The Renfrow Story

This page is one of my favorite illustrations. I love how Erica used the perspective and the star-filled sky. The other reason I love this page is because it talks about Laetitia Conard, another overlooked amazing women in Grinnell’s history.

Mrs. Conard is someone Edith remembers very fondly. She was the leader of her Campfire Girls troop and was also involved in the programming done at the Uncle Sam’s Club. She was one of the women in town that encouraged her. All of this is wonderful, but Mrs. Conard was so much more.

Laetitia Moon Conard was an incredibly well educated woman – Bachelor’s degree, Masters, two PhDs. She came to Grinnell when her husband was hired as a professor for Grinnell College. You may have heard of him. The Conard Environmental Research Area is named in his honor.

Laetitia Conard officially joined the faculty at Grinnell College in the mid-1920s and began teaching courses in economics and the new field of sociology. In fact, she is largely credited with helping to establish the sociology department. She taught for over 20 years but was never paid nor admitted to the rank or title of Professor. Why? Because she was a woman. She inspired her students to do field work in the town of Grinnell, visiting workers in their homes. They documented conditions and experiences of those who lived in conditions that many of the students had never seen before. It was such important work and she was given so little credit.

Not only was she teaching for no pay and inspiring children on the south side, she also helped to found the First Friends Church of Grinnell, and the city’s League of Women Voters chapter. She fought hard for the rights of anyone who was looked over and cast off. She was active in politics and ran for governor of Iowa in 1932, for a Congressional seat in 1934, for a Senate seat in 1936, and for lieutenant governor in 1940, always on the Socialist Party ticket.

Mrs. Conard has a great champion currently on campus in Professor Susan Ferguson. She has researched Laetitia Conard and written a paper that really needs to be published in the Grinnell Magazine or somewhere. I share her goal of having more people know about Laetitia Conard. For now, I can point you to her Wikipedia page so you can learn more about the things she did.

Laetitia Conard would have been a part of Edith’s story anyways, but it makes it especially meaningful that she was so influential to Edith growing up.