Wyoming Women's Suffrage
Wyoming’s territorial assembly passed the Women’s Suffrage Act on December 10, 1869, which opened avenues for the state’s first woman bailiff, their first woman voter, and eventually America’s first female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross. Laramie Plains Museum Executive Director Mary Mountain gave a tour of the museum’s Suffrage exhibit and highlighted the women of Wyoming who became some of the most prominent pioneers in history.
Description
Wyoming’s territorial assembly passed the Women’s Suffrage Act on December 10, 1869, which opened avenues for the state’s first woman bailiff, their first woman voter, and eventually America’s first female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross. Laramie Plains Museum Executive Director Mary Mountain gave a tour of the museum’s Suffrage exhibit and highlighted the women of Wyoming who became some of the most prominent pioneers in history.
Bell Ringer Assignment
- What rights were granted to women in Wyoming through the Women’s Suffrage Act of 1869?
- Describe how this document impacted women in Wyoming once it was enacted.
- According to Mary Mountain, why was this change happening in the west?
- Describe the controversy surrounding the Women’s Suffrage Act of 1869 as it related to statehood.
- EXTENSION: In the clip, Mary Mountain names several prominent women from Wyoming. Choose one to research and develop a presentation to share with the class detailing their accomplishments and legacy.
Additional Resources
- Bell Ringer: American and British Suffrage Movements
Historian Johanna Neuman talked about the evolution of and interactions between American and British suffrage movements.
- On This Day: Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention, held in Seneca Falls, New York, on July 19 to July 20, 1848, was the first women
- Bell Ringer: Lucy Stone: Suffragette and Abolitionist
Lucy Stone was a leading voice in the suffragist and abolitionist movements, fighting for equality for all. She was the first Massachusetts woman to earn a college degree and the first American woman known to refuse to take her husband’s last name. In 1869, Stone split from fellow suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, after black men were granted voting rights but not women. Anthony and Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), while Stone broke off to form the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA).
Participants
Vocabulary
- Disgruntle
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Rescind
- Suffrage
- Victorian Age