A long-time activist in the Republican Party, Ivy Maude Baker Priest (1905-1975) served eight years as treasurer of the United States under President Dwight Eisenhower. She also twice won election as treasurer of California under Governor Ronald Reagan.

Ivy Maude Baker Priest was born on September 7, 1905, in Kimberly, Utah. She was the first born of the three daughters and four sons of Orange Decatur Baker and Clara Fearnley Baker. Her father was the grandson of one of the earliest Utah settlers and worked as a miner in Kimberly. Her mother was a domestic worker prior to her marriage. Orange and Clara met while on a mission to England for the Church of the Latter Day Saints.

Ivy Baker spent her school years in the Utah mining town of Birmingham, about 30 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. After her father was disabled in a mining accident, she came home...