Press Release
Iowa Museum Association
Cynthia Sweet, Executive Director
e-mail: imasweet@cfu.net
(319) 239-2236
April 7, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Iowa Museum Association Announces Conference Keynote Speaker
The Iowa Museum Association has announced that Dr. Ronald D. Rietveld,
Professor Emeritus, Department of History, California State University
Fullerton, Fullerton, California, will deliver the keynote address at the 2015
IMA Conference on Monday, October 5, from 9-10 a.m. at Central College,
Pella, Iowa.
Dr. Rietveld is well known nationwide as a Lincoln scholar. He began
studying President Lincoln and collecting Lincoln artifacts as a teen-ager. A discovery made when he was
14 years old and encouragement from adult mentors in the field to continue his education provided the
basis for a career of research and scholarship. Dr. Rietveld will share his story of discovery and how it has
impacted not just his life, but the lives of other Lincoln scholars.
Following the keynote address, Dr. Rietveld will lead a breakout session from 10:15 – 11 a.m. on being in
the right place at the right time with the right amount of curiosity - the background story and circumstances
that led to the actual discovery of an important presidential photo missing for 87 years.
Cynthia Sweet, executive director of the Iowa Museum Association, said, “We are delighted that Dr.
Rietveld is available to speak at the conference. He has an exciting story to share, both of personal
discovery and of that discovery's impact on the research and scholarship of the field as a whole."
Growing up in Pella, Iowa, Dr. Rietveld began building his own collection of Lincoln artifacts while still a
teenager. His interest in President Lincoln grew as he began a correspondence with Lincoln collectors and
scholars nationwide. In 1951, young Rietveld was invited to the dedication of the James W. Bollinger
Collection at the University of Iowa and there met Illinois State Historian Dr. Harry E. Pratt who invited
Rietveld to visit Springfield, Illinois Lincoln sites. While in Springfield, the 14-year old Rietveld discovered
the now well-known Lincoln Coffin photograph while examining the Nicolay-Hay Papers. Heeding Dr. Louis
A. Warren's suggestion to continue his Lincoln scholarship, Rietveld attended the University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana, and served in the Illinois Historical Survey and as research assistant to Dr. Robert W.
Johannsen, for three years, who was at the time completing his biography of Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln's
rival in love, law and politics.
Dr. Rietveld taught American history at Wheaton College [Ill.], and focused on Civil War/Lincoln courses
during his 45 year career at California State University, Fullerton. One of the finest occasions in his "Lincoln
life" was the years spent working with the Development Committee in establishing the Abraham Lincoln
Presidential Museum. Appointed by President George W. Bush, he served as an advisor to the Abraham
Lincoln Bicentennial Commission in 2009. At the time of the Sesquicentennial commemoration of Iowa's
involvement in the Civil War, Rietveld displayed his Lincoln collection at the home of Henry P. Scholte of
Pella, who was a friend of the president. That display set the pattern for future exhibits at the Scholte
House in the years that followed. Today, there is a Lincoln-Scholte Room which exhibits items associated
with the lives of both friends.
The Iowa Museum Association Annual Meeting and Conference serves museum professionals, volunteers,
and board members and is open to the public. The IMA encourages participation by museum studies and
public history students, providing an opportunity for students to network and interact with statewide
museum representatives on Sunday afternoon. The two and one-half day conference provides
opportunities for networking, professional development, and exploration of area museums. For more
information, visit “Annual Conference” at www.iowamuseums.org or contact the IMA at 319.239.2236
The mission of the Iowa Museum Association is to provide quality training and development, advocate for
support of Iowa’s museums, and build a strong community of museums and museum supporters in Iowa.
The association is made up of over 250 museums from across Iowa. Iowa’s museums include art centers
and museums, botanical gardens, children's museums, history museums, historic sites, historical societies,
living history sites, nature centers, natural history museums, planetariums, science and technology centers,
and zoos.