HistoryMakers Give Rich Central Freshmen Encouragement

He is on the board of five non-profit organizations. He was one of the first African Americans to work at R.R. Donnelley Corporation. He is Ronald E. Daly, of Olympia Fields, and he is a HistoryMaker.

Fellow Olympia Fields resident Barbara A. McKinzie also is a HistoryMaker. She is the 27th International President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and she joined Daly to bring a message to the freshman class at , as part of Back to School With the HistoryMakers.

HistoryMakers was incorporated in July of 1999 by public historian Julieanna Richardson. The national non-profit organization is dedicated to preserving African-American history via video oral interviews with 5,000 accomplished African Americans.

“Who believes in investing?" McKinzie asked the assembled Rich Central freshmen. "Does anyone here collect Barbie dolls?" 

Only a few students raised their hands. As McKinzie walked over to the students, the arm of a young man caught her attention. McKinzie reached into a bag and pulled out a box with a Barbie doll inside. 

“This is one of the first African-American Barbie dolls," McKinzie said. "Recently it went for $500 on eBay." 

With that, almost every freshman raised his or her hand, wildly requesting a Barbie doll. McKinzie handed the valuable Barbie doll to the only male whose hand was raised when she first asked the question.

Besides bearing gifts for the freshman class, McKinzie brought her valuable expertise to the conversation. She became a member of the board of directors of Africare in 2005. She also has served as comptroller for the Chicago Housing Authority.

According to the HistoryMakers website, McKinzie has fostered her signature program theme, Extraordinary Service Program (ESP), which is an acronym for economics, service and partnerships.

The program focuses platforms such as economic keys to success, economic strength of the black family, economics in technology and health resource management.

After encouraging students to begin investing in something now, McKinzie passed out three books written by the president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 

McKinzie was interviewed by HistoryMakers in February of 2008, joining thousands of other prominent African Americans who have made significant accomplishments, including Quincy Jones, Colin Powell, Dionne Warwick and many more.

As someone who started at the bottom of R.R. Donnelley, Ronald E. Daly changed his path after going to college for 10 years. Daly began his college career at back in the 1970s, earning his associate’s degree in 1975.

Daly didn’t stop there. He went on to before finally earning an M.B.A. at Loyola University of Chicago. By the time Daly left R.R. Donnelly in 2002, he had risen to president of Donnelly Print Solutions.

“In my high school yearbook, I said I wanted to be a journalist," Daly recalled. "I chose a different path."

After Daly gave a synopsis of his life, he encouraged the freshmen not to become a statistic as a dropout, but rather a success through higher education. 

"Be the masters of your fate from kindergarten through 80. Learning is a never-ending process," Daly told the students. "When you have an education, you don’t have someone else control your life for you. Stay in school."

“This program, talking to students, has made an impact in the dropout percentage, so anytime they (HistoryMakers) ask me to speak to high school students, I’ll do it," Daly said.

It’s obvious that not only has Ronald E. Daly changed history for himself, he’s intent on changing it for others as well.

HistoryMakers' video oral history archive is headquartered in Chicago. The organization’s phone number is 312-674-1900.