Grace Raymond Hebard

Hebard came to Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1882 to take a short-term draftsman's job with the U.S. Surveyor General's office, which surveyed and mapped Wyoming Territory. After the essential mapping was done, the federal staff was reduced and she moved to the WY Territorial Surveyor General’s Office in 1889 where she rose to the rank of deputy state engineer. By 1891 she had moved to Laramie full time.

Hebard's widowed mother Margaret (1830-1902), sister Alice (1859-1928), and two brothers Frederic (1857-1920) and Lockwood (1867-1942) moved to Cheyenne with her. Alice became a teacher in Wyoming. 

Hebard's close friend and housemate, Dr. Agnes Wergeland (far left), was the first women to earn a doctoral degree in Norway. In 1902, Wergeland became Chair of the Univ. of Wyoming's History Department where she worked until her death in 1914.

By 1910, Hebard had become a prominent figure at the University and in Wyoming beginning as secretary (later voting member) of the University's Board of Trustees and then as a professor, historian, and author.

On March 7, 1870, women served for the first time in history on a formal jury in Laramie, Wyoming. This article represents Hebard's version of those events. 

Wealthy socialite and suffragist Alva Belmont founded the Political Equality Association in 1909. In these two letters to Hebard she expresses interest in Hebard's article in The Journal of American History about the first women to serve on a jury in Laramie in March 1870. 

Boyd requests data from Hebard that can help NAWSA prove that "women are a desirable element in the electorate."

Catt was working to gather facts from twelve suffrage states to build a case proving women's competency to vote. Catt references "Mr. Wilson." Woodrow Wilson was lukewarm to women's suffrage when elected U.S. President in 1913. It wasn't until 1918 that he publicly supported it.

In a follow-up to her letter from Nov. 14, 1916, Catt requests specific information from Hebard in regards to Wyoming.

Speech given at dedication ceremony for a plaque in Cheyenne designating the place where women's suffrage was passed by the Wyoming Territorial Legislature on December 10, 1869. 

An article in The Woman Citizen featuring Hebard and University of Wyoming English professor Mabel L. Anderson (shown with Hebard in photo captioned "In Garden Togs"). The article mentions Hebard's "Americanization" efforts. The woman seen with Hebard in the photo captioned  "Dr. Hebard's class in knitting" is her sister Alice Marven Hebard. The Woman Citizen was a suffrage magazine founded by Carrie Chapman Catt in 1917.

NAWSA Corresponding Secretary Nettie Shuler writes to Hebard about Carrie Chapman Catt's exhaustion from her suffrage efforts. At the time Hebard was in Clinton, Massachusetts, visiting local physician and fellow suffragist Dr. Irene Morse. 

Shuler asks Hebard for the Wyoming Legislature's vote returns on suffrage, county by county.

Chaplin copies Hebard on a letter his office sent to NAWSA President Catt stating the benefits of women's suffrage to Wyoming.

Symons informs Hebard of the vote by the Wyoming Legislature on the House Joint Resolution No. 1 on Woman Suffrage.

Wilson requests funds for a gift to NAWSA President Catt for her efforts in gaining passage of the 19th Amendment by the U.S. Congress on June 4, 1919. Work was not done though, and the suffragists knew it. After Congress passed the amendment, at least 36 states needed to vote in favor of it for the amendment to become law. This process is called "ratification."

Governor Carey states that he will arrange his schedule to meet with Carrie Chapman Catt while Catt is visiting Laramie for a meeting of Wyoming's 26-person Ratification Committee, which was headed by Hebard. The meeting was held on November 11, 1919. Catt was also there to help found a chapter of the newly established League of Women Voters.

Hebard has agreed to write the Wyoming chapter for Volume V. It appears Hebard had hoped to use her article on the first women's jury that was published in 1913 in The Journal of American History. 

At the Ratification Committee meeting in Laramie, Hebard commemorated the writing and passage of the 1869 suffrage bill in Wyoming with a speech. She depicts Esther Hobart Morris as "The Mother of Woman Suffrage," although doubt is later cast on that characterization. See this WyoHistory.org article about Hebard for more about this claim.

During Catt's visit to Laramie for the Ratification Committee meeting, Hebard (center) and women in Catt’s party visited the site of the first courtroom where women served on a jury—once the Trabing Brothers store, by then the disused Variety Theater. Catt is shown third from right.

Harper provides NAWSA state chapters with instructions for Volume V of History of Woman Suffrage. Harper (1851-1931), a prominent suffragist, had previously authored a three-volume biography of suffrage leader Susan B. Anthony at Anthony's request. Harper also co-edited and collaborated with Anthony on volume four (1902) of the six-volume History of Woman Suffrage and completed the project by solo writing volumes five and six (1922) after Anthony's death.

Nettie Shuler's daughter Marjorie is mentioned in the letter. Nettie and Marjorie were active suffragists on the national scene, particularly after the death of Nettie's husband Frank in 1916. Carrie Chapman Catt's visit to Wyoming is also referenced.

Shuler asks Hebard urgently if a proclamation by the Wyoming governor means ratification of the suffrage amendment. It did not. The level of tension and anticipation was high as national suffragists tallied the states willing to ratify the amendment.

Agnes Wright (later Agnes Wright Spring) was a protégé and friend of Hebard's. She was Wyoming State Librarian from 1917 to 1921. Here Wright supplies Hebard with data for Volume V of the History of Woman Suffrage. Wright also includes a note about Esther Hobart Morris.

Hebard wrote letters on Dec. 22 to Wyoming state senators encouraging them to ratify the 19th amendment. Senator Oviatt indicates support for the amendment and expresses disappointment in Wyoming's governor for not calling for a vote sooner.

In response to Hebard's Dec. 22 letter, Senator Daley initially resists the call for a special session to vote on suffrage, but changes his viewpoint, in part due to additional pressure from Hebard.

In response to Hebard's Dec. 22 letter, Senator Fonda responds that he has been "pestering" the governor for two months to call a special session about the suffrage amendment.

Anderson refers to Mrs. Jenkins. Therese A. Jenkins was an early and prominent Wyoming suffragist. Anderson also laments how politicization of the amendment has caused conflict for her as a ratification supporter who is also a state employee.

NAWSA President Catt thanks Hebard for her efforts and notes she is awaiting the date of a special legislative session in Wyoming to vote on ratification.

Hebard is to be one of the national speakers at a celebration honoring Susan B. Anthony's 100th birthday. From the letter one gathers that the NAWSA Board of Directors has overridden President Catt on the length of time each presenter can speak. 

Harper thanks Hebard for sending a draft of the chapter, noting that Wyoming has been slow in ratifying the 19th amendment. Also included is Hebard's draft for the chapter.

Catt sends congratulations that Wyoming ratified the 19th Amendment. 

Leaflet showing events during NAWSA's convention. Hebard was a speaker during the "Ratification Banquet" on February 14.

Shuler asks Hebard for text from her Feb. 14 NAWSA convention speech to inspire women to vote. Shuler writes that Hebard was a "big hit" at the convention. 

Chaplin supplies Hebard with the vote tally from the Wyoming Legislature's Special Session on the 19th Amendment.

Hyde was one of President Catt's closest co-workers at NAWSA. Hyde encourages Hebard to participate in an international women's suffrage convention due to Hebard's success at NAWSA's Chicago convention in February.  

Maud Wood Park led NAWSA’s congressional committee with great success due to her knowledge of  the legislative process and lobbying techniques. She next chaired the newly established League of Women Voters designed to assist women carry out their new voting responsibilities in anticipation of passage of the 19th Amendment. 

Wright writes that Esther Hobart Morris' son Robert confirmed to her that his mother influenced William Bright on the women's suffrage bill passed by the Wyoming Territorial Legislature in 1869. 

Catt urgently requests that Hebard join a group lobbying Connecticut Governor Marcus H. Holcomb for the state's legislature to become the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment. The group would be called the "Emergency Suffrage Corps" and the "Emergency Suffrage Brigade." 

Catt sends a rallying call to 48 women throughout the U.S., including Hebard, to participate in the Connecticut lobbying campaign. Catt's strategy to gain the needed 36th state is described.

Author and suffragist Rose Young oversaw the Leslie Bureau of Suffrage Education and publicity for the Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission and NAWSA. The bureau was named for funder Miriam Leslie. Here Young provides text for each Emergency Suffrage Corps member to use to publicize her work in her local newspaper. Hebard has made notations on the letter.

NAWSA Connecticut Chapter President Katharine Ludington informs Hebard as to how the Connecticut hearing with the governor is to be conducted on May 7. She writes that NAWSA activists are "very tired" but are now invigorated by women coming from across the U.S. to assist in Connecticut.

NAWSA President Catt provides details and speaking points to the Emergency Suffrage Corps (whom she calls the "Connecticut Campaigners").

Catt informs Hebard of her placement for the suffrage rallies in Connecticut on May 3 and provides notes on the "Republican appeal."  Connecticut’s Republican political boss, J. Henry Roraback, was urging his congressional delegation not to support the 19th Amendment. And to reject calls for a special legislative session to ratify it, in fear that 200,000 new voters would disrupt Republican control of the state. Catt's appeal attempts to counteract that argument. Hebard made notations on the Republican appeal document.

Press release issued by Rose Young detailing plans of the Emergency Suffrage Corps in Connecticut. Mentioned in the release is the Men's Republican Ratification Committee which assisted the suffragists.

Catt invites Hebard to her farm after the Connecticut campaign. Catt also requests that women in enfranchised western states like Wyoming emphasize to the Connecticut governor that women's suffrage, like men's suffrage, isn't questioned in the West. And that western governors have deemed national women's suffrage an issue worthy of a special legislative session.

This press release mentions Hebard as the Wyoming representative in the Emergency Suffrage Corps, as well as names of women representing other states. 

Catt provides lodging, dining, and travel instructions to the Emergency Suffrage Corps.

Article featuring quotes by Hebard including her statement that "…there is no such thing an an anti-suffrage man in our state--much less a woman."

Hebard is shown as one of the women invited by NAWSA to deliver a seven-minute speech at the hearing before Connecticut's Governor Holcomb on May 7. The letter includes speaking points written by NAWSA for the presenters.

In this undated telegram, Gov. Carey encourages Gov. Holcomb to ratify the 19th Amendment. The telegram most likely dates to May 1920.

Newspaper article detailing the suffrage rally held in Norwich, Connecticut, on May 3, including extensive remarks from Hebard.

NAWSA flyer promoting turnout at the Connecticut capitol on May 7 when members of the Emergency Suffrage Corps meet with the governor.

Hebard writes to her sister using the pet name of "Betz" that she will be traveling to Catt's home. "Juniper Ledge" in New Castle, New York, was a home Catt shared with Mary Hay from 1919 to 1928. Hebard modestly states that others say she spoke well before the Connecticut Governor Percival Clement about ratifying the 19th Amendment.

A thank you note to the Emergency Suffrage Corps. Catt writes that a decision by the Connecticut governor for a special session has yet to be made. Whatever the case, Catt states, it was "a Great Adventure." 

This newspaper column by Hazel Wilson relates that Hebard's manuscript "The Bozeman Road" will be published and highlights Hebard's visit to Connecticut as part of the Emergency Suffrage Corps. 

Ludington thanks Hebard for her work in Connecticut and notes that the state's governor did not approve a special session.

In a handwritten letter from Catt (transcript provided), she writes of being called to Tennessee, which ratified the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920, and was the 36th state needed. The letter's personal tone indicates the friendship between the two women, which continued until Hebard's death in 1936.

Text relating to Wyoming Legislature's Special Session on Jan. 26-28, 1920, in which the 19th Amendment was ratified by the state. Includes a speech by WY Gov. Carey and an address by Laramie Mayor Edward Ivinson made at the Ratification Committee meeting on Nov. 11, 1919.

Letters from Paige relating to the establishment of a Wyoming chapter of the recently organized National League of Women Voters. Later Paige would, in 1922, become of the first four women elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Wright informs Hebard of the disappointing news that Utah women, not Wyoming women, were actually the first to vote. She also expresses surprise that Carrie Chapman Catt openly supports Democratic presidential candidate James M. Cox. Indeed, in a letter to Hebard dated Sept. 28, 1920, Catt expresses disdain for both presidential candidates (see identifier 32_29_1920_Sept 28).

Catt apologizes for the time it took for NAWSA to respond to congratulatory messages after passage of the 19th Amendment. She writes too of regret for "misunderstandings" and the "venture into party politics" involved in the suffrage campaign, possibly referring to the Tennessee campaign, although it resulted in ratification by the 36th state.

Hebard teamed up with another University of Wyoming professor, Dr. June Etta Downey, in 1921 to convince faculty members to award UW's first honorary degree to Carrie Chapman Catt. In this handwritten letter Catt ponders what type of "paraphernalia" she needs to wear for the occasion. Transcript provided.

Catt writes another letter in anticipation of her upcoming visit to Laramie to receive the first UW honorary degree, which she received June 12, 1921. Transcript provided.

Carrie Chapman Catt (center) with Hebard (to the left of Catt) and other University of Wyoming women during Catt's visit to receive honorary degree.

Catt writes Hebard of her experiences at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University) in Ames where, on June 15, 1921, she was the first woman to deliver a commencement address. Transcript provided.

Catt describes a NAWSA event and mentions her memorial trees. Catt and her live-in companion Mary Garrett Hay fastened memorial plaques dedicated to suffrage leaders on trees on Catt's farm, Juniper Ledge. Transcript of letter provided.

In addition to other news, Catt writes Hebard of a friend who believes Catt should run for U.S. Senate or become president of a college. She also mentions possible inclusion of Hebard's version of Esther Hobart Morris' history in a volume of the History of Woman Suffrage. Transcript of letter provided.

Harper thanks Hebard for her efforts in conferring the honorary degree to Carrie Chapman Catt and for photos of Catt's visit to Laramie in June 1921. Harper also mentions her work on Volume V of the History of Woman Suffrage.

Catt writes of her active schedule, mentions her book Woman Suffrage and Politics, and comments that "ignorant criticisms by ignorant people" caused premature illness and death of Presidents Harding, Roosevelt, and Wilson. 

Catt writes of her active schedule, mentions her book Woman Suffrage and Politics, and comments that "ignorant criticisms by ignorant people" caused premature illness and death of Presidents Harding, Roosevelt, and Wilson. 

Hebard writes of the election of Nellie Tayloe Ross as Wyoming governor, the first woman to be elected governor in the U.S. Hebard writes approvingly of Ross' competency for her new role.

A speech given by Hebard at an unknown location in which she again depicts Esther Hobart Morris as the "Mother of Woman Suffrage for Wyoming." As before, Hebard credits Morris with inspiring Bright to introduce the women’s suffrage bill in the Wyoming Legislature in 1869. At times Hebard would say Morris did her encouragement at a tea party; other times, a dinner party. In this speech, it is a dinner party.

Letters exhibiting the warm friendship that still existed between Hebard and Catt. By this time, Catt's companion Mary Garrett Hay had died of a heart attack in August 1928. Hebard's beloved sister Alice, who lived with Grace, also died in 1928. 

Correspondence between Catt and Hebard and Hebard and Wyoming State Tribune editor William Deming regarding nomination of Wyoming suffragist Therese Jenkins for the Honor Roll. Hebard also makes a case as to why she should be on the Honor Roll as well.

Catt and Hebard carry on their friendly correspondence with mention of Catt's article on prohibition, of which she was a strong supporter. There was a historic tie between the women's suffrage movement, temperance, and Prohibition.

Catt and Hebard write of Catt's recovery from broken bones in her left foot and Catt's Committee on the Cause and Cure of War, which she founded in 1925 after the horrors of World War I. It was composed of organizations of educated women who attempted to understand the causes of war. They believed that it was their job as women to end wars because women were seen as morally courageous, while men were viewed as physically courageous.

Catt writes a dedication for Hebard regarding her women's suffrage work for a celebration in Hebard's honor at the University of Wyoming.

Catt writes that she is stepping away from the Committee for the Cause and Cure of War. The two friends plan to meet as Catt makes a railroad trip to California.

Letters between Hebard and Catt that mention politics of the day, University of Wyoming affairs, Frances Perkins, Nellie Tayloe Ross, Eleanor Roosevelt, Esther Hobart Morris, and Catt's newly established Committee of Protest against the treatment of Jews in Germany.

Hebard writes to President Roosevelt and newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins of her pleasure at the appointment of a woman to FDR's Cabinet. She also lauds Wyoming's role when it comes to women's suffrage.

Hebard relates to Brandon, editor of the Kemmerer Gazette, her version of Esther Hobart Morris' role in women's suffrage, a role that seems to grow larger over the years. Hebard writes of hauling stones for a dedicatory cairn at the place where Esther Morris lived in South Pass City, Wyoming. She created the cairn on July 6, 1920.

On the back of a thank you note Catt sent to birthday well-wishers, she adds a personal note to Hebard apologizing for not yet writing. The two women remained friends for many years. 

Hebard writes Deming that "South Pass City will be a shrine or a Mecca to which pilgrims will make their journies because it was the city of the birth of women suffrage through the efforts of Esther Morris…" and that it led to further advancement for women suffrage.

Catt writes of her founding the International Women Suffrage Alliance and how she is no longer able to attend meetings due to her age. She also notes with some amazement that women in Turkey are able to vote for the first time.

A fundraising pamphlet for assistance to prominent suffragist Alice Stone Blackwell who lost her life savings.

Hebard relates that Wyoming Day has been established on December 10 to commemorate women's suffrage in Wyoming.

In this play, Hebard again gives Esther Hobart Morris the honor of "advocating and originating woman's suffrage in the United States." The play's co-author, Marie Montabe, was a Wyoming poet, lecturer, and writer.

Now terminally ill, Hebard writes to Peck reflecting on the women's suffrage campaign and Carrie Chapman Catt's role. 

Catt offers words of encouragement to Hebard who is struggling with cancer. Hebard died in October 1936.