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Contact the Iowa Women's Archives: http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/forms/iwa/ lo Woman Volume XXIV No. 5 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBERl 994 Four Women Inducted into the Four women, representing broad interests, were inducted into the lowa Women's Hall of Fame on August 24 at the lowa Sate Historical Building: Mildred Wirt Benson, Lois Harper Eichacker, Attor¬ ney Gertrude Durden Rush (deceased), and Evelyne Jobe Villines. y Mildred Wirt Benson, born in Ladora, lowa, published her first story atthe age of 12 and became the first woman to earn an M.A. in journalism from the University of lowa In 1927. She has written more than 130 put^lished books but is most noted as the first writer of the Nancy Drew series, carrying her independent spirit into the development of Nancy Drew as a strong female character and role model for three generations of women. She worked as a reporter for the Toledo Timesirom 1944 to 1975 and since then as a reporter/columnist for The Blade. A pilot as well, Benson was recognized in the 1947 edition of Who's Who in Aviation, American Women for her aviation columns for the Blade. She has been recognized with numerous writing awards and re¬ ceived the University of lowa Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award In 1994. She is a member of the lowa School of Journalism and Mass Communi¬ cation Hall of Fame and the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame. Lois Harper Eichacker, a fifth-generation lo¬ wan living in Fort Madison, has spent her adult life advancing the causes of the disadvantaged, espe¬...