Nearly 80 public school teachers from across the nation will take part in workshops that feature site studies and expert interpretation that explain why women's suffrage first took root in Western states rather than in the East.
The Wyoming Humanities Council and University of Wyoming College of Education will host the "National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History Workshop for Teachers: Women's Suffrage on the Western Frontier" July 20-25 and July 27-Aug. 1 in Laramie and Lander.
Among the participating educators are three international teachers. The workshops are funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities. National scholars David Wrobel, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Virginia Scharff, University of New Mexico, are the keynote speakers.
During the workshop participants will study materials from the UW American Heritage Center and visit sites such as South Pass National Historic Landmark and South Pass City State Historic Site near Lander. Wyoming became the first state in the union granting women the right to vote in 1869. South Pass City resident Esther Hobart Morris became the first female elected official a few months later.
Additional sponsors of the program are UW Student Affairs, the Foundation for Laramie: A Campaign for the Historic Women of Laramie and Wyoming, and the UW College of Education Foundation.
For more information about the project or the Wyoming Humanities Council, call (307) 721-9243.
