# First female in Montana state legislature? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602 "2006-12-02T17:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/1 "2006-12-02T17:49:59Z")
Who was (or were) the first woman/women elected to Montana’s state legislature (either house)? Note that Rankin is not who I’m thinking of. If you think she is, reread the question. Google seems fixated on her, however. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/2 "2006-12-03T00:49:27Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] Who was (or were) the first woman/women elected to Montana’s state legislature (either house)? Note that Rankin is not who I’m thinking of. If you think she is, reread the question. Google seems fixated on her, however. [/QUOTE] Why do you think there was a woman elected to Montana’s legislature in the early days? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/3 "2006-12-03T03:41:35Z")
He didn’t say early days. It could have happened last year and still fit the question. I don’t know how badly the OP wants the information, but all states have historians or the equivalent. Or the legislature itself would. A letter - or an email if you can find the address - directly to that office would probably give the desired result. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/4 "2006-12-03T07:24:27Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] Who was (or were) the first woman/women elected to Montana’s state legislature (either house)? Note that Rankin is not who I’m thinking of. If you think she is, reread the question. Google seems fixated on her, however. [/QUOTE] You’ll have a better chance getting that info somewhere in Montana than here. But I will throw out Sen. Antoinette Fraser Rosell who served in the late 1960’s and early 1970s. I doubt its right, but its the earliest reference to a woman in the state house. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/5 "2006-12-03T14:33:44Z")
Dolly Akers was elected to the Montana State Legislature in 1932. One story in a 1950’s newspaper says she was the first. But another story says she was the “only woman” in the legislature at that point and the only Indian. She was 1/4 Indian. I couldn’t find a 1932 news story about her though. And now I see a Google hit that called her “Dolly Akers Cusker.” > [@](#): > > Prior to 1970, only one American Indian, Dolly Akers Cusker,D-Poplar, had held a seat in Montana’s Legislature. Cusker was elected in 1933. from [http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:8mn\_zbtHrxMJ:www.citizensalliance.org/Major%2520Issues/Supreme%2520Court/Billy%2520Jo%2520Lara%2520Case/Lara%2520News%252010-1-03.htm+"dolly+akers"&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=15](http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:8mn_zbtHrxMJ:www.citizensalliance.org/Major%2520Issues/Supreme%2520Court/Billy%2520Jo%2520Lara%2520Case/Lara%2520News%252010-1-03.htm+%22dolly+akers%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=15) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/6 "2006-12-03T15:03:59Z")
Well, forget my last post. Ms. Emma A. Ingalls was one of two Montana Assemblywomen in 1919. That’s as close as I can get you. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/7 "2006-12-03T15:41:34Z")
[This](http://data.opi.state.mt.us/BILLS/1997/Bills/HOUSE/HJ0006_01.htm) may help: > [@](#): > > A Joint Resolution of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the state of Montana authorizing the permanent placement of a plaque in the capitol commemorating the service of women in the Montana legislature. > WHEREAS, the 1995 Legislature passed Senate Joint Resolution No. 24, celebrating the 100th year of women elected to state legislatures; and > > WHEREAS, in 1917, Emma Ingalls and Maggie Smith Hathaway became the first women to serve in the Montana Legislature; and > > WHEREAS, the Montana Legislature proudly recognizes the service of women to the state; and > > WHEREAS, section 5-11-115, MCA, requires the approval of the Legislature for the permanent display of busts, statues, and memorials. > NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA: > > That the Legislature of the State of Montana approve the permanent placement and display of a plaque in the capitol commemorating the service of women in the Montana Legislature. > > -END- ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/8 "2006-12-03T23:52:36Z")
**Polycarp** : Many thanks! I knew I could count on the acumen of the Dopers to figure this out. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/9 "2006-12-04T01:05:15Z")
It took **samclem** tracking down Emma Ingalls (I got hints she was a relative of Laura Ingalls Wilder in my digging, but didn’t follow them up) to find that – for some reason it was never indexed by any search engine under criteria like “Montana legislator/Assemblywoman woman/female” but only under “Ingalls.” So my gratitude goes to him. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/10 "2006-12-04T01:50:18Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] It took **samclem** tracking down Emma Ingalls (I got hints she was a relative of Laura Ingalls Wilder in my digging, but didn’t follow them up) to find that – for some reason it was never indexed by any search engine under criteria like “Montana legislator/Assemblywoman woman/female” but only under “Ingalls.” So my gratitude goes to him. [/QUOTE] And I always forget to use Google after coming up with hints from my newspaper databases. Good work **Poly**. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/11 "2006-12-04T02:14:07Z")
And to tie off a few loose ends: [ul][li]Maggie Smith Hathaway seems to have been quite a woman – strong suffrage activist, to start with, but also extremely competent in a variety of fields as well. There are a couple of biographies of her, apparently still in print.[/li][li]Best evidence is that the two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives (1917-19, 1941-43) were the **only** elective offices ever held by the pacifistic Ms. Rankin – who spent time in California campaigning for women’s rights before moving to Montana and running for Congress.[/li][li]Opal Cat does not seem to have been elected to any state legislature, or to have received official greetings from any of them either.[/li][li]First women state legislators anywhere were three women elected to Colorado’s legislature in 1894; Wyoming was next, a couple of years later.[/li][li]While Colorado is famously “the equality state,” having granted women the vote since becoming a state in 1876, they were actually preceded by Washington, which permitted women the vote as a self-governing territory from 1869 (though of course it didn’t become a state until much later).[/li]For those moved to follow up on women in government, the Eagleton Center for Politics at Rutgers U. has an extensive database, much of which is available online.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/12 "2006-12-04T02:25:48Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] And to tie off a few loose ends: [/QUOTE] Another interesting woman I discovered whilst futzing around with this problem last night was [Ella Knowles](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Knowles), who an article about the Bates College debate team implied that she was the first. She wasn’t, but she did lobby the Montana legislature to allow women to become lawyers, and then was the first women lawyer in the state. She barely lost election to Attorney General in 1892, but was appointed to Assistant Attorney General by the governor, who she later married. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/13 "2006-12-04T15:19:21Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] While Colorado is famously “the equality state,” having granted women the vote since becoming a state in 1876, they were actually preceded by Washington, which permitted women the vote as a self-governing territory from 1869 (though of course it didn’t become a state until much later). [/QUOTE] Eh? 😕 Wyoming is the [Equality State](http://www.museumoftheamericanwest.org/explore/exhibits/suffrage/suffrage_wy.html). It was the first in modern times to enfranchise women both as a territory (1869) and as a state (1890). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/14 "2006-12-04T15:24:36Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] Eh? 😕 Wyoming is the [Equality State](http://www.museumoftheamericanwest.org/explore/exhibits/suffrage/suffrage_wy.html). It was the first in modern times to enfranchise women both as a territory (1869) and as a state (1890). [/QUOTE] Aack! I must be in Egypt, the way my memory is misleading me lately – I’m getting to see Nile. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2006, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-female-in-montana-state-legislature/382602/15 "2006-12-05T04:57:33Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] It took **samclem** tracking down Emma Ingalls (I got hints she was a relative of Laura Ingalls Wilder in my digging, but didn’t follow them up) to find that – for some reason it was never indexed by any search engine under criteria like “Montana legislator/Assemblywoman woman/female” but only under “Ingalls.” So my gratitude goes to him. [/QUOTE] > [@samclem](#): > > And I always forget to use Google after coming up with hints from my newspaper databases. Good work **Poly**. GROUP HUG! Seriously, thanks to you both. This is a sterling example of why the SDMB as a whole is wonderful, as opposed to merely being a collection of great individual posters.