Legacy of Wyoming Sen. Liz Byrd Topic of UW Discussion

“The Legacy of Liz Byrd” is the topic of a Women’s History Month virtual discussion at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 31, at the University of Wyoming.

Presented by UW’s Black Studies Center, the virtual talk is part of the Oral History Series. To join in on the discussion, go to https://uwyo.zoom.us/j/97669351757.

After 37 years of teaching in Cheyenne, Byrd became the first Black woman to serve in Wyoming’s House of Representatives and, a few years later, she was elected to Wyoming’s Senate. She also was the first Black person to serve in the Senate. She died at age 88 in 2015.

Speakers during the discussion are Professor Tracey Owens Patton, in the UW Department of Communication and Journalism, and an adjunct professor in African American and Diaspora Studies in the School of Culture, Gender and Social Justice; and moderator Timberly Vogel, a UW graduate, and director of community engagement and a research assistant for UW’s Black Studies Center.