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Born sometime in the 1700’s, Ho-poe-kaw, which translates to Glory of the Morning, was one of the first women named in written account by English traveler, Jonathan Carver, in 1766.
“Under Ho-poe-kaw’s leadership, the Ho-Chunk sided with the French against the Meskwaki in several battles during the Fox War.“
Women in Wisconsin
Around 1727, Ho-poe-kaw succeed her father as Chief of the largest Ho-Chunk tribe village at 18 years old. Her reign lasted 40 years.
Elizabeth Baird was born a native French speaker in Praire du chen, which was 40 years before Wisconsin became a state. After marrying her husband at the young age of 14, they relocated to a Wisconsin territory known as Green Bay.
Elizabeth taught herself English in order to communicate with her peers. She began writing journals about fur trading, the Peshtigo Fire, and the ways of life in 1800’s Green Bay. Her reporting revealed the stories of women and families – offering a fresh perspective in a male-dominated press at that time. They are now known as one of the earliest accounts of life in the area.
As the daughter of one of Neenah’s Mayors, Theda Clark had a lot to live up to following the good example her father, C.B. Clark. Theda had a strong love for writing and literature, leading her to be one of seven graduates from Wells College in New York in 1892. Soon after she began philanthropic efforts by establishing a library and opera house.
Theda married and became pregnant in 1903 which worried her. The lack of a local hospital in the area led her to see many in the community suffer or perish and she knew it could be her too. She wrote a letter to her brother, C.B. Clark Jr, instructing him that if she didn’t make it through childbirth to donate a portion of her estate toward nursing education and to build a hospital.
As a pregnant woman, I wanted to ensure that even if I left this earth, I would continue helping others in my community.
Theda Clark Peters in a letter to her brother C.B. Clark Jr
Theda sadly perished during the birth of her daughter, also named Theda Clark Peters. Honoring her wishes, C.B. donated $96,000 toward building Theda Clark Memorial Hospital and $50,000 of his own fortune to funding care for those who couldn’t afford it. The hospital opened on Theda’s daughter’s 6th birthday.
Carrie Morgan became a pivotal figure in education in the Appleton area during the late 1800s – and was elected superintendent of schools in 1894. Morgan believed in the importance of early childhood learning and took the bold step to establish a kindergarten program.
Her forward-thinking also laid the foundation for a school dedicated to deaf and handicapped students. She believed every child, regardless of abilities, should have access to education. These efforts set the stage for programs still in use today.
Her legacy reminds us all of the power to be inclusive and innovative.
Morgan Alley in Downtown, Appleton was named in her honor in 2019.
Born in Oshkosh, Helen Farnsworth Mears was a self-taught sculptor with ample talent surrounding the human form. Her accomplishments began at the young age of 9 where she won an award for her bust of Apollo at the Winnebago County Fair.
She traveled to Illinois to further her artistic education at the Art Institute of Chicago where she was commissioned by the State of Wisconsin to sculpt a piece to represent the state at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. The result was titled Genius of Wisconsin, a 9-ft statue of a woman and a winged eagle which is now proudly installed at Madison’s Capitol Building.
The success from this endeavor allowed her to travel to New York to work under the famous sculptor, August Saint-Gaudens, traveling all over the world with him. Her most famous commission and ground breaking achievement for women is her full-length statue of suffragist and temperance reformer, Frances E. Willard, for the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. This marked the first time a sculpture of a woman was installed and exhibited in the Capitol.
When the Suffragist Movement came to Oshkosh in the 1910’s, Jessie Jack Hooper joined the movement to not only advocate for peace and women’s rights in Wisconsin but nationally as well. She dedicated her life to the movement as a speaker and eventually became a Democratic Party leader.
When the 19th Amendment passed, which gave women the right to vote, Jessie didn’t stop there. She joined the Wisconsin League of Women Voters, became their first President, and led their lobbying efforts.
In 1922, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin selected Jessie as their candidate to run for the U.S. Senate. And while she may have lost, she still managed to get 16% of the popular votes. Jessie lived her life leading lobbying and peace efforts world wide before her death.
Emma Toft, known locally as “Miss Emma”, was born in Bailey’s Harbor where she grew up on 300 acres of ancient and unsullied forest that her father purchased before her birth. Learning from her father, Emma grew with a strong sense of the well-being of the earth and that nature should remain untouched. After her father’s passing in 1919, she spent the remainder of her life protecting this ancient land from developers. These efforts earned her the nickname “Wisconsin’s First Lady of Conservation”.
This land eventually became known as Toft Point State Natural Area, named after her father. Her family eventually opened a resort on the land to welcome guests who wished to stay without electricity, running water, and fed them with food from the land. This resort lasted 50 years.
In 1967, she sold the land to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, where the school and the Wisconsin Chapter of the Nature Conservancy continue to learn from and protect from development and degradation to this day.
Mayor Dorothy Johnson has been described as a trailblazer for women and politics in the Appleton area. Her community endeavors began in 1977 where she served on the Appleton Board of Education until 1980 when she was elected as the first female mayor for Outagamie County, an office she held for 12 years, credited with historical accomplishments such as signing a border agreement with Grand Chute, creating peace between the cities.
She was a visionary leader who guided the city through a period of incredible growth. Under her leadership, Appleton saw a surge in public projects and private development as well as modernization of much of the City’s Municipal Code.
City of Appleton Government
Mayor Johnson went on to serve on the Wisconsin State Ethics Board and became the board president for the St. Joseph Food Program based in Menasha.
In 2024, a market study was conducted by coworkingcafe.com which listed Green Bay as the #5 Small Metro in the Midwest for women in tech. Outside of Northeast Wisconsin, this year Madison is listed as #2 for Mid-sized metros.
Mai Zong Vue and her family relocated from Laos to Thailand to live in refugee camps that were often violent during the Vietnam war in 1975. In 1980, her family was able to immigrate to the United States and settled in Kimberly thanks to a church sponsorship program. She decided to pursue a college education and became known for Hmong poetry song and storytelling. In 1990 she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Lakeland College and received a master’s in social work from University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1997.
Over the course of 20 years, Mai worked for the Wisconsin State Refugee Office as a program specialist, helping create non-profit organizations for women. Her efforts supported refugees, focusing more on women, through national and international efforts which led to the co-founding of the Refugee Family Strengthening Program (a domestic abuse program). Mai currently serves as the COO for the Hmong Institute known for it’s dedication to educate and preserve the Hmong culture through empowering efforts.
All it takes is a single voice to mark the beginnings of a movement. These are just a small number of women who used their voice to change lives and the course of history. There are many more today who continue to do so.
You could be one of them.
Learn more about the women all over the state of Wisconsin who have or are making history on the Women in Wisconsin website.
