UW to Mark Constitution Day and 100th Anniversary of Course Requirement

The University of Wyoming annually encourages students, faculty and staff to observe Constitution Day, the federal observance that recognizes the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. But this year is especially significant.

 

It marks the 100th anniversary of the adoption of a civics education requirement for all UW undergraduates -- a required course in the U.S. and Wyoming constitutions.

 

Constitution Day is observed each year on Sept. 17, the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the nation’s founding document in 1787. Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and George Washington were among the 39 delegates from the original 13 colonies who signed the Constitution.

 

In 1925, UW became one of the earliest universities in the nation to include a constitutional course requirement as part of the bachelor’s degree. The effort was initiated by Grace Raymond Hebard, whose distinguished 45-year career at UW included time as an administrator, instructor, librarian and member of the Board of Trustees. The requirement pushed by Hebard -- who also in 1898 became the first woman admitted to the Wyoming Bar -- was signed into law by Gov. Nellie Tayloe Ross, the nation’s first female governor.

 

Hebard once stated, “In order that one might be adequately prepared for citizenship, she must first go through a process of education.”

 

UW’s Office of the President, American Heritage Center and WyoHistory.org have collaborated to create an exhibit about the 100th anniversary. It will be on display later this month at locations including the Wyoming Women’s History House, UW’s Coe Library and the American Heritage Center in Laramie; the Capitol Gallery in the State Capitol and the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne; the Natrona County Library in Casper; and at WyoHistory.org.

 

More information about Constitution Day is available at www.uwyo.edu/acadaffairs/constitution-day/index.html.