2021 Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame inductees include Donna Reed

Four newcomers – two posthumous and two living – will be inducted into the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame during a virtual ceremony on November 6th.

Founded in 1975 to honor the achievements of Iowa women, 184 women were inducted into the state’s Women’s Hall of Fame last year. This year’s new additions were announced early last month.

Traditionally, the Iowa Women’s Hall of Fame holds its ceremony in person. But for the second year in a row, the organization will hold a virtual ceremony because of the ongoing pandemic. This year’s ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 6th at 10 a.m. and can be viewed on the Iowa Department of Human Rights Facebook page at Facebook.com/IowaDeptHumanRights.

Roxann Ryan, Cresco

Ryan served as the Iowa Public Safety Commissioner from 2015 to 2019. She worked as a lawyer and intelligence analyst for the Iowa Department of Public Safety before former Governor Terry Branstad named her a commissioner in February 2015.

More:How Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” became the inevitable festival song of the state of Iowa

Cornelia Clark, Grinnell

Nature photographer Cornelia Clark’s photographs have appeared in children’s books, scientific magazines, newspapers, and encyclopedias across the country. Clark lived from 1884 to 1936.

Donna Reed, Denison

Oscar-winning actress Donna Reed is known to be from Denison and has been recognized for her contributions “as a trailblazer for women on television,” according to a press release from the Iowa Department of Human Rights.

Reed is also known as a humanitarian advocate for social justice and world peace, according to the press release.

Reed was an actress in countless films during the 1940s, though she is best remembered because she starred in the 1946 Christmas Class “It’s a Wonderful Life” opposite James Stewart’s war drama “From Here To Eternity”.

Reed died of pancreatic cancer in 1986. She found her greatest success as “the ideal wife and mother in the television series ‘The Donna Reed'”, a popular sitcom that ran from 1958 to 1666, wrote the Los Angeles Times at the time of her death.

More, earlier this year:Actress Donna Reed made an impact in Hollywood as “Iowa’s Daughter” and Iowans celebrates her legacy

Jan Mitchell, Des Moines

Mitchel was named State Teacher of the Year in 1997 and won the 2019 Robert D. Ray Award for Justice and Justice from the Iowa Latino Hall of Fame. Mitchell was instrumental in educating and social mobilizing hundreds of Latinos and Latina students from Iowa, according to a press release. She also advocates women’s rights and places great emphasis on “service-oriented compassion in her work with the community”.

Mitchell founded Al Exito, a program that enables Latinos to succeed through education, leadership, and community engagement.

Philip Joens covers the breaking news for The Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-443-3347 at pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.