Category: Women’s History in the American West
-
The Life of Belle Starr
Myra Maybelle Shirley was born in Missouri on February 5, 1848. Her mother, Elizabeth Hatfield Shirley was related to the Hatfields who feuded with the McCoys. Her father was “Judge” John Shirley. He was a farmer and businessman. Two of her brothers were killed by lawmen for their outlaw ways.…
-
Breaking Trail: Carry A. Nation
I’m not going to lie to you… the story of Carry Nation is one of my favorites to tell. She was a hatchet-wielding temperance leader in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries who mainly operated in Kansas and Oklahoma. She would smash up saloons in Kansas with her hatchet in the…
-
Breaking Trail: Jeanette Rankin
Did you know only one person voted against both World Wars in the United States Congress? That person was Jeanette Rankin – the first woman elected to Congress in 1916. She was a Republican from Montana who believed in national women’s suffrage in the United States, child welfare, tariff revisions,…
-
Breaking Trail: Margaret Borland
Margaret Heffernan was the daughter of John and Julia Heffernan. She was born on April 3, 1824, in Ireland. The Heffernan family moved to United States and arrived in Texas in 1829. They settled in San Patricio, Texas. Margaret was married and widowed three times in her life. Her first…
