About
Created as part of a commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of women’s suffrage in Montana, Montana Women's History is designed to help the Montana Historical Society promote an increased appreciation and understanding of the role of women in the Treasure State’s past.
Explore this website to find
- Bibliographies of manuscript collections, oral histories, government documents, pamphlets, magazine articles, videos and dvds, and published material
- Over 130 articles published in Montana The Magazine of Western History to download and read
- Information on oral histories, including what’s been collected and how to conduct your own
- Educator resources, including lesson plans
- Suggestions for ways communities, individuals, and organizations can celebrate the centennial
- Information on selected historic places–from homesteads to hospitals–associated with Montana women’s history
- Resources specifically related to the suffrage campaign, including links to newspaper articles published in the Montana press debating the issue in 1914
- A gallery of intriguing photographs that hint at the diversity of Montana women’s lives
- Information about speakers willing to travel to your community, along with other commemorative activities happening around the state
- blog posts that feature a wide range of Montana women’s stories and topics, from women bootleggers and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union to early Virginia City business woman Sarah Bickford and twentieth-century Blackfeet banker Elouise Cobell.
Project Manager: Martha Kohl
Listen to Kohl describe the project here:
Project Assistant: Kayla Blackman
Website writers: Ellen Arguimbau, Ellen Baumler, Kayla Blackman, Maegen Cook, Laura Ferguson, Jodie Foley, Kate Hampton, Annie Hanshew, Jennifer Hill, Anya Jabour, Martha Kohl, Kirby Lambert, Mary Murphy, Natalie F. Scheidler, Ken Robison, Marcella Sherfy Walter
Montana Historical Society Montana Women's History Committee: Ellen Baumler (interpretive historian), Jodie Foley (state archivist), Rowena Harrington (assistant registrar), Kate Hampton (community preservation coordinator), Molly Holz (director of publications), Kirby Lambert (director of outreach and interpretation), Delores Morrow (photograph archives manager)
Advisory Committee: Benjamin Clark (executive director, MonDak Heritage Center, Sidney), Anya Jabour (professor of history, University of Montana), Elizabeth Jameson (Imperial Oil and Lincoln McKay Chair, department of history, University of Calgary), Mary Murphy (professor of history, Montana State University), Diane Sands (community historian, Missoula), and Karen Stevenson (community historian, Miles City).
Meet the Blog Authors
Ellen Arguimbau retired in 2012 from the Montana Historical Society after thirty-five years as an archivist. She received her bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and master’s degrees in history and library science from the University of Colorado and the University of Washington.
Ellen Baumler was the Interpretive Historian at Montana Historical Society. She received her PhD from the University of Kansas and has worked at the Montana Historical Society since 1992. She has authored dozens of articles and several books, among them Beyond Spirit Tailings, honored with an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History. She was also the editor of Girl from the Gulches: The Story of Mary Ronan, a 2004 Finalist Award winner of the Willa Literary Awards.
Kayla Blackman received a Master’s Degree in History and a certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Montana, Missoula. She began working with the Montana Historical Society on the Montana Women's History project in the summer of 2013.
Laura Ferguson is a freelance writer from Helena, Montana, and works as an independent Indian Education consultant and curriculum developer. She holds a Master’s Degree in Native American Studies from Montana State University.
Jodie Foley was the State Archivist/Manager of the Archives Program at the Montana Historical Society. Born and raised in Missoula, she did her graduate and undergraduate work at the University of Montana in the History Program. She has written several From the Society articles for the Montana The Magazine of Western History and is a contributing author to the first volume of Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Montana History and a co-editor of the sequel.
Kate Hampton is the Community Preservation Coordinator at the Montana Historical Society’s State Historic Preservation Office, where she works with local communities to document and preserve their cultural resources. Among many other projects, she directed “Identifying African-American Heritage Resources in Montana,” which identified, researched and documented Montana Historical Society collections associated with African-Americans in Montana.
Annie Hanshew is a native of Helena, Montana, and has degrees from Carroll College and the University of Utah. Her book, Border to Border: Historic Quilts and Quiltmakers of Montana, was published by the Montana Historical Society Press in 2009.
Jennifer J. Hill has a PhD in American Studies from Montana State University, and focuses her research on reproductive history, women in the American west, and
museology.
Anya Jabour is a professor in the History Department and a past co-director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of Montana. She has authored three books, Marriage in the Early Republic, Scarlett’s Sisters, and Topsy-Turvy. In 2013, Profesor Jabour was named the University of Montana’s Distinguished Scholar.
Martha Kohl manages the Outreach and Interpretation Program Montana Historical Society. She received both her BA and MA in History from Washington University in St. Louis. She served as project manager and lead historian for Montana: Stories of the Land, the Society’s award-winning middle-school Montana history textbook. Her book, I Do: A Cultural History of Montana Weddings, was published in 2011.
Kirby Lambert managed the Outreach and Interpretation Program for the Montana Historical Society. He has served as Museum Registrar, Curator of Collections, and Curator of Art before assuming his the position as Program Manager in October 2007. He is coauthor of Montana’s Charlie Russell, published by the Montana Historical Society Press.
Mary Murphy is the Letters and Science Distinguished Professor at Montana State University. She has published 10 books and book chapters, including Hope in Hard Times: New Deal Photographs of Montana, 1936-1942, which won the Montana Book Award in 2003. Her Mining Cultures: Men, Women, and Leisure in Butte, 1914-41, received the 1998 Barbara Sudler Award from the Colorado Historical Society and was a Choice Outstanding Academic Book in 1997. Murphy received the Governor’s Humanities Award in 2013.
Ken Robison, a native Montanan, is historian at the Overholser Historical Research Center in Fort Benton and author of five books including Confederates in Montana Territory and Montana Territory and the Civil War. The Montana Historical Society named him “Montana Heritage Keeper” in 2010. He retired as a Navy Captain after a career in Naval Intelligence.
Natalie F. Scheidler is a Ph.D. candidate in U.S. History at Montana State University. Her research interests include race, gender, and sexuality in American history. Her dissertation, “And They All Fell Silent: Violence against Women in Butte, Montana, 1910-1950,” provides a legal, cultural, and statistical analysis of rape and wife assault.
Marcella Sherfy Walter began her career in public history at Gettysburg National Military Park. Before moving to Montana, she worked in National Park Service preservation programs in Washington, DC. Between 1980 and 2006, she served as Montana’s State Historic Preservation Officer, Education Officer and Chief of Heritage Operations for the Montana Historical Society.
Partner organizations, events, and projects
History is a collaboration of our stories and experiences. Thank you to our collaborators:
Contact us
The Montana Historical Society is located in Helena, Montana, across from the State Capitol.
Montana Heritage Center
225 North Roberts Street
PO Box 201201
Helena, MT 59620-1201
406-444-2694
This is a project of the Montana Historical Society. You can learn more about the Society’s programs and free educator resources, submit research requests, subscribe to our journal, or become a member by visiting our website.
For hours and more information go to https://mths.mt.gov/about/Visit
Have questions about our content? Have something you think should be here? Or need to contact us for any other reason? Write us an Email.