From the Orcas Island Historical Museum:
Join us as we explore Washington’s first female groundbreakers in all levels of government. Learn about fifteen ‘firsts’ in various positions as well as interesting profiles of a few local women who played it big. This new exhibit officially opens Saturday, June 16 at the Orcas Museum and will run through the summer.
When Congresswoman Catherine May faced a chamber full of men to persuade the sitting president to appoint more bright young women, she’d come a long way from producing the Betty Crocker Show for NBC.
When a pre-school teacher heard a demeaning quip from a sitting legislator that she’d never make a difference “as just a mom in tennis shoes,” Patty Murray made a run for the U.S. Senate and won.
Since 1913, fourteen pathfinders have pushed the limits, stood for election, and won offices never before held by women. Their landmark elections show progressive Washington — a unique state that empowered women with the fundamental right to vote a decade before the nation; the only state with a sitting female Governor and two women in the U.S. Senate.
The Orcas Museum exhibit includes the following notables: Frances Axtell, Nena Joliden Croake, Josephine Preston, Reba Hurn, Bertha Knight Landes, Belle Reeves, Catherine May Bedell, Dixy Lee Ray, Jeannette Hayner, Carolyn Dimmick, Jennifer Belcher, Deborah Senn, Christine Gregoire and Patty Murray.
The Orcas Museum is now open Wednesday through Sunday from 11am to 4pm. Call the office at 376-4849 for more information.
The Orcas Museum constantly proves the adage: “History Lives Here”. This new exhibit is very much alive.