Ames woman among 2022 picks for Iowa Women's Hall of Fame
The Iowa Commission on the Status of Women has announced the 2022 honorees of the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame and Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice recipient.
The Iowa Women's Hall of Fame honorees include Mary Elaine Richards of Ames, Mary Swander of Kalona, Elizabeth Cowles of Des Moines and Laurie Schipper of Des Moines.
The 2022 recipient of the Cristine Wilson Medal for Equality and Justice is Ako Abdul-Samad, of Des Moines, a longtime member of the Iowa House of Representatives and social justice advocate.
An induction ceremony will be held at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 27 at the Des Moines Playhouse, according to a news release from the Iowa Department of Human Rights. The ceremony and following reception are free and open for the public to attend.
More on Mary Elaine Richards of Ames
Richards was born Feb. 21, 1936, in Butler, Ohio. She earned her bachelor's in education at Ohio University and married Bob Richards before earning her master's in special education from Wayne State University.
"My interest in inequities and the inequities of our political system and our economic system really started when I was teaching in a school system that had lots of children coming out of homes that were not blessed by middle class advantages," Richards said.
She learned about state government through her involvement in the League of Women Voters while living in Michigan and was soon a volunteer lobbyist at the Michigan statehouse. When Richards found out that the wife of one of her husband's colleagues referred to the League of Women Voters as "meddling housewives," it ignited her desire to attend law school.
"I told my husband if I was going to meddle, I think I would like to meddle with some clout. I think I'd like to go to law school," Richards said. "And my husband encouraged me to do that. But you know how you think, 'Oh, that would be a good idea,' but you never get around to it? One year, he wrote the Christmas letter, and in the Christmas letter, he said 'Mary is going to go to law school.' So then it was fish or cut bait."
In 1969, the family moved to rural Story County, Iowa. Richards commuted long hours from Story County to Ames and Des Moines completing school work as part of a dual degree program with Iowa State University and Drake University, along with being an active volunteer in the community and a mother.
She earned a master's degree in political science from Iowa State University and a law degree from Drake University. Richards was soon hired to work for the Iowa Legislative Services Bureau where she was assigned to staff a study committee revising the Iowa juvenile code.
Richards' work with youth caught Story County Attorney Ruth Harkin’s attention, and Harkin invited her to become assistant county attorney with a focus on vulnerable youth and justice. When Harkin retired in 1980, Richards was elected Story County attorney, a position she held for 16 years.
At a time when female prosecutors were uncommon, Richards took the reins, expanding the county attorney position to full time and adding several assistant positions, including victim witness staff.
"I really never felt any inequality in the way I was treated among my contemporary students, whereas I did notice it with older judges. Certainly not with every judge, but with some older judges," Richards said. "There was one judge I remember who insisted that women could not wear pants in his courtroom. And there were people who just didn't feel that women could be competent."
That never stopped Richards. She was active in the state and national association of county attorneys. In Iowa, she was the first woman president of the Iowa Association of County Attorneys. She was also selected to serve on committees of the National Association of Counties.
Richards retired as county attorney in 2000. She was recruited to work for Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a job that built on her knowledge and experience working with young people, specifically teenage girls. After returning to Ames, she worked for a short time at Youth and Shelter Services in their Passages program, again with young women.
She is active in groups such as the League of Women Voters of Iowa Sentencing Reform Committee, KHOI community radio, Good Company women's vocal ensemble, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship outreach and support programs for vulnerable populations.
Iowa State Attorney Tom Miller appointed her to the twelve-member Iowa Natural Resources Climate Action Rate Assessment Board in 2022. Now, she will join other Iowa women leaders in the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame.
"I'm humbled when I look at the kind of people who were already in the Hall of Fame," Richards said.
Grace Altenhofen is a news reporter for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at galtenhofen@registermedia.com or on Twitter @gracealtenhofen.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Mary Elaine Richards of Amespicked for Iowa Women's Hall of Fame
