Wyoming Trailblazer Nellie Tayloe Ross: America’s First Female Governor

The 1920s were a difficult time in the Equality State. Wyoming had weathered an agricultural depression and the closure of dozens of banks; the economy was struggling. The last thing the state needed was a power vacuum. On October 2, 1924, calamity struck. Governor William B. Ross died after a debilitating bout of phlebitis (inflammation of the veins) and complications from the resulting appendectomy. A special election was called to find a replacement - Wyoming needed strong leadership during these trying times.

The results of that special election sent shockwaves throughout the United States. On November 4, 1924, a candidate who had refused to even campaign for office won the special election. That candidate was a Democrat and well-known in the Wyoming political sphere. Her name was Nellie Tayloe Ross. She was the first woman to hold the office of State Governor in the United States and the only woman to have governorship in Wyoming.

From Missouri to Wyoming: The Story of Nellie Tayloe Ross

On November 29, 1876, a baby girl was born on a plantation in Missouri to James Wynn Tayloe and Elizabeth Blair Greene. Her parents named her Nellie. Hers was not a life of luxury. The Tayloes faced financial struggles, eventually selling the plantation and moving to Kansas, where Nellie's father opened a grocery store. The store would eventually go under, and the family soon after left Kansas for greener pastures out West, where Nellie would grow into an intelligent young woman, attending a teacher's college after graduating high school in 1892. She would go on to teach kindergarten in Nebraska for four years.

During a trip back East to visit family, Nellie met the man who would become her husband and take her down a path that would radically change her life. Nellie met William B. Ross in 1900, and by 1902, the couple were wed.

The two moved to Cheyenne so that William could begin a promising legal career. Nellie would go on to bear and raise three children while her husband pursued his political career. In 1922, William was nominated by the Wyoming Democratic Party for the state's governorship. He would win the race on a platform that appeals to progressives on both political spectrums.

Nellie began her career as First Lady on January 1, 1923. It was to be a short-tenured position. After William died from surgical complications, Nellie would find herself in a stunning predicament. Not days after the funeral, the Wyoming Democratic Party offered Nellie the nomination for the governorship. She did not immediately accept.

In fact, she took some time deliberating on accepting the offer. It wasn't until October 14, the day of the nomination deadline, that she accepted the nomination bid—forty-five minutes before the deadline passed.

Despite accepting the bid, Nellie never took to the campaign trail against Republican nominee Eugene J. Sullivan. She grieved her husband's death at home. But her supporters took up the cause, putting up ads and speaking on her behalf. Shockingly, despite little interaction from Nellie during the campaign season, she won the election by 8,000 votes.

U.S. Senator John B. Kendrick, a Democrat, was noted to have said of Nellie's nomination, "How fitting it was that the Equality State be the first to elect a woman governor."

On January 5, 1925, Nellie's inauguration made history in Wyoming and across the country. She was the first female governor in the U.S. and the first to hold office in the Equality State. During her tenure as governor, Nellie would push three agendas of her late husband's: "spending cuts, state loans for farmers and ranchers, and strong enforcement of prohibition."

Nellie did pursue a second term of governorship but narrowly lost to the Republican candidate, William H. Brett. But losing the race wasn't a political setback for Nellie. She would serve as the first female director of the U.S. Mint. She would serve in the position for 20 years, during which time the Mint released the Roosevelt dime and the Jefferson nickel.

Nellie Tayloe Ross: Her Legacy Lives On.

Nellie lived a long and industrious life, passing away at 101. She met and served under American icons such as Presidents FDR and Harry S. Truman during her life. She held political power in an age when women were marginalized in politics. Her legacy is one of breaking barriers and social norms. Nellie's legacy lives on in the permanent reminders of her presence in Wyoming. Her portrait can be found in the Wyoming Capital Building and the Historic Governor's Mansion, where Nellie lived out her days as First Lady and Governor. The home where she and William began their lives in Cheyenne still stands at 902 E. 17th St.

Did You Know? Cynthia Lummis was the first woman elected to serve as U.S. Senator in D.C. She was sworn in on January 3, 2021. Barbara Cubin was the first woman to represent Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives, beginning her D.C. career in 1995.

For young girls in Wyoming, Nellie proves that women can do anything - including lead. Though she remains the only female governor of Wyoming, the Equality State has seen women climb the ranks of Wyoming's Congress and serve in Washington, D.C., with more and more women finding leadership positions in the last two decades. Nellie is remembered by history as a trailblazer for women, with a legacy that embodies Wyoming's moniker as "The Equality State."

Sources

Alter, C. (2014, November 4). Nellie Tayloe Ross: America's first female governor. Time. https://time.com/3555677/nellie-tayloe-ross/

Disasters of the 1920s and the arc of a ranching empire. WyoHistory.org. (n.d.). https://www.wyohistory.org/newsletter/2017-10/disasters-1920s-and-arc-ranching-empire

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Nellie Tayloe Ross. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nellie-Tayloe-Ross

Rea, T. (2014d). The ambition of Nellie Tayloe Ross. WyoHistory.org. https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/ambition-nellie-tayloe-ross

WyomingHistory.org. (n.d.). Nellie Tayloe Ross, first woman governor in the United States. Nellie Tayloe Ross, First Woman Governor in the United States | Wyoming History Day. https://www.wyominghistoryday.org/theme-topics/nellie-tayloe-ross-first-woman-governor-united-states