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. 

This month, the Louisa Swain Foundation rededicated the house’s courtyard to U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis, Jon Johnson and Ray Hunkins — three of the house’s original supporters. The foundation also dedicated the courtyard’s two new gardens to Diana Enzi, wife of the late Sen. Mike Enzi, and in memory of Bobbi Barrasso, the wife of Sen. John Barrasso. 

Wyoming’s congressional delegation attended the ceremony alongside state and local officials, and the many volunteers, donors and community members who have made the house possible throughout the decades. 

“Together, this courtyard and these gardens reflect the women we celebrate: rooted in Wyoming, built to endure and open to all,” Jennifer Thomson, foundation chair, said in a press release. “We are grateful for our honorees, our donors and everyone who made today possible, and we look forward to the next 25 years.” 

With community support, the foundation hopes to bring Wyoming women’s history into classrooms across the state through virtual field trips to the house, and renovate the house’s interior for in-person visitors. It’s also aiming to add more drought-tolerant plants to the courtyard, update its irrigation system and create a “trailblazers timeline” along the central walkway that would feature more than 20 Wyoming women who have led the way since statehood.

Maggie Mullen reports on state government and politics. Before joining WyoFile in 2022, she spent five years at Wyoming Public Radio.

Leave a comment

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for: 

  • Your real name — first and last. 
  • Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
  • The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
  • Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
  • Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
  • No more than three comments per story, including replies. 

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

  • Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
  • Comments that are not directly relevant to the article. 
  • Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
  • Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
  • Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know: 

  • Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement. 
  • We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
  • We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance. 
  • Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
  • We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *