Elizabeth Dow Papers

Elizabeth H. Dow (b. 1943), also known as Wiz, was reared on a dairy farm in central Pennsylvania, the second of the four children of William Hicks and Martha Keys. She received a BA in history from Juniata College in 1965 and a Masters in Library Science from the University of Oregon in 1970. She was married to David M. Dow (1943-2018), math teacher, in 1967, Donald K. Manders (1940-2011), writer, in 1989, and David R. Chesnutt (1940-2014), history professor, documentary editor, and publisher, in 2001.

Dow worked as an elementary school librarian in Morrisville, Vermont, 1971-1983. She 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.

Dow earned a Master of Arts degree in History from the University of Vermont in 1986, and a PhD in Library Science from the University of Pittsburgh, in 1988. She worked as an archivist at the Sheldon Museum in Middlebury, Vt., 1988-1990, the Vermont State Archives 1990, and the University of Vermont, 1990-2000. She created the archives track in the School of Library and Information Science at Louisiana State University (LSU) where she taught, 2001-2014. At LSU, she received a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in 2002 to create the Archival Education Collaborative (AEC) which functioned until her retirement in 2014. The AEC joined the archival education programs at four universities in a resource-sharing program. It received the 2012 Distinguished Service Award by the Society of American Archivists (SAA).

Dow authored four books: Creating EAD Compatible Finding Guides, 2005; Electronic Records in the Small Repository, 2009; Archivists, Collectors, Dealers, and Replevin: Case Studies on Private Ownership of Public Documents, 2012; and, with co-author Lucinda Cockrell, How to Weed Your Attic: Getting Rid of Junk Without Destroying History.

In 2014 Dow retired to Hardwick, Vermont, where she became deeply involved with the Hardwick Historical Society.

[provided by Dow, 2022]