It’s been said that well-behaved women seldom make history. Author Cheryl Mullenbach has uncovered the stories of Iowa’s intriguing women and invites you to meet these heroic, amusing, imaginative, nervy individuals. Learn about Iowa’s female riverboat captain, livery manager/cigar seller, and Cedar Rapids’ “girl in the trenches.” And, of course, there’s Iowa City’s “first woman executive,” who boasted, “I am 52 years old, don’t care who knows it; and I’m going to clean up this town and then run it properly.” And certainly the woman who spearheaded a drive to provide “vermin-proof underwear” to World War I soldiers in the trenches will capture the audience’s attention. Although history has forgotten these misbehaving women, we’ll take time to remember.
Cheryl Mullenbach is an award-winning Iowa author of non-fiction books. The American Library Association, International Literacy Association, and National Council for Social Studies have recognized her young people’s books about World War II, the Great Depression, the Industrial Revolution, and women in law enforcement. C-SPAN’s “Book TV” series broadcast her talk at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum at Hyde Park, NY, for the Roosevelt Reading Festival in 2014. Cheryl’s latest book for adults, Stagecoach Women, has just been released; and her Iowa history column appears in Iowa History Journal. Learn more at www.CherylMullenbachInk.com
