14 | BREAKING THROUGH SERIES 2020
JACKSON HOLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM
Jackson was served by an all-female town council from 1920-23. From left: Mae Deloney, Rose Crabtree, Mayor Grace Miller, Faustina Haight and Genevieve Van Vleck.
A NEED FOR TOWN LEADERS In Jackson’s early days, women transformed their town, made history
MANDY LASKY
A
For the Star-Tribune
s the 1920s began, life in the young frontier town of Jackson was changing fast. For one thing, it had recently been designated a county seat. The small town, which had been incorporated only a few years earlier, was intended to become the heart of this new community in the West. That meant people were starting to sell their homesteads and ranches and move into town — the early days of a shift toward a more commercial economy. Still, though, Jackson was isolated. It had no railroad, so supplies were hard to come by. In this rough-and-tumble time of transition, self-reliance could be the difference between success and failure. “1920s Jackson was a hard place to survive in,” said Morgan Jaouen, executive director of the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum. Civic leadership was not yet a priority for the settlers, but as more and more people began to call Jackson home, the town experienced the growing pains that often plague fledgling settlements. Livability, including infrastructure, had
become a priority, Jaouen said. As the town grew, so did its need for leaders who would guide it along its new path. But the men of Jackson were still occupied mostly with simple survival, Jaouen said. That meant the new leadership would have to come from someone else, someone who wanted to see change and had the time and ambition to make it happen. It would have to come from women. ••• The right crop of women to lead Jackson wasn’t hard to find. Everyone in town knew everyone else, Jaouen said. “These were outspoken, respected women who were seen as partners with their husbands,” she explained. Most important, they ran on a platform people identified with — one that centered on transforming the frontier town into a livable community. They wanted to collect overdue taxes; focus on water, sewer and electricity services; and improve roads. They hoped to create a place where they and future families would want to live. “They had clear ideas of things they wanted to do to improve everyday life for people here,” said Natalia Macker, chairwoman of the Teton County Board
of County Commissioners and currently its only female member. “They had practical experience, and they saw problems that had solutions.” The platform was popular, and the women faced little resistance. One candidate, Grace Miller, beat her male opponent with 56 votes to 28, Jaouen said. Another woman defeated her own husband, according to a news article from 1922 provided by the Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum. The article was published in The Delineator, an American women’s magazine. This made Jackson one of the first towns in the U.S. to be governed entirely by women. “We simply tried to work together,” the article quotes Miller, who served as mayor, saying. “We put into practise the same thrifty principles we exercise in our own homes. We wanted a clean, wellkept progressive town in which to raise our families. What is good government but a breathing-place for good citizenship?” Once the women were in office, they followed through on their promises, addressing garbage disposal, culverts, overdue taxes and the need for a town cemetery, according to the article.
They also appointed other Jackson women to leadership positions. One of these was Pearl Williams, the town marshal. Williams, who was in her early 20s when she was appointed, became one of the first female town marshals in the nation. These women set Jackson on an important and lasting path. “They certainly created this sense of civic duty and community engagement that’s been strong in Jackson,” Jaouen said. “People here are really involved and take pride in being part of decisions.” But in another sense, this milestone town council didn’t start a trend at all. “This happened in 1920, but it wasn’t until the end of the 20th century that Jackson once again elected female leaders in town council or the county commission, and we did not see another female mayor until Jeanne Jackson from 2001 to 2002,” Jaouen said. “We were not immune from national trends. But we are starting to see that trend change in Jackson and in Wyoming.” She noted that the town had seen several strong female leaders over the last decade. Still, she said, “there’s still Please see JACKSON, Page 15
