JACKSON, Wyo. — As part of the Rest of the West Series, History Jackson Hole (HJH) and the Teton County Library will co-present the upcoming free event, “Wyoming Women’s Political History: It’s Complicated,” to share stories of four Wyoming women overcoming challenges.
The storytelling event will take place on Thursday, June 12 at 6 p.m. at the Jackson Hole History Museum on 175 East Broadway. Doors will open to the public at 5:30 p.m.
Virginia Scharff, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of History, former Director of the Center for the Southwest at the University of New Mexico and University of Wyoming graduate, will tell four stories that reveal both “women’s courage and determination to defend and expand democracy, and their sometimes unexpected and contradictory motives and consequences of their actions.”
HJH wrote on its website that the shared stories will highlight how Wyoming women have impacted American’s political history, including the 1869 territorial establishment of women’s voting rights, the national fight for women’s suffrage, the election of Nellie Tayloe Ross as the first woman Governor in 1924 and Wyoming’s former Representative Liz Cheney’s commitment to upholding democracy.
“Although Wyoming calls itself ‘The Equality State,’ Wyoming women have repeatedly had to fight for their rights, and their struggles have been complicated, to say the least,” HJH said via press release.
More information about the talk can be found here.
