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NELLIE TAYLOE ROSS DAY PROCLAIMEDWyoming has declared Jan. 5, 2025 to be Nellie Tayloe Ross Day in honor of their Governor and the first woman Director of the U.S. Mint. -Editor
A ceremony involving Gov. Mark Gordon reading the proclamation took place Friday at the Sweetwater County Courthouse. Students from Bridgette Nielsen's social studies class, who helped draft the proclamation, were in attendance as well, along with county residents and other elected officials. The two-year period as governor would not be the only public service Ross was known for. She was appointed the first [woman] director of the United States Mint in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. This would be post she continued to serve in for 20 years, serving under Roosevelt and Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower. She retired in 1953 and continued to travel extensively and write for women's magazines. She died in 1976 at the age of 101 and was buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Cheyenne. The proclamation was originally Sweetwater County Historical Museum Board Member Randy Walker's idea. Walker said the idea came because of Ross' accomplishments where important historical events that deserved recognition. The proclamation project was taken up by Nielsen's social studies class at Green River High School, who studied Ross' life and other proclamations to determine how it should be written. The group received praise from both Gov. Gordon and Ross' great granddaughter Nellie Tayloe Sanders, the current Oklahoma Secretary of Education. Sanders provided a brief video message thanking the students and state officials for commemorating Ross' accomplishments. Prior to issuing the proclamation, Gordon said Wyoming giving women the right to vote was novel in that other states that granted that right would later rescind it, with Wyoming never taking that right away. He said lawmakers had a disastrous territorial election in 1868 where people got into fights and prevented others from going to polling locations. Including women in the voting process was seen as a way of ensuring a more peaceful election, with Gordon saying that the election in 1869 was a model election in part because women were involved. He also said lawmakers made a toast after the state's constitution was signed, saying former Governor Cliff Hansen remembered what was said for that toast. "Here's to women, first our superiors, now our equals," Gordon said. "It's all true, we are all equal."
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The American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming holds the Nellie Tayloe Ross papers, where "Several scrapbooks containing clippings, letters, and photographs document Ross's time as governor and as director of the U.S. Mint." Could be useful source material for future researchers. Ross was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to two five-year terms as Director of the U.S. Mint, serving under three presidents from 1933 through 1953. -Editor
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Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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