“Telling the Story”
Robert Burch
Alana Blumenthal
Kirk Huffaker
Alice Faulkner Burch
Barnard Silver
Doug Misner
Elizabeth Hora
FOUNDING
Sema Hadithi Foundation was founded by Robert S. Burch, Jr., in August 2020. Its mission is to tell the story of African-ancestored history, heritage, and culture by researching, preserving, and disseminating information throughout the community.
For years Robert and Alice Burch experienced community ignorance surrounding the rich history of Blacks in Utah. Alice Burch spoke with Robert often about focusing on bringing to light the many stories they had discovered. These stories are integral to the story of Utah, yet were not being shared with the broader community. The more events, lectures, and conferences they produced on family history, the clearer it became they needed to do things differently. The research in one area inevitably leads to a need in the other. The more genealogy research they participated in, the cleared it became it could and should be used to help further the story of all of Utah.
RESEARCH GROUP MEMBERS
Black Women Working Group
Tiffany Greene - Team Leader
Adrienne Scott-Ellis
Rachel Quist
Buffalo Soldiers Working Group
Fiona Robinson Hill - Team Leader
Reilly Jensen
Dwayne Madry
Jarrett Burch
A. Jerome Christophe
Preservation Working Group
Kirk Huffaker - Team Leader
W. Paul Reeve
James Tabery
Robert Burch
Black Church Working Group
Ardis Parshall
Andrew Holmes
New Projects Launches
Holly Andrew
Adelaide Dresden Crapo
Emily Peck Crumpton
Madison Abele
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Robert S. Burch, Jr., Executive Director
Alana Blumenthal, Director of Institutional Development
Kirk Huffaker, Managing Director, and Preservation Team Leader
Alice Faulkner Burch, Director of Special Events
Barnard Silver, Treasurer / Compliance
BOARD OF ADVISORS
Douglas Misner, State History Liaison
Elizabeth Hora, State History Coordinator
David Hollins
Tanya Hawkins
W. Paul Reeve
Leadership
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ROBERT S. BURCH, JR
Robert Burch is Executive Director of Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation, a nonprofit that researches African American history in Utah and the Mountain West. He is Principal of Sema Hadithi, LLC, an e-commerce business that provides research services and Afrocentric products online.
Robert began his career in the United States Navy where he served four years. He had tours of duty in the Caribbean, South America, the North Atlantic, and the Meditteranean Ocean. He received the Navy Expeditionary Cross for service as part of the U.S. Peacekeeping force in the Mediterranean.
His professional life has been varied, focused primarily on sales and customer service, including four years in food safety and corporate compliance.
His volunteer career includes Utah Chapter President and National Board Member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Vice President and Charter Board Member of Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, Family History Director of the LDS Genesis Group, Utah Juneteenth Committee, and Utah Black Roundtable.
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ALANA BLUMENTHAL
Alana Blumenthal serves as Sema’s Director of Institutional Development.
Currently, she is Museum Director, Brigham City Corporation. Previously she has been the Curator, Montgomery County Government, Curator of Collections and Exhibits, Kodiak Historical Society.
Museum professional with an interest in cultivating curatorial, exhibition, and registration connections. Experience and education in a range of historical, artistic, and scientific subjects, resulting in successful project development consultation in a wide variety of museum environments.
Specialties: Project research, cataloging, artifact, and archival storage, exhibit design, public education, interpretation, creating and facilitating partnerships, grant-writing, team management, and office administration.
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Kirk Huffaker
Kirk Huffaker is Managing Director for Sema.
He is Principal and Consultant of Kirk Huffaker Preservation Strategies and former Executive Director, Preservation Utah / Utah Heritage Foundation.
He is an advocate for vibrant neighborhoods and Main Streets, recognition and saving of historic modernism, and excellence in planning and design. Since 1998 provided technical assistance to save historic places throughout Utah and to build local preservation leadership and develop community-building planning policies.
Experienced historic preservation professional with a demonstrated history of working in the architecture & planning industry. Skilled in nonprofit management, public speaking, heritage-based economic development, planning and design, zoning, and leveraging local history. A strong advocate and business professional whose expertise has spurred the saving of landmarks and neighborhoods across Utah spurred economic development and private investment and built stronger communities.
Served on numerous committees and boards, and is currently a board member of several local organizations and the National Preservation Partners Network.