HELENA — Helena is the "Queen City of the Rockies" and was home to many women who made great impacts on history.
Martha Kohl specializes in Montana women's history at the Montana Historical Society and says, “I think that one thing that studying women’s history does is remind us about the everyday extraordinary people in our past, present, and hopefully future."
In downtown Helena, the Women’s Commemorative Mural paints the picture of the importance of the everyday woman and her impact.
Although most of the women featured are archetypes, Fanny Sperry Steele’s story takes us for a ride.
Like many Montana women, she began riding horses at a young age and in 1912 and 1913 she was named 'Lady Bucking Horse Champion of the World' at the Calgary Stampede.
She also was the first Montana woman to receive a packer’s license.
For Kohl, the Fligelman sisters are her favorites in Helena's history.
Belle Fligelman helped campaign for Jeanette Rankin, who was the first woman to hold federal office in the United States. Through Fligelman's writing in the local newspaper and promoting Rankin on street corners, Rankin was elected to Congress in 1916. Fligelman followed as Rankin’s secretary.
At the same time, Belle’s sister Frieda was helping the Helena YWCA get on its feet, advocating for women of all races and religions, as Frieda herself was Jewish. Her efforts allowed the local YWCA to be independent of the national organization.
Maria Dean was also a driving force behind the YWCA but is most remembered for being the first woman in Montana to get a medical license and for helping found St. Peter’s Hospital.
Kohl says, "The way our communities become the places we want to live, and these historical women show this, are by people getting together, everyday people like you and me who decide a park will make our life better or a school or hospital.”
