Supporting the designation of December 10, 2019, as "Wyoming Women's Suffrage Day".

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 700 Supporting the designation of December 10, 2019, as ‘‘Wyoming Women’s Suffrage Day’’. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 14, 2019 Ms. CHENEY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Reform RESOLUTION Supporting the designation of December 10, 2019, as ‘‘Wyoming Women’s Suffrage Day’’. Whereas the epithets for the State of Wyoming are the ‘‘Cow- boy State’’ and the ‘‘Equality State’’; Whereas the official State motto of Wyoming is ‘‘Equal Rights’’; Whereas, at the founding of the United States, the inherent right of women to vote and participate in the political process was inhibited; Whereas the contributions of women to the fight for the inde- pendence, founding, and rise to prominence of the United States were extensive, vital to those objectives, and wor- thy of recognition; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR700.IH HR700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 700 IH Whereas, on December 10, 1869, the Wyoming Territory ap- proved the first law in the history of the United States to grant women the right to vote and hold public office; Whereas, in 1869, the Territorial Legislature of the Wyoming Territory also passed legislation formally enabling women to hold property and assuring equal pay for teachers; Whereas the government of the Wyoming Territory was the first government to explicitly acknowledge and affirm the inherent right of women to vote and to hold office; Whereas the Wyoming Territory granted women the right to vote more than 20 years before Wyoming became the 44th State admitted to the Union; Whereas, when Congress invited Wyoming to join the Union and demanded that women’s suffrage be revoked, the Wyoming Legislature said, ‘‘We will remain out of the Union one hundred years rather than come in without our women’’; Whereas, on September 6, 1870, Louisa Gardner Swain be- came the first woman in the world to cast a ballot after being granted universal suffrage in Wyoming; Whereas, on March 7, 1870, in Laramie, Wyoming, the first jury in the United States to include women was sworn in; Whereas, in 1870, Mary Atkinson served as the first female court bailiff in Laramie, Wyoming; Whereas Esther Hobart Morris was appointed to serve as justice of the peace in February 1870, making her the first woman to serve as a judge in the United States; Whereas, in 1892, the women of Wyoming became the first women to vote in a Presidential election; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR700.IH HR700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 700 IH Whereas, in 1894, the people of Wyoming elected Estelle Reel to serve as the State superintendent of public instruction, making her one of the first women in the United States elected to serve in a statewide office; Whereas, in 1920, the residents of the town of Jackson, Wyo- ming, elected a city council composed entirely of women, the first all-women government in the United States, which was dubbed the ‘‘petticoat government’’ by the press; Whereas, in 1924, Wyoming became the first State to elect a female Governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross; Whereas, on May 3, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Nellie Tayloe Ross as Director of the United States Mint, making Ross the first woman to hold that position; Whereas, as Director of the United States Mint, Nellie Tayloe Ross oversaw the establishment of the Franklin half dollar and the beginning of the production of proof coins for public sale; Whereas the United States did not endorse women’s suffrage until 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 50 years after Wyoming; Whereas the decision of the people of Wyoming to endorse women’s suffrage demonstrates the foresight, bravery, in- dividualism, and honesty of the citizens of Wyoming and the staunch adherence of the citizens of Wyoming to the storied ‘‘Code of the West’’; Whereas achieving voting rights for all women required firm and continuing resolve to overcome reluctance, and even fervent opposition, to rightful enfranchisement; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR700.IH HR700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 700 IH Whereas the milestones of women’s suffrage in Wyoming illu- minate and strengthen the heritage of Wyoming as the ‘‘Equality State’’; Whereas December 10, 2019, marks the 150th anniversary of the date on which women’s suffrage became law in Wyo- ming; and Whereas the ongoing contributions made by women to Wyo- ming and the United States should be recognized: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘Wyoming 2 Women’s Suffrage Day’’; and 3 (2) encourages the people of the United States 4 to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and 5 activities. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:52 Nov 14, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR700.IH HR700 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS