Wyoming Women’s History House celebrates 25 years in Laramie

Twenty-five years ago, the Wyoming Women’s History House opened in downtown Laramie to celebrate how the state led the nation in women’s suffrage. 

This month, the Louisa Swain Foundation rededicated the house’s courtyard to U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis, Jon Johnson and Ray Hunkins — three of the house’s original supporters. The foundation also dedicated the courtyard’s two new gardens to Diana Enzi, wife of the late Sen. Mike Enzi, and in memory of Bobbi Barrasso, the wife of Sen. John Barrasso. 

Wyoming’s congressional delegation attended the ceremony alongside state and local officials, and the many volunteers, donors and community members who have made the house possible throughout the decades. 

“Together, this courtyard and these gardens reflect the women we celebrate: rooted in Wyoming, built to endure and open to all,” Jennifer Thomson, foundation chair, said in a press release. “We are grateful for our honorees, our donors and everyone who made today possible, and we look forward to the next 25 years.” 

With community support, the foundation hopes to bring Wyoming women’s history into classrooms across the state through virtual field trips to the house, and renovate the house’s interior for in-person visitors. It’s also aiming to add more drought-tolerant plants to the courtyard, update its irrigation system and create a “trailblazers timeline” along the central walkway that would feature more than 20 Wyoming women who have led the way since statehood.

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