August 27, 2016

Key to the City Recipient 

Mayor Gary Davis presented Elk Grove educator, author, and local historian, Elizabeth Pinkerton, with a Key to the City as part of the opening ceremonies of Elk Grove's Multicultural Festival, on August 27, 2016 at Elk Grove Regional Park.

Elizabeth Pinkerton is a native of Northern Wisconsin. She and her husband Tom moved to Elk Grove with their family in 1962. Elizabeth served as a teacher and administrator at elementary, middle and high schools in the Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD). She was director of State and Federal Programs for the district and held leadership positions with local, state and national organizations. In 2008, the Elk Grove Unified School District recognized Mrs. Pinkerton's lifetime of service by naming a middle school in her honor.

Working with her students over the years, Elizabeth became known as a local historian. For more than 30 years, she has written a weekly column for the Elk Grove Citizen entitled "History Happened Here." She has authored three books on Elk Grove history and co-authored with Mary Tsukamoto a Story on Internment in America. Elizabeth has donated an estimated $64,000 in proceeds from book sales for student scholarships through the Elk Grove Regional Scholarship Foundation.

Mrs. Pinkerton continues to work as an educational consultant and as an Elk Grove community volunteer. Students of the 2015 Summer at City Hall program, a collaboration between EGUSD and the City of Elk Grove, nominated Mrs. Pinkerton for a Key to the City. In their nomination submitted by Summer at City Hall faculty advisor, Carlos Garcia, it states, "Mrs. Pinkerton graciously donated her time to work with the Summer at City Hall students and helped to instill in them a sense of civic pride and enthusiasm for Elk Grove's proud heritage and bright future. There is simply no one more deserving of Key to the City of Elk Grove recognition than Mrs. Elizabeth Pinkerton."

Pinkerton is the fifth recipient of a Key to the City since the program's inception in 2013. The Key to the City is an honorary gesture of appreciation and welcome reserved for notable Elk Grove residents who have made outstanding contributions benefiting the community.

Elizabeth's contributions to the Elk Grove community have been recognized and appreciated by several organizations over the years. In 1982, she was Elk Grove's Citizen of the Year. In 2007, Cosumnes Community Services District dedicated a park in her honor (It's on West Stockton Blvd). In 2008, she was the Elk Grove Citizen's Woman of the Year and in that same year, Elizabeth Pinkerton Middle School opened on Whitelock Parkway. She is a charter member and past president of the Elk Grove Historical Society. She is clearly very deserving of all of these honors and more.


Left to Right: Councilmember Darren Suen, Elizabeth Pinkerton, Mayor Gary Davis, and Councilmember Steve Detrick.


Mrs. Pinkerton with students from Summer at City Hall program and EGUSD instructors, Carlos Garcia and Benny Rich.