough to accommodate the women who lived there. A contribution of $30,000 from Abraham Slimmer of Waverly, Iowa helped to start an endowment. Additional donations from Slimmer and Cedar Rapids residents raised enough money to build a new home in the village of Kingston, Iowa, which could house up to eighteen women. In 1899, fifteen women moved into a new home which they called their “Castle on the Hill.”
The Home for Aged Women, as it began to be called, routinely housed around twenty women at a time and frequently had to turn down applications from women even as entrance fees climbed to $2,000 by 1953. Although there were rules, the women who lived in the Home did so fairly independently. They could come and go during the day to club meetings, visits with family, and to other activities. They each contributed to cleaning and food preparation as they were able. For most of the Home’s history each woman had her own bedroom and shared a kitchen, dining room, and parlor with the others. Women who came to the home frequently lived there until their deaths or until they required more medical care than the Home could provide. Occasionally, women would leave due to increased fees or to go live with extended family members. During World War I, one woman chose to leave after others in the Home objected to her speaking German.
Throughout the 20th century, the Home for Aged Women continued to adapt. A radio was added to the parlor for sermons and musical programs in the 1930s and the women received a television in 1953. In 1974, the Home for Aged Women completed an addition of seventeen resident suites to the building and officially changed its name to Kingston Hill. For Kingston Hill’s centennial, Ruby Klatt, matron of the Home from 1964 to 1980, wrote a book summarizing its history entitled The Story of Kingston Hill.
After one hundred and sixteen years as a women’s only home, Kingston Hill opened its application process to men in 2003. Four years later, Kingston Hill officially affiliated with a non-profit healthcare organization, Abbe, Inc., dedicated to addressing the needs of the elderly in Linn County, Iowa. Kingston Hill closed in 2016 due to the rising costs of resident care and building maintenance. At the time of its closure, it had twenty-three residents.
Extent
8.60 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Records of Kingston Hill, also known as the Home for Aged Women, which ran in Cedar Rapids for over 120 years.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers (donor no. 1352) were donated by Marilyn Patterson in 2014.
- Title
- Kingston Hill records
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Anna Tunnicliff
- Date
- 2018
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Iowa Women's Archives Repository
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5068
319-335-5900 (Fax)
lib-women@uiowa.edu