THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019 | SUPPLEMENT TO THE POWELL TRIBUNE
WOMEN
IN
BUSINESS
As the state celebrates the “Year of Wyoming Women” in 2019, we’re recognizing some of the women who make a difference in Park County. October also marks National Women’s Small Business Month, a time to celebrate women’s accomplishments and the vital role they play in our economy.
CELEBRATING THE YEAR OF WYOMING WOMEN Since Wyoming’s earliest days, women have blazed trails here. The Equality State is celebrating those accomplishments with the Year of Wyoming Women in 2019. One hundred and fifty years ago — on Dec. 10, 1869 — Wyoming became the first state to guarantee women their inherent right to vote and hold office. On Election Day in 1870 in Laramie, Louisa Swain became the first female voter to cast a ballot in a general election in the United States. WYOMING ALSO CAN BE PROUD OF THESE FIRSTS: • The first woman governor in the United States: In 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected to complete her late husband’s term. She went on to serve as the first woman to lead the U.S. Mint, a position she held from 1933-53. • The first woman justice of the peace: Esther
Hobart Morris was appointed on Feb. 17, 1870. • The first all-woman jury was sworn in on March 7, 1870, in Laramie. • The first town in America to be governed by women: From 1920-21, the town of Jackson had a female mayor, town council and town marshal. Today, hard-working women continue to make a difference in their communities across Wyoming. Gone are the days when women were limited to only a few career choices: Women now work in many different fields, with many serving in leadership positions and owning their own businesses. “Hard-working, everyday women in Wyoming make me proud to be here alongside them,” said Christine Bekes, executive director of Powell Economic Partnership. “We took our homesteading and frontier strength and translated it into a leadership and business world.”