Elizabeth Dow Papers

Elizabeth Dow (b. 1943), also known as Wiz, was born in Bristol, Vermont to parents William Hicks and Martha Keys. She was married to David Dow in 1967, Donald Manders in 1989, and David Chesnutt (1940-2014), a history professor and publisher, in 2001.

Dow was an active campaigner in Vermont on issues including sex education, gender representation in education, and sexual abuse. She was one of the founders of Vermont's chapter of NOW (National Organization for Women) in 1974. She worked as an elementary school librarian in Morrisville, Vermont. Dow earned a Master of Arts degree in History and a PhD. She worked at the University of Vermont and taught at Louisiana State University (LSU) in the School of Library and Information Science. At LSU, she created the Archival Education Collaborative (AEC) in 2001 which received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the 2012 Distinguished Service Award by the Society of American Archivists (SAA).

Dow authored books on manuscripts, archives, and in 2018 published, with co-author Lucinda Cockrell, the book How to Weed Your Attic: Getting Rid of Junk Without Destroying History. In 2018, Dow served as the President of the Hardwick (Vermont) Historical Society.