In Pursuit of Equality is a traveling exhibit curated from collections at the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming. The exhibit tells the story of three women who through their actions as elected office holders, challenged and changed the conventional understanding of equality in Wyoming during the 20th century. Featured in the exhibit are Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first woman governor in the United States; Thyra Thomson,Wyoming's longest serving state official and an impassioned advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment; and Elizabeth Byrd, Wyoming's first African-American woman legislator and lead proponent for Wyoming's recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
In Pursuit of Equality is currently located at the LCCC Ludden Library in Cheyenne, Wyoming where it will be displayed through December of 2010. An on-line version of the exhibit contains the original text from the traveling exhibit, as well as a limited number of images.
Image Caption: Secretary of State Thyra Thomson admiring the statue of Wyoming suffragist, Esther Hobart Morris, circa 1960s.
(Thyra Thomson papers, Collection Number 9418, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming)
(Thyra Thomson papers, Collection Number 9418, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming)
1 comment:
I saw this exhibit when it was at the American Heritage Center and it was really great. I loved learning about this part of history in Wyoming, being the equality state. And it was a sad reminder that we still have a long way to go.
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