Helen Sue Pearson Isely was born August 1, 1917 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the daughter of Nettie Ingalls Pearson and Herbert S. Pearson. She earned her B.A. from the University of Arkansas in botany. Before moving to Ames, Iowa, in 1945 with her husband, Duane Isely, Helen Isely taught math and science at Gravette (Arkansas) High School. Once in Ames, Isely tutored private classes in math and public speaking (1955-1959).

Isely wrote and published over 800 poems in more than 200 literary periodicals and popular magazines, including Southwest Review, Antioch Review, The McCalls Magazine, Highlights for Children, Farm Journal, and Best Articles and Stories. Her book of poems, The Moon is Red,was published by Alan Swallow in 1962, and won the first place award for poetry from the Midland Booksellers Association. Her poetry had a wide variety of themes, including poems about her husband, love, religion, nature and many others, and she wrote poems both for adults and children.

Isely won many other awards and citations for her poetry, including prizes presented by the Iowa Poetry Association (1955-1958, 1961-1963), the Georgia Poetry Society (1954), and the S.W. Writers Conference (1956, 1959). In addition to tutoring and writing, Isely was also the Assistant Editor of Lyrical Iowa (1959) and the Trustee (Iowa) and Chairman (Story County, Iowa) for the Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation (1961-1963). She was listed in the Who's Who in the Midwest, the Who's Who of American Women, and the International Who's Who in Poetry.

Helen married Duane Isely (Iowa State University Professor of Botany) on April 1, 1940, but they divorced in 1965. Together they had two children, Deanna Sue and Karl. Isely passed away in Ames on December 21, 1977.

This collection (1950-1978, undated) documents Helen Isely's professional writing life and includes letters, drafts of individual poems, manuscripts, published work, and news clippings.

The department also holds Duane Isely's papers (RS 13/5/56), Helen Sue Pearson Isely's former husband who worked as Extension Associate (1944-1947) and botany faculty member (1947-1989) at Iowa State University.

Original folder titles were retained except when it was necessary to clarify contents. The files are arranged alphabetically.