How can you help? Are you a member of the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI)? Become a member at https://iowaculture.gov/history/support/membership. Join by April 1st to be eligible to vote for Ricki King to be a member of the State Historical Society of Iowa Board of Trustees.
Why do you want to vote for Ricki King? Because she is actively working to make Iowa history available and inclusive to all. Ricki is practical in what she can do and pursues her passion to help make records available. Ricki is bringing history to the everyday person. She takes history from the academic big words space to commonly used words so persons outside the educational field will want to learn more about Iowa and its history.
Here is what the two people who nominated Ricki King had to say:
Person 1
Ricki is an accomplished genealogist historian. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Drake University. Ricki wants to get the story out about the everyday person and their heritage. We hear the most about those who make the news, but we all have a tale to share. History is in books, in public records, shared amongst friends, or passed down as oral history. The genealogist tries to put all of that in print, even if only to be shared with family. She started her firm in 2018 after 31 years at John Deere Financial.
Ricki will bring a needed diverse viewpoint to the Board so that its membership and activities can better support diversity, equity, and inclusion. To fully tell and preserve Iowa's history, we must include racial diversity. Maybe it is time to find those little-known stories and bring them to the forefront for all Iowans.
Ricki has already demonstrated her passion for history and getting it out to the public. In 2016, Ricki started lobbying the state legislature to change the law and citizens' access to fetal death records. Ricki noticed the issue while volunteering as a death certificate indexer with the State Historical Society of Iowa, Library and Archives Research Center. In 2018, the law did get changed and opened up those fetal death records. The change also lowered when all death records can be open, from 75 to 50 years, allowing the State Historical Society of Iowa to bring new records to the public.
Person 2
I worked with Ricki when she volunteered at the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids and served as an outstanding board member at the Fort Des Moines Museum. Currently, Ricki serves with me on the Kofu Sister City Committee of the Greater Des Moines Sister Cities Commission. Ricki is retired from John Deere in Johnston and is now a genealogist and owner of Roots to Branches Genealogy LLC. She is a frequent presenter on genealogy and African American history, most recently presenting a beginning genealogy course for the North Side Library in Des Moines (Feb. 20, 2021); presenting "Iowa's Black Migration" for SHSI History 101 on Feb 25th. She is also a frequent author, including a forthcoming article in the March 2021 National Genealogical Society Quarterly; "Women and the 1925 Iowa State Census" (April-May 2020 WOW Women of Worth); and "Women of Three Generations" (October 2018 The Urban Experience). In 2020, Ricki became one of the first African American women to appear as a candidate for president on the Iowa ballot in an effort to promote genealogy and history. Ricki is a passionate and tireless supporter of the SHSI and its mission to preserve and promote Iowa history.
How can you help? Are you a member of the State Historical Society of Iowa? Become a member at https://iowaculture.gov/history/support/membership. Join by April 1st to be eligible to vote for Ricki King to be a member of the State Historical Society of Iowa Board of Trustees. You will be receiving your paperwork to vote for Ricki King on or after April 19th.
Don't forget to share this post with your friends and especially people you know who are members of the State Historical Society of Iowa.
Every vote counts, and thank you for supporting me.
Ricki King
"Crave your name on hearts, not tombstones." author Shannon L. Alder