Jefferson City author and former News Tribune reporter Michelle Brooks put her knowledge of the history of Mid-Missouri into her new book "Interesting Women of the Capital City," which was released Monday.
Proceeds from the book, in part, will be given to the Zonta Club of Jefferson City to benefit its Second Chance Scholarship.
A former reporter, Brooks said she is grateful for her time in the profession because it gave her the insight and skills she needed for this project. As she gathered research for articles over the years, she said, she learned many new kinds of information she planned to eventually bring forward.
"Working for the newspaper for so long doing history projects, I would come across different people that were maybe secondary or tertiary in the story I was working on, but I would always say, 'Oh, I need to know more about them,'" Brooks said. "Then, once I was out of the newspaper business and had a little time to do my own kind of research, I was able to pick those up."
Brooks said when looking back through history, she found many interesting women whose stories were forgotten or overlooked. That helped her decide to continue the research into the subject, believing it would be fun to find more of these stories and document who they were about.
Brooks later had the idea to help the Zonta Club through its Yellow Rose Luncheon, which is the organization's fundraiser benefiting its Second Chance Scholarship. Due to concerns regarding COVID-19, the organization was not able to hold the luncheon in 2020 or 2021. About half of the proceeds from the book will be given to the organization's scholarship fund.
"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great to become a partner?'" Brooks said. "This book is about women who made their way (through) maybe troubled circumstances; and, at the same time, the scholarship is to help women who are looking to better themselves."
Established in 1908 in New York, Zonta is an international organization that recognizes women and their accomplishments with multiple efforts to assist them throughout the world. With many smaller clubs throughout the United States, the Zonta Club of Jefferson City works with professional women, retired and still working, who have put forth efforts to improve the lives of women locally, across the nation or across the world.
"In Jefferson City, we do things like the Yellow Rose Luncheon that helps provide Second Chance scholarships, we have a high school group that does all kinds of service work, and then we work with, as an example, Habitat for Humanity," Zonta representative Donna Deetz said. "Every time a new family goes into a Habitat house, our service committee provides them with baskets of the essentials. So it's always working to help women promote themselves, to benefit their families and to benefit the community in general."
The local Zonta Club has awarded scholarships to 88 recipients since 2000, Deetz said. With a scholarship fund totaling around $500,000, past recipients have used the scholarship to return to school for a graduate or undergraduate degree. Understanding the difference that can make, Deetz said, the organization is happy to offer the help to women over the years.
Brooks said she is very proud of the work she has contributed to the Zonta Club; however, she is not alone in her efforts to benefit charity. Proceeds from the book will also benefit the Friends of the Missouri State Museum, per the request of guest author Carrie Mackey Hammond, who wrote a chapter in the new book.
Along with "Interesting Women of the Capital City," Brooks' book "Hidden History of Jefferson City" is set to release July 19.
Brooks said she is proud of her work and the rich history of Mid-Missouri. As she continues her work, she hopes to continue bringing more information to the community.
"It's an opportunity to learn about lesser- known people in our history," Brooks said. "Maybe people that they might have heard about from other stories but didn't know their full history or the full extent of who they were. Hopefully it'll be enlightening things that will just add to the history of Jefferson City."