First All Womens Town Council

Annie Estes, Carli Knight Junior Division Group Website

In the early 1920s, women sought to get more rights in the world such as voting, and five ladies in Jackson Hole felt the responsibility to take care of their town, Jackson, and were prepared to exercise their right to run for the first all women's town council. Wyoming, the equality state had already given women the right to vote. The 19th amendment was passed August 18,1920.This was a small part in the process of Women's Suffrage. We chose the topic of the First All Womens Town Council because we wanted to research local history to learn more about the place we grew up. This looked like an interesting topic that we could relate and connect to. The Women are great role models for girls like our selves. Researching them has shown us how all the work they did has changed Jackson for the better.

We found secondary sources from the Internet and books from The Jackson Hole Middle School Library. We interviewed family members of Genevieve Van Vleck, and found interesting newspaper articles from an online archive through the University of Wyoming and through the public library. Also, we visited the Historical Society and found many primary sources including pictures, newspaper articles, letters, and information on the ladies personal lives.

A website was the best choice for us because we had different interests on how to present our project. One of us wanted to do an exhibit and the other wanted to do a documentary. We met in the middle and decided to do a website. A website displayed our projects information in the best way. The website would show pictures and video clips like in a documentary, but also could write out all of our information as in an exhibit. The five women in the town council felt that they had the right to be members in the town council and the responsibility to the community, to improve and manage the town. This was a small part in Womens Suffrage and a big milestone for Jackson Hole, Wyoming.