Wyoming Almanac of Politics

May 8, 2008

Democrats now have a presumptive nominee; Now It's Obama v. McCain

As the campaign moves into the general election phase, this webpage will feature stories from past Wyoming elections and an occasional commentary on the developments in current political races. 

First Woman to Vote in America Lived in Laramie  

As the new year begins, I will highlight the first of 52 brief biographies of little-known historical figures from Wyoming history.  This weekly series will be based on original research done in the collections of the American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming, and the Wyoming State Archives collections in Cheyenne.  Political commentaries will continue, but these historical features will be interspersed with those entries on current events and opinions.

Louisa Swain was the first woman to vote in a general election in the United States. She voted on Sept. 6, 1870, in Laramie.

Born Louisa Gardner in Norfolk, Va., in 1801, she was the daughter of a sea captain who was lost at sea while she was a child. She and her mother moved to Charleston, S. C., where her mother died. Orphaned, Louisa went to Baltimore to live with an uncle, Ephraim Gardner. While in Baltimore, she met and, in 1821, married Stephen Swain who operated a chair factory. When their fourth child was six weeks old, Stephen Swain sold the chair factory and the family moved, first to Zanesville, Ohio, and later to Indiana. Soon after their son Alfred and his young family moved to the new town of Laramie, Wyoming, in 1869, the Swains joined them.

On Sept. 6, 1870, Louisa Swain rose early, put on her apron, shawl and bonnet, and walked downtown with a tin pail in order to purchase yeast from a merchant. She walked by the polling place and concluded she would vote while she was there. The polling place had not yet officially opened, but election officials asked her to come in and cast her ballot. She was described by a Laramie newspaper as "a gentle white-haired housewife, Quakerish in appearance." (Laramie Daily Sentinel, September 7, 1870). She was 69 years old when she cast the first ballot by any woman in the United States in a general election.

Soon after the election, Stephen and Louisa Swain left Laramie and returned to Maryland to live near a daughter. Stephen died Oct. 6, 1872, in Maryland. Louisa died Jan. 25, 1880, in Lutherville, Maryland. Her body was buried in the Friends Burying Ground, Harford Road, Lutherville. A statue in her honor, by sculptor John Baker, was dedicated in front of the Women's History House, Laramie, Wyoming, in 2005.

 Dec. 26, 2007

New Coal Gasification Project Will Force School Board to Reopen High School/Junior High in Medicine Bow 

The new coal gasification project announced earlier this month ought to bring many people back to the towns of eastern Carbon County--to places emptied during the last bust of the 1980s, In at least one case, Medicine Bow, the town declined even further because of poor decisions by school officials. In coming months, new residents will need houses to live in, stores to patronize, and schools to educate their children. Recipients of such growth likely will include Hanna and Rock River, but in the center nearest the project site is Medicine Bow.

Fortunately, the Medicine Bow school building, closed as a high school and junior high arbitrarily back in 1998 by the absentee-controlled Carbon County School District #2 board, remains standing.  In coming months, the school board may have a chance to reconsider that poorly made plan and reopen the Medicine Bow High School and junior high. Fortunately for quality education, this board is not made up of the same members as the one that so callously destroyed Medicine Bow by arbitrarily closing the school back in '98.

It isn't too late to correct the bad mistake. The board ought to plan now to reopen the school in time to meet the projected educational needs. Such a move will give the town another chance at growth, but more important, provide the opportunity for children of workers on the coal gasification plant to be educated close to home. Today's education theorists now believe smaller schools are better than mega-schools.  Combine that pedagogical truth with the much higher costs of fuel--both for workers who may decide to live far away if there is no school or school buses, needed to transport students to distant schools, and the decision ought to be clear. With any luck, the new board will take action now. Reopening Medicine Bow's schools will be a win for everyone all the way around.

Who We Are

Wyoming Politics: An Almanac Blog of Current Events, History and Opinion  The opinions expressed here are the views of Phil Roberts and do not represent the views of his university, his family, or any political party, interest group or candidate.

For in-depth information about Wyoming history, check Phil's University webpage: http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/ROBERTSHISTORY/

Books by Phil Roberts

Readings in Wyoming History, edited by Phil Roberts, is a book consisting of essays by numerous historians covering various aspects of Wyoming history. It is primarily designed as a book for instruction in Wyoming history. The 5th revised edition will be available soon.

A Penny for the Governor, A Dollar for Uncle Sam: Taxation History of Washington. (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002). The book tells the story of why Washington is one of just seven states not having an income tax and how politics has influenced tax policy in that Northwest state since the Civil War. 

Wyoming Almanac, soon to be released in its sixth revised edition, is a book of facts about the Equality State/Cowboy State. It has no connection to this site except that Phil Roberts is a co-editor of the book, along with his two brothers, David L. Roberts and Steven L. Roberts.

David is assistant professor of journalism at Missouri Valley College and former publisher/editor of the Medicine Bow Post, a prize-winning weekly newspaper he founded in 1977 in Medicine Bow, Wyoming. Steven L. Roberts works for the U. S. Postal Service in Denver. He formerly taught high school and coached in Wyoming high schools. 

Wyoming Politics: An Almanac Blog of Current Events, History and Opinion is a website featuring comment and opinion about everything involving Wyoming. Some pages contain factual data, history, or feature stories about the state. Primarily, however, this site presents observations and analysis of Wyoming politics, mostly from a historical perspective, written by a long-term observer of that subject.