Margaret "Peggy" Polson
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No requestable containers
Scope and Contents
The Margaret “Peggy” Polson papers date from 1847 to 2021 and measure 6.25 linear feet (15 boxes). The papers are arranged in six series: Personal, Family History, Professional, Virginia Myers, Photographs, and Artifacts.
The Personal series focuses on Polson’s education, activities, and family relations. It includes her Masters and Doctoral theses, a diary, various personal projects, books gifted to her, newspaper clippings, and slides. The series also has two sub series, correspondence, and travel. The correspondence sub-series contains letters to and from Polson from the 1940’s into the 2010’s. It also has letters to and from her grandmother, Georgia Corp, her sister, Marion Polson, and her parents, Ruth and Robert Polson. The travel subseries houses paperwork and keepsakes from Polson’s travels later in life. These include a diary of her trip to China in the 1980’s, several trips facilitated by the Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa, journeys to Ireland and Australia, as well as many small trips within the United States.
The Family History series includes the genealogical information about the Polson family and their ancestors. This covers the histories of the Corp, Metzger, Polson, and Mathison families. The series also has one subseries that focuses entirely on the activities of Ruth and Robert Polson. These materials cover their trip around the globe as well as the legacies the two left throughout their lives.
The Professional series is comprised mostly of information about Polson’s art displays. These range from the 1970’s into the 2000’s and are from her time in Boone, North Carolina and her retirement in Iowa City, Iowa. The series also contains articles by and about Polson as well as her book “Journeys toward and Art Autobiography: Peggy Polson’s Peregrinations”. She also received a Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 which is housed here.
The Virginia Myers series includes information about Polson’s friend and mentor from the University of Iowa. Polson collected writen works by or about Myers and recorded personal interactions with the fellow artists.
The Photographs series contains the many photographs taken by and about Polson. These are primarily about her family and friends. There are also a good number of pictures about her artwork and home.
The Artifacts series is comprised mostly of Polson’s print plates. There are four plastic print plates, “The Lily” and three unnamed floral pieces, and two copper ones, “Unfurling” and “Charmed Nautilus”. The series also contains an Appalachian State University Christmas ornament, and Greek Orthodox traveling triptych, framed photographs of Peggy and Marion Polson, and a statement of appreciation from the Appalachian State University Art Department.
Dates
- Creation: 1847-2021
Creator
- Polson, Margaret "Peggy", 1931- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The papers are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to the University of Iowa/has been retained by the donor. “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
Margaret “Peggy” Polson was born in Roanoke, Virginia on March 31st, 1931 to Ruth and Robert Polson. She and her sister Marion spent much of their youth in Ithaca, New York after their father became a professor of rural sociology at Cornell University. In 1951, Polson completed an Associates of Arts degree at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She then received a Masters of Science from Cornell University in 1956. Her thesis, “Three Types of Design Experimentation Involving Proportion as Related to Tall Girl Dress”, was based on her struggle to find ready made clothing for tall women in the 1940’s and 1950’s. While at Cornell she studied abroad at Silliman University in the Philippines and took her first teaching position at the same institution. Polson came to Iowa to teach at the Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa in 1956. She then came to the State University of Iowa, now the University of Iowa, to study under artist and printer, Virginia Myers. She graduated in 1961 with a Master’s in Fine Arts. Her new position took her back to New York, where she stayed until 1966 teaching at Cornell University and the State University College in Plattsburgh. In 1971, she took a position teaching art at the Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. While teaching there she received a Doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1974. Polson continued to teach at the Appalachian State University until she retired in 1993.
Polson was also an avid artist and photographer. Her work was displayed North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, New York, and Iowa. She experimented with a wide variety of mediums and styles. Pencil, acrylic, intaglio, foil, and ink. Most of her works revolved around nature, often inspired by the photographs she took. Her art also took inspiration from her travels. While at the Appalachian State University, Polson took a trip to China to prepare her for teaching an Asian art class, which started her interest in landscapes. In 2000 she decided to move back to Iowa City to spend her retirement at Oaknoll Retirement Residence. Polson continued her art activities and travels. She was active in a group of Iowa City women artists called Art Mix and participated in several displays at her retirement home, one called the “The Twelve Women of Oaknoll”. She also booked over twenty trips to see the United States and other countries. Many of her trips were through the Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa to see various theatrical works, but plenty of others saw her traveling to famous landmarks around the globe.
Extent
6.25 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
An artist who received her master’s in fine arts from the University of Iowa.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers (donor no. 1481) were donated by Margaret Polson in 2016.
- Author
- Avery Porter, 2021
- 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