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Meet Laura Lee Ramirez
It’s
with a delicate and steady hand that Laura Lee Ramirez works on the Civil War
battle flags in the State Historical Society of Iowa collection. The detailed
work requires extraordinary concentration as she inspects each flag, and helps
to stabilize them with conservation treatment.
Ramirez was recently hired by SHSI as a part-time employee on the Battle Flag Preservation Project. It was an easy decision to bring her on board after the retirement of conservator Sharon Knudsen, considering she’d been volunteering with Sheila Hanke, conservator and collections manager, since December 2004.
Her career, however, started in a much different way. With degrees in Police Science and Psychology, Ramirez started out in law enforcement, working her way up to the rank of sergeant. She then became a family therapist, working with families of youthful offenders. When her husband was transferred to Des Moines to join the Iowa Air National Guard, Ramirez worked part time as a Capitol Tour Guide.
Ramirez’s volunteer work extends beyond her battle flag duties to Civil War re-enactment.
“I got into re-enactment because my husband took it up as a hobby, but I joined in when I found out I could wear beautiful ball gowns and go to dances,” she said. “I guess there is a little bit of princess in each young lady. I love to watch the battles at Civil War events and immerse myself the best I can in that time period. It gives one the sense of what those brave young men endured.”
As a descendant of three Civil War soldiers, Ramirez is intrigued by the time period.
“I am a direct descendant of two great-great-grandfathers and one great-great uncle who fought for the Union,” she said. “I’ve traveled all over the country viewing the battle sites where they fought. It gives me a better understanding of what really happened during the Civil War.”
Ramirez and her husband, Senior Master Sergeant Ben Ramirez, have five grown children and six grandchildren. She is active in her church and loves to read, travel, research the Civil War and bake.
