Rhoda R. Gilman, a founding member of Women Historians of the Midwest and a former candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, considers the influence of women in Minnesota: the Willmar 8, the Schubert Club, the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association, and much more.
Sarah Jane Steele is born in Pennsylvania. She married fur trader Henry Sibley in 1843; when he became the state of Minnesota's first governor in 1858, she became its first First Lady. Before her death in 1869, she advocated for historical preservation, making a particular effort to save and interpret Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. The Sibleys' own house in Mendota has been called "the Mount Vernon of Minnesota."
Winona LaDuke, founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) and a co-founder of Honor the Earth, speaks at the University of Washington’s Intellectual House in Seattle on March 10, 2018. CC BY 4.0
Casiville Bullard, Addison Bullard, and their children, ca. 1908. Pictured are (clockwise, left to right) Casiville, Lilly, Addison, Howard, Janet, and Casiville Jr. Public domain.