Wyoming Women's History House Celebrates 25 Years With Courtyard Rededication

Twenty-Five Years of the Wyoming Women’s History House in Laramie

Twenty-five years ago, the Wyoming Women’s History House opened in downtown Laramie to celebrate how the state led the nation in women’s suffrage.

Wonderful to be in Laramie for the Wyoming Women’s History House’s 25th anniversary! I loved helping create it and am honored to be included with Jon Johnson and Ray Hunkins on the courtyard. Proud that the new gardens honor Diana Enzi and the late Bobbi Barrasso. Here’s to 25… pic.twitter.com/KlaURW9PJT

— https://x.com/SenLummis/status/2114136102499975401

The ceremony brought members of Wyoming’s congressional delegation alongside state and local officials, volunteers, donors, and community members to downtown Laramie. The rededicated courtyard recognizes U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis, Jon Johnson, and Ray Hunkins, who stood among the early advocates and generous donors ensuring the house found a permanent home.

Reporting noted that the newly redesigned courtyard features four patio areas for community events, three gardens housing drought-tolerant plants, shrubs, and trees, and a new mural titled “Common Threads.” Created by Laramie artist Cassidy Post, the mural depicts Louisa Swain alongside Nellie Tayloe Ross, who served as the nation’s first woman governor.

Honoring Early Supporters and National Legacies

The Louisa Swain Foundation’s courtyard rededication singled out supporters who helped establish the site a quarter-century ago. Senator Lummis, Wyoming’s first woman elected to the U.S. Senate, previously led the legislative effort to name the federal building in Cheyenne after Louisa Swain. Local financial advisor Jon Johnson donated the land for the History House, while Ray Hunkins authored “The View from Thunderhead,” a book focusing on Wyoming’s suffrage movement with proceeds directly benefiting the foundation.

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At the same time, the foundation dedicated the courtyard’s two new gardens to Diana Enzi, wife of the late U.S. Mike Enzi, and in loving memory of Bobbi Barrasso, wife of U.S. Senator John Barrasso. Coverage of the event highlighted that both women carried that legacy to Washington, D.C., helping secure its place on the national stage.

“Twenty-five years ago, Senator Lummis, Jon Johnson and Ray Hunkins understood that Wyoming’s legacy as the Equality State deserved more than a footnote,” Jennifer Thomson, chair of the Louisa Swain Foundation, said in a news release.

The Historical Roots of the Equality State

The courtyard serves as the physical home for “The Franchise,” a bronze statue commemorating Louisa Swain. On September 6, 1870, Swain cast her ballot just a block away from the present-day site, securing her place in history as the first woman in the United States to vote on equal terms with a man.

Nellie Tayloe Ross Day 1 — Photo: wyomingnews.com

Reflecting on that history during the ceremony, Senator Lummis remarked on the enduring local expectation for civic engagement. “Women’s history is a vital part of Wyoming’s amazing story, and this house reminds our daughters and granddaughters that leadership and community involvement is expected of them here in Wyoming, just as Louisa Swain and so many other Wyoming women showed us,” she said.

U.S. Representative Harriet Hageman also addressed attendees, emphasizing the deep roots of the state’s political identity. “Wyoming women pioneered women’s rights on the frontier of equality throughout the 19th Century,” Hageman stated, noting that the territory’s early days earned the state its legacy and paved the way for figures like Nellie Tayloe Ross.

Future Plans for Education and Expansion

Looking ahead past its silver anniversary, the Louisa Swain Foundation aims to broaden its educational reach. Organizers plan to bring Wyoming women’s history directly into classrooms across the state by developing virtual field trips to the History House, alongside interior renovations for in-person visitors.

Looking back at history in Wyoming, the first state to let women vote

Physical updates to the downtown Laramie location will continue as well. The foundation intends to introduce additional drought-tolerant plantings, upgrade the courtyard’s irrigation system, and install a “trailblazers timeline” along the central walkway. That timeline will feature more than twenty Wyoming women who have shaped the state since it achieved statehood.