April was a big month for Iowa Black History Research Collective. In addition to bringing on three new board members, I was invited chat with Dana James and Lya Williams from Black Iowa News on their podcast, Being Heard: 2 Black Women, Coffee & Conversation. You can check it out on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
A few weeks later, a gentleman by the name of Bill Douglas, contacted me. Bill is a religious historian, a pacifist, and former leader of Iowa’s Socialist Party. He is writing a book about Iowa’s religious history and found himself stuck and unable to find much information on Black Pentecostals (Church of God in Christ, or COGIC).
Fast forward to July: We met up at the Des Moines Central Library, exchanged some information, and nerded out on the intersections of Iowa’s religious and racial history. We looked through the 1927 Des Moines City Registry (sort of like a phone book with just addresses) and were able to determine that Des Moines’ New Jerusalem Church of God in Christ had been home to a Brethren congregation in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Bill and I continue to correspond, exchanging leads and odd bits of information. Despite it not feeling like my “best” interview, I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to be in community with folks like Dana, Lya, and Bill.
