Wyoming
State Archives

Wyoming's Teachers

Women contributed in to the growth of Wyoming in a variety of fields. Only a few professions were open to women of good character and one of the most common was teaching. Teaching was honorable, it paid surprisingly well, and it created for women a position of respect in the community. The number of women who chose this profession grew with each year as the growing population demanded teachers for their children. Even though women were considered "scarce" among the general population they disproportionately filled the ranks of teachers. There is some evidence that a single female teacher was given preference over a man with the same skills. The ratio was often 8 women to every one man in the overall school system with rural schools routinely exceeding 95% women teachers. Interestingly, this stereo type of the single white female "school marm" overseeing the multi-class one room school house, was solidly based in fact.

The women who taught these schools had varied backgrounds. Many of them came to Wyoming from the east specifically to accept a teaching position. Others drifted into teaching, often after the death of a spouse or father. Perhaps the most interesting were the 16 or 17 year old young women who became the teachers for their own classrooms when their teacher moved on or married. Often in such a case a young woman near graduation was asked to take the job replacing her own teacher. This became fairly common as the scarcity of women led to frequent marriages. Since many areas demanded the teacher be unmarried, every marriage depleted the ranks of women teachers.

The cultural situation that provided these teachers was the combination of limited "suitable" employment for women and the relative desirability of teacher compared to cooking, washing, domestic servitude, or clerking which were often the only other jobs open to women. Homesteading was of course open to women and many of the teaching pool were homesteaders needing the extra funds that teaching could provide.

Teaching also conferred an independence and resulting higher status than seamstressing or the other "proper" jobs for women. In her own school or even classroom the individual woman ruled, usually with the complete support of the community. She also gained an acceptable income that unlike the other well paying independent means of living, like prostitution, acting, or running a business, did not reflect badly on the women or her moral character. Monetary need contributed greatly to the picture as the occasional married woman or older daughter or widower took to teaching to help the family budget.

The impact of teachers crossed over into the tolerance of suffrage for women in Wyoming and soon resulted in greater rights for women and increased female participation in the jury and election process. Schools themselves offered a broad appeal to the growing pioneer community. They were the central producer of community education, culture, and identity. Since the teacher was often one of the most educated persons in the community, they were often consulted by community leaders on social and cultural concerns.

Through the schools the children were both indoctrinated in the current culture and given the goals to improve themselves and future generations. More and more the western society depended on these single and often very young women to overcome all her difficulties and teach the youth how to overcome theirs. The contribution that they made continues to be readily evident in the advances that this education has provided our western society.

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