Jewett Powers

Jewett Hism Powers grew up in Centerville Iowa. Like many women of the times she married her high school sweetheart followed him to a new town and started a family. Any similarities to a typical family of the 1950's and 60's stop there. It seems to us that the concept of "housewife" was never known in our family. To us there was nothing unusual about a woman with four children working and going to school full time. When she graduated with honors and a degree in English and History in 1966 all of us children were on hand to celebrate the event.

That she would go on to be the document librarian for the Atomic Energy Commission at ISU seemed natural to us. She taught us the importance of always looking forward always striving for the best and always believing in the value of a good book and a good education. There was never a question of men and women's roles in our family. Everyone pitched in everyone had equal parts to play and the thought of women having any less status then men seemed foreign to us then just as it does now. Our friends may have thought it odd that our mother was flying around the country serving on the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission but to us it was just mom and a part of her job.

Looking back we realize now that ours was maybe not such a conventional family. Many of our friends had mothers that stayed home all day. Most of our friends had fathers that didn't cook at least half the meals. But the four of us have reached a rare consensus. It may not have been the most typical family for the times but we wouldn't trade it for the world. And we are very proud to honor our mother and her simple contribution of showing us that everyone should have an equal chance in this world.

7/1/96