NELLIE TAYLOE ROSS (1876-1977)

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon read a proclamation on December 20 declaring that January 5, 2025, would be Nellie Tayloe Ross Day in commemoration of her inauguration as Wyoming Governor. She joins our collection of articles about hundred year old numismatists.

She was born as Nellie Davis Tayloe in St. Joseph, Missouri, on November 29, 1876. She was the daughter of James Wynns Tayloe (1832-1920) and Elizabeth Bruce Green (1845-1889). Her maternal grandmother was a Davis.

Nellie learned to play the piano and gave music lessons before she graduated from high school. She had two years of teacher training and then taught kindergarten in Omaha, Nebraska, for four years.

At the age of twenty, her brothers paid for her trip to Europe and the first time she had been in any city larger than Omaha. This led to a love of travel. She met attorney William Bradford Ross (1873-1924) while visiting relatives in Tennessee in 1900. They continued to correspond and were married on September 11, 1902. Nellie joined William in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he had established a law practice. He became active in Democratic Party politics. As a Democrat, William represented families of modest means. He did not attract the corporate clients that could have paid larger fees. His practice was successful but not lucrative.

The couple had twin boys eight and a half months after the wedding. They were premature and frail but survived. Their third son died of a tragic accident as an infant. A fourth son was born in 1912. Nellie was content to be a wife and mother.

Women were given the right to vote in Wyoming Territory in 1869. When Wyoming applied for statehood, there were fears that the right of women to vote might be taken away, When Wyoming was admitted in 1890, it was the first state to recognize women's right to vote. Unlike most other states, Women also had the right to own property and to control their income and finances.

Wyoming was a Republican state but the Teapot Dome Scandal hurt the Republican cause. William Bradford Ross was a Democrat who had lost previous elections at a lower level. He ran for governor in 1922 and won. He served as Governor of Wyoming from January 1, 1923, until his death on October 2, 1923. A special election to fill the vacancy was scheduled for November 4, 1924. Nellie was somewhat reluctantly convinced to run to fill her husband's vacant seat. Her Republican opponent, Eugene J. Sullivan, ran a strong campaign while Nellie did little to campaign. She had never made a public speech before becoming governor. She won with 43.323 votes to her opponents 35,275.

Ross was inaugurated governor on January 5, 1925, becoming the first woman governor of Wyoming, and the first woman governor of any state. The second was Miriam Ferguson who was inaugurated governor of Texas just fifteen days later on January 20, 1925. The two women had been elected on the same day. Ross failed to get legislation passed through the Republican legislature. She was defeated for reelection by Frank C. Emerson in 1926.

When she appeared in public, she frequently wore a hat and gloves. She maintained her femininity and claimed she valued her role as wife and mother more than her role as governor. She gained experience as a public speaker while she was governor. Although she lost the election, she was famous nationally. She supported herself and her family as a lecturer on the Chautauqua circuit.

She campaigned for Al Smith in the 1928 election and gave a seconding speech at the Houston convention. In 1931 she was selected to be vice-chair of the Democratic party and leader of the women's division of the party.

President Franklin Roosevelt appointed her to serve as the first woman director of the Mint in 1933. She took office on April 30, 1933, under William Woodin as Secretary of the Treasury. As Director, Ross set policy and made public appearances. Her assistant, Margaret O'Reilly managed day-to-day operations.

She took office shortly after President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order to turn gold coins in to the government and, obviously, to stop the production of new gold coins. During the Depression, the demand for coinage was low and the Mint issued fewer new coins. In 1933, two mints struck about 20.5 million new cents. By 1940, production was increased with three mints striking more that 781 million cents. She served four five-year terms and retired in 1953.

In March of 1934, Ross resigned her position on the Democratic National Committee to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. In 1935 she promoted the sale of "Baby Bonds," especially to women.

Also in 1935, she organized the United States Mint Guards to protect the gold reserves held at various locations. Without funds to acquire weapons, the guards were issued machine guns confiscated from gangsters.

Director Ross was required to hire new staff, expand the production facilities and increase production to 24 hours a day and seven days a week. She supervised new construction of the San Francisco Mint, the gold depository at Fort Knox and the silver depository at West Point. Her name appears on the cornerstones of those buildings, which may also be a first for women.

During the Second World War, there was a need for copper and nickel to produce brass shell casings and other strategic war materials. The brass cent was replaced with a cent made of steel with a zinc plating. The copper-nickel five cent coins were replaced with coins that were 35% silver.

There was a proposal to produce a three-cent coin with the image of Benjamin Franklin. This did not happen but the Franklin design was resurrected by Director Ross for a half dollar first issued in 1948. Director Ross said that she had long wanted a Franklin design.

A medal for Ross was struck at the Mint. This was promoted as the first medal struck for a woman at the Mint. Those who study Mint medals might point out that Martha Washington appeared on a small medal dated 1876. Hannah Dodd appeared earlier on school medals for Boston and Philadelphia.

She died on December 19, 1977, at age 101 and is buried with William in Lakeview Cemetery in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She was the oldest living former governor in the United States.

The Mint Director Medal for Ross was sculpted by John R. Sinnock, the same sculptor who did the Roosevelt Dime for 1946 and the Franklin Half for 1948. Mrs. Ross approved their designs over the objections of the Commission of Fine Arts.

A biography, Governor Lady: The Life and Times of Nellie Tayloe Ross, was written by Teva J. Sheer and published in 2005.

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see:
NELLIE TAYLOE ROSS DAY PROCLAIMED (https://www.coinbooks.org/v27/esylum_v27n51a17.html)

 

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