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Hoover Library volunteer earns NARA accolades
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · May 12, 2016


The National Archives and Records Administration awarded May 5 the Weidman Outstanding Volunteer Service Award to Downey resident Rachel Richards for her work at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum.


The Archivist of the United States announced the award during the Archivist Awards in Washington D.C., which was seen by broadcast in the Library-Museum’s conference room, where Richards accepted the award from Director Thomas Schwartz.

Richards said she was grateful for the recognition and noted that she surprised herself by the number of hours she put into volunteering at the West Branch archives.

Richards’ primary project was digitizing the “McMullin Book,” a catalog of all artifacts in the White House.

“Its creation was an enormous accomplishment by First Lady Lou Henry Hoover and Dare Stark McMullin. The White House did not have a complete copy of either books or any of the provenance files used by McMullin to write the catalog. Because of Rachel’s dedication to the book, Elizabeth Dinschel, Education Specialist at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum and Jim Gardner, Executive for Legislative Archives, Presidential Libraries, and Museum Services for the National Archives, were able to deliver the book to the White House in May of 2015,” read a statement by the Library-Museum.

Schwartz said Richards also digitized “the most comprehensive photographic record of the construction of the Hoover Dam.”

“The three photograph albums, created by Six Companies, Inc. and presented to Herbert Hoover, contain invaluable information for understanding one of the world’s greatest engineering accomplishments,” he said.

The books are viewed every Science Technology Engineering Math Thursday at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum by hundreds of students, a fact of great interest to Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, who took time out of her Small Business Week tour in West Branch to meet with Richards.

Reynolds is an advocate of both volunteering and STEM education, and congratulated Richards on her recognition.

Richards was accompanied by her family and parents, and told Reynolds that she was born in Illinois yet moved to Iowa when her husband accepted a job at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Richards said she was looking for work but had recently given birth, so she opted for volunteering instead. With a bachelors degree in history and political science, she found a niche at the presidential library.

“I loved it,” she said, noting that it allowed her to remain a stay-at-home mother.

“I love it that we’ve got you in Iowa,” Reynolds said.