In January 1991, my transfer went through and I moved westward to the State Historical Building 600 East Locust Des Moines Iowa. It was a beautiful new facility (officially opened by the Department of Cultural Affairs on Dec. 11, 1987) and I wanted to work there!
I worked for the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) in the office spaces directly through the main doors and on the right. It was a brand new building!
I performed secretarial duties for several professionals in charge of various functions for the historical society. I typed records and documents for state curators, archivists, historic sites coordinators and preservationists. I helped with the volunteers, scheduled tours (for schools and civic groups) and events in the atrium (eg: recognition dinners). I served as a prn tour guide for the Delicate Balance, Human Values and Iowa’s Natural Resources exhibit (upon receiving training by Mavis, our very smart and blind tour guide). I loved it!
While working at the State Historical Building, I had the privilege of participating in the creative aspects of the museum, viewing many of the artifacts stored in the basement, and browsing through the historical library. Another interesting aspect of working in the building was the facility had prisoners on community work release programs. I got to work with a couple of them. [Note: In my career, I have worked with people with criminal histories; and therefore have studied the relevance of this related to working…I may blog about it in the future…]
One of the most exciting times working in the museum was helping to prepare the placards for the designers who were working on new exhibits. I also enjoyed looking up military records and typing up affidavits and other public records. These job activities brought me to the front lines of Iowa history. Click here for a History of Iowa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
After another healthy time period, I made a decision to return to college. Again, just moving forward…..and little did I know, this was only the beginning! I was still working at night transcribing records for a dermatologist in West Des Moines (oh, and raising a child in a lovely trailer on the Southside of town with my husband Randy!) Randy was employed as a Des Moines Public School system long-term substitute teacher in a 3.6 self contained CLEAR (creative learning experience and real life situations) program geared towards behavioral disordered teenagers.
And working on his bachelor degree in education at Grand View University!
MORE TO COME! Part (I’m losing count) 8 up next!
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