Nancy Shimanek Boyd papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA1257

No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

See more See less

The Nancy Shimanek Boyd papers date from 1973 to 2017 and measure 5.42 linear feet (14 boxes and 1 flat file). The collection is organized into three series: Personal, Iowa House of Representatives, and State employment. The Iowa House of Representatives series makes up most of the collection.

The Personal series (1979-1997) contains a biography, a leadership award, and research related to women serving in leadership roles. It also includes newspapers and a program from Pope John Paul II’s 1979 visit to the Living History Farms in Urbandale, Iowa.

The Iowa House of Representatives series (1973-2007, bulk 1977-1981) is organized into five sub-series: Bills, Committees, Correspondence and communications, Scrapbooks, and Topical files. The Bills sub-series contains copies of bills, including drafts and amendments, with notes. The Committees sub-series contains meeting minutes, correspondence, notes, and research files from various committees Shimanek served on. The Correspondence and communications sub-series contains letters from constituents and other politicians as well as newsletters from Shimanek. This sub-series is organized chronologically by year and month. The Scrapbooks sub-series contains scrapbooks created by Shimanek that include newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, and artifacts. The scrapbooks cover elections, legislative sessions, and events. The Topical files sub-series contains materials collected by Shimanek on various political issues; some of the files also include correspondence from constituents on the issue. The Iowa House of Representatives series also includes redistricting plans, name plates, oversize posters with tallying vote counts for Shimanek’s campaigns, and a yard sign.

The State employment series (1982-2017) contains materials related to Shimanek Boyd’s employment after serving in the state legislature. It includes materials from her employment as an administrative assistant to Governor Robert Ray and to the Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, as well as documentation of her service on the Iowa Utilities Board and the Iowa Board of Parole. Also included are materials from the 1982 Midwestern Governors’ Conference, which Shimanek attended.

Dates

Creation: 1973 - 2017

Creator

Boyd, Nancy Shimanek (1947-) (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.

Copyright status for 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 University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections and Archives as the source of the material. For further information, visit the Special Collections and Archives website.

Biographical / Historical

See more See less

Nancy Jean Shimanek Boyd, lawyer and Iowa State Representative, was born in 1947 in Monticello, Iowa, to parents Doris Flynn Shimanek and Charles Francis “Frank” Shimanek. Frank Shimanek was a lawyer who served in the Iowa House of Representative from 1939 to 1945. Nancy Shimanek graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Monticello in 1966. She attended Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in music in 1970. While attending Clarke College, she served as chairperson for the Clarke College Young Republicans for two years. In 1973, she earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City, Iowa.

After earning a JD, Shimanek worked as a law clerk for Justice Warren Rees of the Iowa Supreme Court for a year and then as an Assistant Attorney General in the criminal appeals division of the Iowa Supreme Court. As Assistant Attorney General, Shimanek represented the state in criminal prosecutions. After announcing her candidacy for the House of Representatives in 1976, she entered private law practice with her father and brother.

Shimanek ran for and won the Republican nomination for Iowa House District 22 in 1976. She lost the general election to Democrat Maurice Hennessey in November of that year, then won the seat in a special election in December when Hennessey resigned to run for Iowa Senate.

Shimanek served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1977 to 1981. She was a member of the House Judiciary and Law Enforcement Committee, including serving as chair from 1979 to 1981. She also served on committees for state government, natural resources, and human resources, as well as various study subcommittees on legal topics. Shimanek was an active member of the Republican caucus during her time in the House and served as floor manager for the 1980 redistricting bill that established the nonpartisan redistricting process now known as the “Iowa Model.” She was a member of the Iowa Federation of Republican Women and attended the 1980 Republican National Convention in Detroit, Michigan as an alternate delegate. Shimanek resigned from the House partway through her third term in September 1981 to work for Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray.

Shimanek worked as an administrative aide to Governor Ray from 1981 until his final term as governor ended in 1983. From 1984 to 1987, she served as executive assistant to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Iowa. There, she met David Boyd, a court administrator, and they married in 1987. For the next ten years, Nancy Boyd served as a member of the Iowa Utilities Board before she resigned in 1997 to work for a private law firm in Des Moines. In 2009, Boyd was appointed to the Board of Parole; she served in this role until 2017.

Full Extent

5.42 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Lawyer who served in all three branches of Iowa government, including the House of Representatives from 1977 to 1981. The collection includes materials from her legislative career and state employment.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The papers (donor no. 1632) were donated by Nancy Shimanek Boyd in 2020.

Related Materials

A Political Dialogue: Iowa's Women Legislators oral history collection (IWA0089): Nancy Shimanek Boyd was interviewed in 1989 for the A Political Dialogue project. A transcript is available in the collection.

Our Rightful Place: Iowa Women in Politics oral history collection (IWA1278): Nancy Shimanek Boyd is mentioned in the 2019 interview with Jean Lloyd-Jones. An audio recording and transcript are available on the Iowa Digital Library.