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| BREAKING THROUGH SERIES 2020
NINA MCCONIGLEY
S
For the Star-Tribune
ierra Rhone Byrd, granddaughter of Liz Byrd, remembers visiting her grandmother every summer during Cheyenne Frontier Days. “She would take me and all of my extended family to the parades, rodeos and carnival,” Sierra said. “But no matter what we did or where we went, one thing I will always remember is sitting with her after dinner and drinking her very, very sweet iced tea as she told me stories about her life and the people she had met and the amazing places she had gone. “She would tell me all about how Frontier Days as girl was her favorite part of growing up in Cheyenne, and my great-grandmother Sudie Rhone would love to cook for the whole neighborhood,” Sierra continued. “She would also tell me stories about how she met my grandfather at the Air Force base when she would volunteer there.” It seems fitting that Harriet Elizabeth “Liz” Byrd, the first African American woman to serve in both branches of the Wyoming Legislature, was born in a town known for flight and transportation. In the 1930s, Cheyenne became a major stopover for transcontinental aviation. In the 1930s, when Byrd was a little girl, United Airlines had a dozen arrivals and departures daily. During World War II, when flying was restricted on the West Coast, United relocated its pilot training school to Cheyenne. And in 1947, Fort Warren became a U.S. Air Force Base. Byrd’s own family was connected to the railroad. Byrd was born in Cheyenne on April 20, 1926; her family are fourth-generation natives of Wyoming. Her grandfather, Charles Rhone, was a cowboy and railroad worker, who came to Wyoming in 1876. Her father, Robert C. “Buck” Rhone, was a firstclass mechanic for Union Pacific Railroad. He and her mother, Sudie Rhone, settled in Cheyenne. Byrd graduated from Cheyenne High School in 1944, and after her application to the University of Wyoming was rejected, she attended West Virginia State College, a historically black land-grant university. There, she received a degree in education, and she began her decades-long work as an educator and advocate for students. After receiving her degree in 1949, she came back to Wyoming to work. She applied for a job in the Laramie Country School District, but was not accepted. Instead, she began teaching at Fort F.E. Warren Air Force Base, and taught classes for the next decade as an instructor. In 1959, reversing an earlier decision, the Laramie Country School District hired her. According to Wyohistory.org, she be-
LIZ BYRD MADE
POLITICAL
HISTORY Trailblazer became first black woman to serve in Legislature
AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING
Elizabeth “Liz” Byrd was the first black woman to serve in the Wyoming Legislature. came the first fully certified full-time African-American teacher in Wyoming. She worked at Goins Elementary and reportedly received $4,400 annually her first year of teaching. In 1976, she enrolled at the University of Wyoming and earned a master’s degree in Elementary Education. She would teach in Cheyenne for 37 years, retiring in 1996. She met her husband, James Byrd, at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in 1946. They married in 1947, while Byrd served in the army. He later would become the first African-American police chief in Wyoming in 1966. Byrd’s role as an educator spurred her into serving in government. She ran, and according to one report, “Byrd soon became concerned about the lack of benefits for teachers and inadequate materials used in the classroom.”
Byrd’s granddaughter, Sierra, said, “I think she was called to serve because she was a natural educator. I think after teaching for many years, she realized she could use her education skills to help the community.” She served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1981-1988, and then was the first African American to serve in the Senate from 1989-1992. Dr. Tracey Patton, a professor at the University of Wyoming, is the former director of African American and Diaspora Studies (AADS) at UW, and oversaw what became the Harriet Elizabeth “Liz” Byrd Excellence Fund. Patton notes, “Sen. Byrd is incredibly important to the state of Wyoming, which is why AADS named a scholarship after her. Sen. Byrd is entrenched in Wyoming’s history. “I was privileged to get to know Sen. Byrd and spent time with her as AADS took the
steps to name and endow a scholarship after her. She was able to provide me the opportunity to learn about Wyoming and Wyoming history and politics from things not necessarily covered in history books,” Patton said. “My biggest takeaway from Sen. Byrd was that she was intelligent, compassionate, believed in social justice and was tenacious.” African American and Diaspora Studies felt it was important to recognize Byrd’s contributions to the state, as an educator and legislator at UW. “Honestly, I was surprised that no other entity at UW had anything named after her at the time,” Patton said. “AADS wanted to name the excellence fund after Senator Byrd because she was an educator and an advocate for all people,” Patton continued. “Sen. Byrd was a recipient of a number of awards and honors during her time in public service, and was and is simply someone to aspire to be. I feel honored for having gotten to know her.” As a legislator, Byrd spent over a decade working to endorse a paid holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. In 1991, the holiday was recognized, and it’s known in Wyoming as “Equality Day.” “Byrd also worked on passing key legislation such as providing handicap parking, creating social services for adults and enforcing the use of child safety restraints for Wyoming’s citizens,” Patton said. Byrd died on January 27, 2015. Her legacy lives on in her legislation, as well as her children and grandchildren. The Byrds had three children, Robert, a dentist and retired colonel in the Wyoming National Guard, Linda Byrd-Hsieh who is an accountant and office manager, and former Wyoming Rep. James Byrd. Sierra Rhone Byrd, daughter of James Byrd, recalled going to the Capitol with her grandmother. “She would take me to the Capitol and show me around the Senate and the House and show me where they made laws and bills. She would also show me pictures on the walls from the years she served. Since my father James Byrd also served in the House, he did the same thing … it was almost a tradition to walk through the capital as family when I came to visit.” But for her granddaughter, Liz Byrd did more than make laws and educate, “Ever since I was little, she was someone I looked up to as a role model and inspired me to be the best version of myself. She was such an amazing person and I cherish every moment I had with her.” Nina McConigley is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wyoming, and currently a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
