This collection (1897-2009, undated) contains articles and news clippings, correspondence, oral history interviews, photographs, and reports compiled by Mary Atherly primarily focusing on the Iowa State University Farm House and the President’s home, the Knoll.



The materials in the collection related to the Farm House were used as sources for the book she wrote on the building’s history. These materials include articles and news clippings, biographical information on former residents of the house, oral history interviews, photographs, and reports. In the late 1990s, the Farm House underwent a major restoration project paid for partly by a grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa. Records of the renovation project contained in the collection include general correspondence and reports submitted to the State Historical Society of Iowa, reports by conservation consultant Martin Weaver, and building renovation plan drawings. A second edition of Atherly’s book was published in 2009 and included additional information on the renovation. The original photographs used in Atherly’s book are also included in the collection.



Atherly’s research on the Knoll includes oral history interviews, historic and current photographs, slides, and wallpaper samples. Also included in the collection is documentation on the campus portraits of Iowa State University presidents and deans.