The Project Team

Contents: Advisory Board | Partners | Staff Acknowledgements


This collaborative project of eight partner organizations and ten advisory board members could not have been completed without the combined efforts of our advisory board, partner institutions, and staff members from all organizations involved. They have generously contributed their time, effort, expertise, and resources to make this project possible.

Advisory Board

Dwain Coleman

Affiliation: University of Utah

Area of Interest/Expertise: African American History, Civil War Era, Environmental History, Latter-day Saints, and Native American History

Dr. Dwain Coleman is an assistant professor of history at the University of Utah, studying the history of African Americans, the Civil War era, the environment, Latter-day Saints, and Native Americans. He is currently working on a book that examines how Black Civil War veterans and their communities utilized the political capital of Black military service to redefine American citizenship in their fight to secure equal rights and build communities. Dr. Coleman is also the co-director of the Iowa Colored Conventions Digital Project, which examines the transformative 19th-century national civil rights movement known as the colored conventions movement in Iowa.

Daniel H. Kaiser

Daniel H. Kaiser is Professor of History Emeritus at Grinnell College. He is the author and editor of several books and numerous articles on Russian history but in retirement has hosted a blog on Grinnell local history (grinnellstories.blogspot.com). He is also the author of Grinnell Stories: African Americans of Early Grinnell (2020) and Grinnell Stories: Lives to Remember (2024). He resides in Grinnell with his wife, Jill.

Dr. C. Negus S. Rudison-Imhotep

Affiliation: Imhotep Memory Consultancy, LLC

Area of Interest/Expertise: Sociologist Cultural Memory Specialist

Dr. C. Negus S. Rudison-Imhotep serves as CEO of Imhotep Memory Consultancy, LLC, where he leads efforts to revitalize and preserve cultural memory across global African communities. As a renowned cultural memory specialist, his work centers on lecture series, cultural equity assessments, recruitment, global marketing strategies, and the development of international community networks. Driven by a commitment to ancestral consciousness, historical reclamation, and Pan-African empowerment, Dr. Rudison-Imhotep leverages education, strategic alliances, and grassroots engagement to advance cultural restoration. Your visionary approach to uniting dignitaries, philanthropists, creatives, and entrepreneurial leaders resonates deeply with our mission of collective upliftment and transgenerational legacy building.

Ricki King

Ricki King, historian and founder of Roots to Branches Genealogy. King has a bachelor’s degree in history from Drake University. She has been published twice in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly Journal. Additionally, King has been a presenter for the Iowa History 101 Series, “Iowa’s Black Migration: Into, Around, Out of, and Back Again.” Ricki worked to help Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines be recognized by the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. King is leading an effort to bring the legacy of Iowa’s Black history and places to light. She is a Board Trustee of the State Historical Society of Iowa and the Chair of the Iowa Historical Foundation.

Ashley Howard

Affiliation: University of Iowa

Area of Interest/Expertise: African American Studies/Midwestern History

Ashley Howard is assistant professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Iowa. Her research investigates racial violence in the Midwest and her work has appeared in the Middle West Review, Journal of African American History, Labor Studies Journal, the American Historian, Smithsonian Magazine, the Washington Post, the Financial Times and numerous other popular and scholarly outlets.  In 2023, she and co-investigator Colin Gordon were awarded a Mellon Foundation grant to examine race-based property restrictions in Iowa. She serves on the board of multiple organizations including the Annals of Iowa, the Urban History Association and Black Midwest Initiative. She is the author of Midwest Unrest: 1960s Urban Rebellions and the Black Freedom Movement.

Dr. David Brodnax

Dr. David Brodnax is Professor of History and History Department Chair at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois. His research focuses on African American social and legal history in the 19th and early 20th-century Midwest. His recent scholarly activity includes: the chapter “’Black Self-Defense in 19th-Century Iowa” for The Oxford Handbook of Midwestern History; the article “The Present and Future of Black Midwestern Historical Scholarship” for Middle West Review; and serving on the advisory boards for several public history projects. He teaches courses on American, African, and Latin American history, as well as a course at the University of Iowa College of Law, where he holds adjunct faculty status. In 2021 he was named Trinity’s Professor of the Year. He earned his J.D. from Iowa College of Law and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Diana Henry

Affiliation: Johnson County Interfaith Coalition, on the social justice team at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Coralville, League of Women Voters Johnson County, South of 6 District Arts & Entertainment committee, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Area of Interest/Expertise: public education, social/ racial justice issues, advocate for the arts

Diana Henry taught for over 30 years before her retirement. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Cincinnati, a master’s of education from Lincoln University, and a master’s of arts from the University of Iowa. After retirement, she took a slightly different path. She got a Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Iowa and worked as an education assistant at the African American Museum of Iowa for almost six years. She retired from the museum in August 2020. Some of her accomplishments include:

  • Ruby Ayres-Barbara Heidger Educator Award for International Understanding,1997
  • Iowa Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year award in 2001 from the Iowa Council of Social Studies.
  • Cited in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers,1999-2000 edition, and the 2004-2005 edition
  • Honored as a History Maker by the African American Museum of Iowa in 2022
  • Received a Governor’s Award in 2023 for her volunteer work.

Abena Sankofa Imhotep

Abena Sankofa Imhotep is an author, educator, and cultural leader devoted to advancing community empowerment, literacy, and equity. She founded Sankofa Literary & Empowerment Group, celebrating African diasporic thought and nurturing emerging readers and writers. Abena is the award-winning host of Black & Privileged in America Podcast and author of Omari’s Big Tree and the Mighty Djembe. She also leads The Imhotep Report, a platform for cultural, political, and social analysis. Her work insists on the boundless possibilities of Black futures grounded in literature, scholarship, and our common humanity.

John T. Pregler

Affiliation: Independent Researcher/Historian/Author; member Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; member Society for American Baseball Research

Area of Interest/Expertise: Nineteenth-century Iowa history; American Civil War history; Nineteenth-century baseball history; Upper Mississippi Valley Native American history; Iowa political history.

A life-long Iowan, Pregler resides in Dubuque where he researches, writes, and lectures on early Iowa history as it relates to our national narrative. Pregler’s work has produced a fourth documented instance in which Abraham Lincoln visited Iowa; proved a populate image of Frederick Douglass was taken in Dubuque in April 1866; documented the playing of integrated baseball in Dubuque in the 1890s; and established the fact the American League was in part organized during meetings held in Dubuque, Charles Comiskey’s adopted hometown. Pregler’s work also includes identifying and marking the unknown and unmarked graves of those he researches including an African American Civil War veteran, Dr. Henry Rose, and an early negro leagues baseball ball player, George “Jess” “Cannonball” Jackson, both buried in Dubuque, Iowa.

Dwana Bradley

Affiliation: Executive Director of the Des Moines Urban Experience, General Chairperson for Iowa Juneteenth, Owner of Iowa Urban Media

Area of Interest/Expertise: Education, Public Speaking, Communication

Dwana Bradley is a mother of two and a Des Moines native. She obtained her Master’s degree for elementary education and literacy from Drake University. Dwana’s work supports the Des Moines community and focuses on education. She worked for Des Moines Public Schools from 2009 - 2016 when she switched her focus on profit and non-profit organizations that continued to support the Des Moines community. She is currently the Executive Director of the Des Moines Urban Experience, a magazine that focuses on education, health, fashion, arts, and culture in the Des Moines area. She is also the General Chairperson for Iowa Juneteenth for the Des Moines area and the owner of Iowa Urban Media, a magazine that empowers, educates, and elevates readers in the Des Moines area.

Partners

African American Museum of Iowa

The mission of the African American Museum of Iowa (AAMI) is to preserve, exhibit, and teach the African American heritage of Iowa. The AAMI is committed to preserving African American history to ensure that future generations can learn from and connect with their heritage. We are contributors to the grant due to the nature of our institution.

Des Moines Public Library

Founded in 1866, the Des Moines Public Library is the public library system for the City of Des Moines. With six branches and a collection of more than 500,000 items, the Des Moines Public Library is the largest public library system in the state of Iowa. The mission of the Des Moines Public Library is to strength our community by connecting people with ideas and the tools they need to enrich their lives. With a total circulation of over 1.3 million items, the library provides public access to books, DVDs, Cds, audiobooks, magazines, board games, and our Library of Things. Des Moines Public Library also offers access to public computers, study rooms, historical research materials, and many other needed services. The Des Moines Public Library contributed materials from two major collections, the Iowa Oral History Project and the Iowa Bystander.

Fort Des Moines Museum

To learn about the Fort Des Moines Museum, please visit their website.

Grinnell College

Grinnell College Libraries Special Collections & Archives collects, preserves, and makes available for research rare and unique materials. We have a good teaching collection of books that document the history of print culture from the birth of movable type in the 1470s to the present day. We also have a strong focus on materials that document the history of Grinnell College, the surrounding community, and its cultural and natural environment in Iowa, including its prairie setting. Grinnell contributed an oral history of the first Black woman to graduate from the college, Edith Renfrow Smith, in 1937.

Grout Museum District

Located in Waterloo, Iowa in the heart of the Cedar Valley, the Grout Museum District (GMD) provides a better understanding of our world by collecting, preserving and interpreting history and illustrating scientific principles. The Grout Museum collects, preserves and interprets cultural and natural history of the region; the Rensselaer Russell House Museum and the Snowden House preserve and interpret elements of the Victorian age; the Bluedorn Science Imaginarium provides exhibitions and programming that inspire the study of the sciences. And the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum honors the service and sacrifice of Iowa veterans from the Civil War to present.

Nodaway Valley Historical Museum

To learn the about Nodaway Valley Historical Museum please visit their website.

Iowa State University

Iowa State University Library supports a public land-grant university of over 30,000 students. Library collections serve the academic and research needs of the university, reflected in its seven colleges (not including the Graduate College): Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business, Design, Engineering, Health and Human Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine. Iowa State University served as the lead institution on the grant, and hosts the portal. Library staff oversaw the administration of the grant, created metadata guidelines for grant partners, provided digitization and conservation work and advice, created the portal, and contributed content.

State Historical Society of Iowa

The State Historical Society of Iowa is the official repository for the state of Iowa and strives to represent the stories of all Iowans. With a dual mission of preservation and education, the society maintains a museum, research center and seven historic sites. The society preserves and provides access to Iowa’s historical resources through a variety of statewide programs, exhibitions and projects. Contributions to the grant focused on providing access to the Iowa Bystander newspaper, highlighting material from the Robert Patten Collection and summary information about religious leaders and organizations that are mentioned in the Patten Collection material.

Staff Acknowledgements

African American Museum of Iowa

Felicite Wolfe, Curator & Collections Manager and grant co-Principal Investigator
Katharine Cummings, Digitization Intern

Des Moines Public Library

Catherine A. Beane, Librarian

Fort Des Moines Museum and Education Center

Gialan Williams
Jeff Kluever
Matthew Harvey

Grinnell College

Christopher Jones, Special Collections Librarian and Archivist of the College

Grout Museum District

Nicholas Erickson, Registrar
Catreva Manning, Archivist

Iowa State University

Amber Bertin, AV Preservation Librarian
Amy Bishop, grant co-Principal Investigator
Heather Campbell, Head of Metadata Services
Kelly Hyland, Metadata Librarian
Hannah Scates Kettler, Associate University Librarian for Academic Services
Melea Reicks Licht, Communications Manager
Lisa Muccigrosso, Interim Head of Preservation
Melinda Moeller, Preservation Senior Conservation Assistant
Mindy McCoy, Digitization Specialist
Ben Rearik, Web User Experience Specialist
Emily Stanley, Library Conservator
Brent Swanson, Budget and Finance Manager
Haylee Shephard, Graphic Designer
June Somsanith, CLIR Grant Assistant
Laura Sullivan, grant co-Principal Investigator and Digital Collections Librarian
Hema Thulsidhos, Metadata Projects Librarian
Olivia Wikle, Head of Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

Logan Bettis, Digital Collections student assistant
Aman Singh, Digital Collections student assistant
Mahesh Babu Tasil, Digital Collections student assistant
Jia Wu, Digital Collections student assistant

Thanks to the following former staff members who helped during the early stages of the grant:
Sonya Barron
Daniel Hartwig
Kathy Parsons
Rosie Rowe
Nacuya Rucker Tammy Troup

Nodaway Valley Historical Museum

Trisha Bergren

State Historical Society of Iowa

Kay Coats, Collections Coordinator
Anthony Jahn, State Archivist, Library & Archives Bureau Chief
Leo Landis, State Curator for State Historical Society of Iowa (2013-2024), Wisconsin Historical Society starting in 2025