Author Kate Klise We discovered Kate Klise (from Norwood, Missouri) while researching Ella Ewing, Missouri's giantess. Kate and her sister wrote a children's book about Ella Ewing. Her book was so inspiring, we had to find out more about her. Read on! Tell me a little about your childhood, where you were born and where you grew up. I was born… Continue reading Kate Klise
Molly Brown
Molly Tobin wanted to marry money, but she married J.J. Brown instead. "Finally, I decided that I'd be better off with a poor man whom I loved than with a wealthy one whose money had attracted me," she said. And it worked out well for her, J.J. Brown invented a system of shoring up mine walls and made millions. But before all that, Molly… Continue reading Molly Brown
Ella Ewing
Up until age 7, Ella Ewing was a perfectly ordinary farm girl from around La Grange, Missouri. Then she started to grow. By the time she was 14 years old, she was over six feet tall. By 18, she was close to seven feet. Her ultimate height, which she reached at age 22, is believed… Continue reading Ella Ewing
Hall of Famous Missourians
There are seven women (out of 38 inductees) in the the Hall of Famous Missourians in our State Capitol, Jefferson City. What do you think of the women deemed "Famous" and who would you select to be included? Josephine Baker Susan Blow Rose Duchesne Betty Grable Ginger Rogers Sacajawea Laura Ingalls Wilder
Ginger Rogers
In the middle of the summer, 1911, Lela McMath gave birth to a little girl in the front room of a 2 bedroom house on Moore Street in Independence, Missouri. Shortly after, Lela divorced her husband, left her daughter with her parents and went to Hollywood to write movies. Lela's little girl, Virginia Katherine McMath, or "Ginja" would become a Hollywood legend… Continue reading Ginger Rogers
Teresa Willis & Missouri Women in Trades
Teresa Willis is making history. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Missouri Women in Trades, a group she founded in 2007 to support women working in the construction trades. Missouri Women in Trades is challenging women and girls to think outside traditional gender roles and empowering them to consider a career in a traditionally men's field: construction… Continue reading Teresa Willis & Missouri Women in Trades
Alma Nash & Her Band
The women's suffrage parade of 1913 was a big deal. Women from all over the country descended on Pennsylvania Avenue and threw their cause in the face of all the men attending Wilson's inauguration the next day. As the women began to march, men started to harass. They marched amid jeers, taunts, grabs and shoves from men. Even the police didn't protect them,… Continue reading Alma Nash & Her Band
Adeline Couzins
Adeline Couzins was wounded at Vicksburg. How is that possible you ask, her being a woman? Because during the Civil War, she followed the action to help where help was needed. She was one of the founders of the St. Louis Ladies Union Aid Society, a group of women who came together to help soldiers. What that meant for Adeline was greeting… Continue reading Adeline Couzins
Arizona “Ma” Barker
Stop for a moment, and imagine Ma Barker. Is she waving a Tommy gun, chawing a cigar, and plotting a bank robbery? Is she brow-beating her weak-willed criminal sons, and generally being a role model for overbearing mothers everywhere? We thought so. Well, you have two people to thank for that wildly inaccurate image: FBI founder… Continue reading Arizona “Ma” Barker
Confederate Girlhoods
Students, History Museum publish women’s history of early Springfield Book features women’s perspectives on slavery, the Civil War, pioneering Friday, October 29, 2010 Students in the department of English at Missouri State University have partnered with The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County to publish “Confederate Girlhoods: A Women’s History of Early Springfield, Missouri.” With the… Continue reading Confederate Girlhoods
Missouri Women 