Your future, our focus
Area residents are invited to attend the 150th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Wyoming celebration, hosted by the Northwest College Women in the West course, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Yellowstone Building Conference Center.
As part of the evening event, the Women in the West class students will be presenting their research on several historic Wyoming female figures. The audience will vote for their favorite presentation, and the winning student will receive $150.
Wyoming is currently celebrating its 150th anniversary of suffrage, and the Wyoming Office of Tourism has declared 2019 the “Year of Wyoming Women.” McKinney received a grant from the American Heritage Center in Laramie to use their archival collections in her Women in the West course and has included a special focus on Wyoming women and suffrage this semester. The class has hosted a series of presentations on Wyoming women this fall, and the anniversary celebration with the student presentations is the culminating event.
The students in McKinney’s class will present in a Pecha Kucha (or chit chat) style—a practice started by designers to help creative people state their point succinctly when presenting new ideas.
Students are limited to 20 slides for each individual presentation, and each slide must be unique and visually compelling with little text. While presenting in this conversational style, students have 20 seconds to discuss each slide with their audience.
Presentations will be given on women in Wyoming who were writers, postmistresses, educators, ranchers and more.
Students in McKinney’s class who will present at the event include Julia Neff, Lori Stoppel, Emma Comstock, Harleigh Riley and Caleb Robertson. The historic female figures who will be highlighted through students’ presentations during the celebration include Phyllis Letellier, Lilian Ethel Boulter, Minnie Corum, Rosemary Quinn and Grace Thorson Brown.
Wyoming passed the first unconditional law permanently guaranteeing women their full inherent right to vote and hold office Dec. 10, 1869. The 150th anniversary will be celebrated with a variety of events across the state, including the celebration at NWC.
“The students are excited to be part of the larger state-wide celebration,” McKinney said. “This anniversary is a momentous event in our state’s history, and I am especially excited that we can hold this celebration on the specific date of the passage of the suffrage bill.”
Additionally, those who attend will receive a free “That’s WY” women’s suffrage sticker.
This event is free and open to the public. Cake and other light refreshments will also be provided.
All are encouraged to help celebrate Wyoming’s rich history of suffrage. For more information contact McKinney at amy.mckinney@nwc.edu or 307-754-6008.
