199.1127.4

199.1127.4
Photograph of Salom "Sam" Rizk, who came to Ames from his native Syria in 1928. "Sam the Shoe Doctor" eventually owned the Collegiate Shoe Shop in campustown, near the Iowa State College campus. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Rizk offered free shoe repairs for those in need. In March, 1932, he was invited to speak on the subject of service to the poor at the National Shoe Dealers convention in Chicago. Within a year, more than 300 shoe repair shops in the Midwest adopted Rizk's service model. He became widely known as a motivational speaker, eventually adopting public speaking as a career. For his full story, see pp. 7-10 in "Ames in Word and Picture; Book Three: Tales from Two Old-Timers," by Farwell T. Brown, 2003.
Citation: 199.1127.4
Year: 1932 (approx.)