The story of Morris

The Mother of women's suffrage, Justice, and “shrew” (Morris 53) are a few titles that have become associated with historical icon, Esther Hobart Morris. Author Katy Morris examines the life of the suffragette and the historical commentary that would follow her name for decades to come in the online journal entry, “More reputation than she deserves’: Remembering Suffrage in Wyoming” (2017). K. Morris takes historical accounts from Justice Morris herself, politicians at the time, and historical critics to build a comprehensive history of women’s suffrage in Wyoming. The story of Morris’ involvement starts small, “It was the fall of 1869 in the gold mining outpost of South Pass City … While women back East had been campaigning tirelessly for the vote, she would be the one to succeed in the enfranchisement of women. Towering at six feet tall and with the weathered face of a pioneer, Esther Hobart Morris set in motion a plan to bring suffrage to Wyoming” (Morris 48). In South Pass City nearly 150 years ago, Justice Morris would lead Wyoming to become not only the first state, but the first place in the world to grant women full enfranchisement. She struggled against the status quo and those who only wanted suffrage for statehood, “No one wanted to give women power - they were simply more warm bodies” (Morris 49) to grant women the right. In the author’s entry, Justice Morris’s role in women’s history are put into question, examined and torn apart by historians years in the future, but her contributions and Tea Party are well known. The Tea Party refers to meetings that Morris hosted in her home in which she met with politicians to discuss the women’s vote: “ … Morris and Bright [a prominent leader in the Wyoming territorial Legislature] discoursed and discussed the limited rights of women in civil affairs, Mrs. Morris usually being the brilliant leader of the conversation … Morris gave Bright the final courage to carry into action his convictions” (Morris 55). This information included in the How Woman Suffrage Came to Wyomingpamphlet published in 1882 confirms the notion that Esther Morris was a main perpetrator in gaining a woman’s right to vote. In 1891 theWyoming Commonwealthmade an observation about Justice Morris’ office: “ … since’ Esther Morris administered successfully the office of Justice of the Peace, among the mountains of South Pass, the minds of the people have dealt with the idea of women's mental and political equality” (Morris 59). In South Pass City, Justice Morris was known as a strong character and an individualwho was an inspiration for change (Morris 59). Historical commentaries that are created about Esther Morris are often polar opposites, one group praising her and the other claiming that she has received more credit than she deserves and often aim to take a piece of her legacy with hits at her appearance and personality. Scholars and Wyomingites alike understood Morris’ role in the West, “. . . the real significance of Morris to her peers, as an intelligent, capable woman who made history, who brought order to the West . . .” (Morris 57). Justice Morris has often been upheld as a contemporary figure in the eye of the public, a figure who seeks to bring order to the wild west, and the men that occupy South Pass City. In 1890 the Cheyenne Sun published an article that implied Justice Morris used her seat of power to combat the status-quo; “She was a particular ‘terror’ to a certain class of evil-doers . . . arrested for beating their wives or for general drunken disturbances of the peace invariably pleaded not to be brought up before [her] . . . They wanted to be tried by men” (Morris 60). The citizens of South Pass City knew that when Justice Morris was involved, the status-quo would be an-adequate excuse. A highly educated and experienced woman, Grace Raymond Herbard had a pastime of reworking Wyoming’s history into a story of women in the 1880s (Morris 55). Herbard’s writing allowed her to “. . . hone local histories and garner public investment in the past . . . to render Morris truly integral to the history of Wyoming . . . [and publish] a twenty-page pamphlet . . . maintained the idea that Morris influenced Bright, including Nickerson’s tea party story . . . Herbard’s descriptions of Morris as masculine, courageous, intelligent, and influential highlighted the ways Morris represented an inspiring vision of womanhood” (Morris 55-56). Herbard wrote of Justice Morris in a way that allowed her readers to view the suffragist as an icon, an individual of inspiration, a stark contrast to the portrayals that were to come in the future. In 1919, Captain Nickerson published a letter toKemmerer the Republican, “. . . To Mrs. Esther Morris is due the credit and honor of advocating and originating woman’s suffrage in the United States . . . the foregoing is not written for political purposes . . . But to correct historical misstatements (Morris 55). In this historical scathing letter, Nickerson confirmed the tea party that took place in Morris’ home and acknowledged that she proposed suffrage as a campaign point for Bright and himself alike. This primary evidence confirmed what others had only assumed, but neither Herbard or Captain H.G. Nickerson could guess what would be written about Justice Morris decades later. Standing juxtaposed to Herbard’s narrative-like historical stood T.A. Larson’s opinion published nearly one hundred years later: “Over and over again Larson concluded that Morris simply could not have influenced a man because of her appearance. He consistently included Morris’s age, weight, and ‘mannish’ appearance to bolster his argument and diminish her legacy” (Morris 52). Larson denied the tea party narrative, attempted to discredit Justice Morris, and promoted himself as an individual who was telling the truth, compared to Herbard before him who supposedly constructed Morris into a female icon. Larson’s main piece of evidence for his research was a letter from Captain H.G. Nickerson, Bright’s opponent who supposedly promised Morris a female cote if he was elected. Previous researchers found the letter to be strong evidence, but Larson argued that it was inaccurate and could not be proved legit by other historical documents (Morris 52). Larson’s opinions on Morris continued when he published his monograph, History of Wyoming: “ Another person who might have been influential [in passing women’s suffrage] was Bright’s young wife . . . a young bachelor [Bright] who’s fiancée wanted the ballot would champion suffrage more 52). readily than the husband Repeatedly, T.A. Larson role in influencing bright put into question Justice of a shrew” (Morris Morris’ reputation and to promote suffrage. Morris writes “ . . . what ‘happened’ is not really what matters. Maybe Morris did collaborate with Bright to pass suffrage - I certainly believe that she did - but maybe not. Regardless, Wyomingites celebrated her as an independent frontier woman … the significance of this story lies in the collective memory that reverberated over the following century …” (63). Historians and researchers have engaged in scholarly debate about Justice Morris for over a century and will continue to well into the future. The author of “More reputation than she deserves’: Remembering Suffrage in Wyoming” makes this argument with her journal entry that documents Morris’ path towards being a female icon. When all scholarly disagreements are set aside, the exact details of the tea party and passing of the legislation becomes irrelevant, Esther Hobart Morris played an integral role in not only the history of Wyoming, or even the United States, but for women across the globe. In her journal, Katy Morris states that, “The significance of this story lies in the collective memory that reverberated over the following century, out in the expansive sweeping prairie where she gained ‘more reputation than she deserves,’ where Wyomingites took immeasurable pride in the unprecedented enfranchisement of women” (63). The author’s journal entry has taken back the years and layers that history has built around Morris and allowed us to view her more clearly. Author Katy Morris concludes, “She has no idea that she will serve as the first female justice of the peace in the new territory, that a century later statues of her will be erected around the state, that she will be hailed as the mother of women’s suffrage, and that historians will fight bitterly over her place in history … and [I] will struggle to explain why her story matters” (Morris 61). In the United States Capital, Justice Morris stands immortalized next to other suffragists for her devotion to women’s suffrage and equality, her legacy extending to United States leaders and millions of tourists annually, her legacy, cast in stone.