Women

Wyoming is the Equality state. And when StoryCorps came to Jackson in 2018, Andrew Breffeilh told StoryCorps facilitator Madison Mullen the legacy of strong women in Jackson and why they deserve to be remembered.

Produced by Megan Feighery

We line up in the sagebrush with a truly distracting view of the Wind River Range visible beyond, a bunch of gals pointing arrows at a herd of targets shaped like deer, turkey, even a stegosaurus. Each animal is tacked with several colorful balloons and it's our goal to pop them.

Wyoming is known as the Equality State. So it's fitting that earlier this year one of its Boy Scout Troops was amongst the first in the country to induct girls. The national organization changed its policy in February to be more inclusive. Since then, Troop 221 in Cheyenne has already seen its female scout number double.

The Me Too movement is changing the conversation about sexual violence. For some women, it's been empowering but, also, a painful reminder of buried trauma. And for some men, it's been a realization that they want to do more to change the status quo. One victim advocacy group in Wyoming wants to help men make that change by giving them better tools.

Mikayla Patton had no intention of going into what she calls "dirty work" before starting school at Gillette College. She thought maybe she would try criminal justice. But then she got a phone call from her dad. He had worked on oil rigs and in coal mines.

Men and women skiers might race down the same mountain, but the prize money at the bottom isn’t necessarily the same. Plus, how ice climbing is warming to female climbers and a conversation with the women who made dog sled racing history.

Anna talks about perceptions, boundaries and expectations that confine Native American Art. Using video, sculpture, installations, and photographs, Anna explores themes of Native identity through contemporary mediums, forcing people to readjust how they think of Native-American aesthetics.

Kitty Pilgrim worked as a CNN correspondent and news anchor for 24 years. Kitty talks about her career as a woman and single mother working in the CNN newsroom as well as the variety of assignments that took her around the world to Russia, China, Cuba, the Middle East, Korea and South Africa. Her love for a good story began her journey as a novelist. 

It's a windy and freezing afternoon in Cody. A bunch of women are gathered around a table at the Chamberlin Inn in Cody, chatting about the dynamic of their relationships.

The Pedigree Stage Stop Race in Jackson is the biggest dog sled race in the lower 48 states. This year, for the first time ever, women took the event's top three spots.

Last February, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort launched a new extreme skiing and snowboarding competition. 18 men and seven women competed to be crowned the King and Queen of Corbet's. At the awards ceremony, the top male won $5,000 more than the top female finisher. The incident drew attention to the fact that there's nothing in place to guarantee equal prizes in big mountain freeskiing.

The University of Wyoming has a new recruitment campaign featuring the slogan "The World Needs More Cowboys." It rolled out with a video and new advertising materials, but some on campus are not happy about it. Christine Porter is a professor of community and public health, and says the slogan excludes women and people of color. Helen Raleigh is a Chinese-American UW alum. She also writes for the conservative publication The Federalist, and recently published an article supporting the new slogan.

From washing the army’s clothes to solving murders, three authors tell the stories of strong Western women.

Last week the Wyoming Archaeological Society and the Montana Archaeological Society held a joint conference in Billings, Montana. Three years ago, women archaeologists from both Wyoming and Montana started a group called The Sisterhood of the Traveling Trowel.

The group tries to help emerging women archaeologists in their careers. Crystal Allegria and Bonnie Smith are both members of the sisterhood and archaeologists in the Plains Country. Wyoming Public Radio’s Kamila Kudelska speaks with both women on the need to help women archaeologists. Kudelska first asked Bonnie Smith what the group’s goal was this year. 

The famous aviator first visited Wyoming in 1934. She traveled to Meeteetse for summer break where she stayed on local guide Carl Dunrud’s dude ranch. Earhart fell in love with the region right away. 

More conversations from the series Women in Wyoming…about pushing boundaries and redefining what it means to live in the modern West. Featuring Neltje and Affie Ellis.