On Sept. 6, 1870, a Wyoming woman made history.
Seventy-year-old Louisa Ann Swain cast her vote in Laramie and became known as one of the first women to cast a ballot legally in the fight for women's suffrage.
Her story is just one of many featured by the Smithsonian as the great American historical and educational institution moves toward building a new museum dedicated to American women.
The Smithsonian has announced that more than $55 million has already been raised to support the museum’s development from private donations and supporters such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Target and AARP.
Wyoming leaders gathered in Jackson last week to make sure Wyoming has a prominent voice in the museum and is recognized for its historic support of women.
“We obviously are the Equality State,” Gov. Mark Gordon told Cowboy State Daily. “We had all these firsts and it's a wonderful thing to celebrate. It really is fundamental to our character.”
Diana Enzi is a co-chair of the Wyoming Foundation for the Smithsonian Women's History Museum and is helping to spearhead the movement to give Wyoming an important voice in the museum.
“We had so many firsts,” Enzi said. “Our women received the right to own property, to hold office and to keep their children. We had the first women bailiff, first women justices of the peace, first women jury.”
These historic firsts established Wyoming as a pioneer in the fight for women’s rights. In 1869, Wyoming became the first U.S. territory to grant women the right to vote more than 50 years before the 19th Amendment was ratified.
A year later, Wyoming appointed the nation’s first female justice of the peace, Esther Hobart Morris, in South Pass City. The first female governor in U.S. history, Nellie Tayloe Ross, was elected in Wyoming in 1924.
Celebrating Women’s History
U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, cosponsored the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum Act earlier this year with Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, in a bipartisan bill that would finalize a permanent building for the museum in the National Mall.
She told Cowboys State Daily that it is important that Wyoming has a voice.
“We've been such a pioneer and leader but people around the rest of the country don't know that,” Lummis said. “Wyoming is a special place and it's time that we shared that with the rest of the country.”
Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, was also at the launch of the Wyoming initiative to support the new museum.
“We have an incredible history of women continuing to fight and move us forward as a nation,” Barrasso said.
Catherine Allgor, the founding member of the advisory council for the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum, agreed. She was in Wyoming to promote the museum.
“Every state should be represented,” Allgor said. “We are a museum for everybody. But my goodness, Wyoming better be right up there.”
The Wyoming Foundation for the Smithsonian Women's History Museum is spearheading a movement to ensure that Wyoming has a voice in the new Smithsonian museum at the Washington, D.C., National Mall. Board member Diana Enzi said that it is important to recognize not only Wyoming’s firsts, but the women who silently made a difference in our history and are usually not recognized. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Stories and ideas for potential exhibits are being collected for the future Smithsonian American Women's History Museum. Sen. Cynthia Lummis introduced a bill this spring to formalize a location for the museum at the National Mall. She believes that it is vital to include Wyoming stories in the museum since it is the Equality State. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Stories and ideas for potential exhibits are being collected for the future Smithsonian American Women's History Museum. Sen. Cynthia Lummis introduced a bill this spring to formalize a location for the museum at the National Mall. She believes that it is vital to include Wyoming stories in the museum since it is the Equality State. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily)
The Unspoken Stories
The plan for the new women’s museum is to include the stories of not only leaders but also everyday women who were important to every society.
“They've assured us that they're going to put in the stories of the women who weren't famous and who didn't make the headlines,” Enzi said. “There will be little displays on how those women kept on keeping on and made our country what it is.”
According to Allgor, while it is important to preserve these stories, it is even more important to share them.
“When we include women, we will not just show how women added to history, but how they transformed it,” Allgor said.
Lummis told Cowboy State Daily that it is also important to recognize the efforts within the state that are being made to preserve history.
“Wyoming has been such a leader in not only creating women's history, but in the last couple of decades in memorializing it,” Lummis said. “In celebrating women's history, we have a women's history museum in Laramie, Wyoming, dedicated to the first women voters grant, grand jury bailiff, state elected official, and governor, as well as others.”
With the museum in Washington, D.C., Lummis said that they are taking the stories of Wyoming women to the next level.
“This is going to be an effort and it's going to be another Wyoming first,” Enzi said. “We are going to honor all women.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
