Date Original
1938-1969
Description
This collection contains materials relating to the life of Betty Hunter Sorensen Adams, particularly to her youth in Arkansas and at the Rohwer Relocation Center. It includes writings, a photograph, and publications relating to Rohwer Relocation Center and Rohwer High School and a scrapbook from her high school days. It also includes a photograph album chronicling her life from infancy to adulthood on microfilm.
Biographical/Historical Note
Elizabeth Lucille (Betty Lu) Hunter Sorensen Adams was born on February 3, 1926, in Tokyo, Japan; the daughter of Joseph Boone Hunter and Mary Cleary Hunter. She had one brother, John, also born in Japan. The Hunters were missionaries, but moved to Arkansas during the Depression because of lack of funding for missions. During World War I, she attended school at the Rohwer Japanese Relocation Camp and graduated in 1943. She then attended Denton (Texas) State College for Women and later became an occupational therapist. She met John Sorensen, a Danish immigrant suffering from tuberculosis, while working at the Triboro Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Long Island, New York. The two married on June 15, 1949. They eventually had three children. The Sorensens moved to Arkansas; and there, Betty was hired to start an occupational therapy department at Arkansas Children's Hospital. She also became founder and second president of the Arkansas Occupational Therapy Association. John was admitted to the Booneville Tuberculosis Sanitarium. While in Little Rock, Betty became active in political and public service issues; and after release from the Booneville Sanitarium, John continued his work as an artist and cartoonist and began his own advertising agency. After her husband's death in 1969, she married Thomas Adams Jr. in 1973. He died in 2003. In addition to her work in the medical field, she was also an artist and writer. The Arkansas State Archives also holds the papers of John Sorensen, as well as those of Betty's father, Joseph Boone Hunter, director of human services at the Rohwer Relocation Center and founder of Pulaski Heights Christian Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Physical Description
Document, 8.5" x 11"
Geographical Area
Arkansas
Language
English
Identifier
MS.000970
Resource Type
Text
Collection
Elizabeth Lucille (Betty Lu) Hunter Sorensen papers, MS.000970
Publisher
Arkansas State Archives
Contributing Entity
Arkansas State Archives
Recommended Citation
Elizabeth Lucille (Betty Lu) Hunter Sorensen Adams papers, Arkansas State Archives, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Rights
Use and reproduction of images held by the Arkansas State Archives without prior written permission is prohibited. For information on reproducing images held by the Arkansas State Archives, please call 501-682-6900 or email at state.archives@arkansas.gov.
Disciplines
United States History
