Four women inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame, article in IoWoman, September/October 1994

lo Woman Volume XXIV No. 5 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBERl 994 Four Women Inducted into the Four women, representing broad interests, were inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame on August 24 at the Iowa Sate Historical Building: Mildred Wirt Benson, Lois Harper Eichacker, Attor¬ ney Gertrude Durden Rush (deceased), and Evelyne Jobe Villines. y Mildred Wirt Benson, born in Ladora, Iowa, published her first story atthe age of 12 and became the first woman to earn an M.A. in journalism from the University of Iowa In 1927. She has written more than 130 put^lished books but is most noted as the first writer of the Nancy Drew series, carrying her independent spirit into the development of Nancy Drew as a strong female character and role model for three generations of women. She worked as a reporter for the Toledo Timesirom 1944 to 1975 and since then as a reporter/columnist for The Blade. A pilot as well, Benson was recognized in the 1947 edition of Who's Who in Aviation, American Women for her aviation columns for the Blade. She has been recognized with numerous writing awards and re¬ ceived the University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award In 1994. She is a member of the Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communi¬ cation Hall of Fame and the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame. Lois Harper Eichacker, a fifth-generation lo¬ wan living in Fort Madison, has spent her adult life advancing the causes of the disadvantaged, espe¬ cially children and the working poor, by participat¬ ing In the formation of public policies that affect them. Beginning her career at Southeast Iowa Com¬ munity Action Organization in 1967, she served as executive director from 1974 to 1989. In the past, Eichacker has been president of the Region Seven Community Action Directors' Association, and has served on the Iowa Humanities Board, the Long Term Care Task Force, and Investing in People. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Directors Iowa Women's Hall of Fame of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, vice-chair from 1991 to present; State Job Training Coordinating Council; Commission of Community Action Agencies, chairperson from 1992 to present; Council on Human Investment; Iowa's Policymakers' Institute; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Private Industry Council; Ameri¬ can Association of University Women; and the Uni¬ versity of Iowa Black Alumni Association. Her hon¬ ors include the Bob Tyson Outstanding Partner in Community Action Award, and the naming of the CAP Neighborhood Center in Fort Madison, the Eichacker Center. Eichacker is the president-elect of the 46,000 member of the University of Iowa Alumni Association. Attorney Gertrude Durden Rush, born in Navasota, Texas in 1880, moved to Des Moines in 1907 to become the first African-American woman to be admitted to the Iowa Bar. She remained the sole African-American female to practice law in Iowa until the 1950s. Receiving her BA from Des Moines University in 1914, Rush began studying law under her husband, James B. Rush, a Des Moines attorney, passing the Iowa Bar Exam ination in 1918. In 1924, after denial of membership In the American Bar Association, Rush and four male African-American lawyers, created the National Bar Association, a minority bar association, which offi¬ cially began in Des Moines in 1925. Rush was a member of the Illinois Bar, maintaining offices both in Des Moines and Chicago, residing in Des Moines. She also held positions in many national and com¬ munity organizations, including president of the Iowa State Federation of Colored Women's Clubs and president of the Des Moines Colored Feder¬ ated Clubs. She died in 1962. Two monuments in her honor are located at the Des Moines Public Library and St. Paul AME Church In Des Moines. -Continued on page 2 ATTENTION! '" you have someone you would like to nominate to the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame? If so, please write ICSW for the 1995 Hall of Fame nomination form. -.sip celebrate 20 years of the Hall of Fame with a new 52-page publication with the biographies and photos of ail 80 Hall of Fame members and more! Send $10 for the publication plus $2.50 for postage and handing to: Iowa Commission on the Status of Women, Lucas State Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319 University of Iowa. Libraries, Iowa Women's Archives