Jan. 13, 2015

‘˜Women of the West’

PHOTO COURTESY THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and

Girl Scout USA CEO Anna Maria Chávez discuss what it means

to be a 'Western' woman

Are gender roles more flexible in the West? Have women had different opportunities here than in other regions of the country?

When we think of the Wild West, we think mostly of men – the cowboys and outlaws immortalized in film, TV, radio and on the page. But the West was a place where women also could bend, break and stretch the rules. By 1914, nearly every state west of the Mississippi had granted women suffrage; it took three more years for any eastern state to enfranchise them. The West took the lead when it came to divorce statutes (and instituting no-fault divorce), as well as in the election of women to higher offices: In 1999, Arizona swore in an unprecedented five women to top executive positions.

On Jan. 14 at the Heard Museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History will host "What It Means to be an American: Women of the West." Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Girls Scouts USA CEO Anna Maria Chávez – both native Arizonans – discuss what it means to be a Western woman. Sacramento Bee publisher Cheryl Dell will moderate the discussion. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. and concludes at 8 p.m.