A new exhibit at the Farm House Museum is celebrating the women who have contributed to the development and growth of Iowa State University.

The exhibit, “Signature Objects from the Women of Iowa State,” features donated objects from women faculty, past and present, and from women who have lived at the Farm House.

The items displayed — dresses, hats, shoes, furniture, books and household goods — are “things that are produced that reflect their career, such as textbooks and paintings,” said Marilyn Vaughan, Public Relations Coordinator for University Museums.

Lois Tiffany, distinguished professor in the department of botany, has a metal box used for collecting mushrooms that she constructed herself, a pair of worn hiking boots and a book that she authored in the exhibit.

“As the college has grown, so have the roles of women at Iowa State,” Vaughan said. “[Women are beginning to have] prominent roles in male-dominant fields.”

Items are featured from the women who lived in the Farm House before it became a museum in 1976.

For example, Elizabeth Hoyt, an early economist whose research became the basis for the consumer price index, and Olive Curtiss, the wife of Charles Curtiss who lived in the Farm House for 46 years, have items in the exhibit.

Graduate students Mary Alice Casto, Vicki Dirksen, Sue Herrold, Jean Murdock and R. Alyson Rhodes-Murphy are enrolled in an advanced history course about costumes and textiles and selected all of the garments and accessories from the Department of Textiles and Clothing collection for the exhibit.

The students also researched the origins of the items in order to present their histories as part of the exhibit.

“We couldn’t have done it without them,” Vaughan said. “I was amazed at where the items came from.”

A former dean of the home economics college has an evening gown that was bought for an ISU function in the 1940s in the exhibit.

Through research, the graduate students found the dress was purchased at “Saks” in New York City.

“It gives a sense of how beautiful the objects in the exhibit are, ” Vaughan commented.

Other featured pieces are a vase, painting and a painted teapot from Etta Bud, George Washington Carver’s art instructor, and a piece of furniture from Carrie Chapman Catt.

“I think [this exhibit] reflects the continuing importance and presence of women at Iowa State,” Vaughan said.

The “Signature Objects from the Women of Iowa State” exhibit will be on display in the Farm House Museum until June 7.

The Farm House is open Monday through Friday from noon to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission to the museum is free and parking is available in the museum lot.