This Day in Minnesota History

February 8, 1823

Sarah Jane Steele is born in Pennsylvania. She married fur trader Henry Sibley in 1843; when he became the state of Minnesota's first governor in 1858, she became its first First Lady. Before her death in 1869, she advocated for historical preservation, making a particular effort to save and interpret Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. The Sibleys' own house in Mendota has been called "the Mount Vernon of Minnesota."

Winona LaDuke

Winona LaDuke

Winona LaDuke, founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project (WELRP) and a co-founder of Honor the Earth, speaks at the University of Washington’s Intellectual House in Seattle on March 10, 2018. CC BY 4.0

T. B. Walker and Harriet Granger Walker

T. B. Walker and Harriet Granger Walker

Thomas Barlow (T. B.) Walker and Harriet Granger Walker.

Casiville Bullard and family

Casiville Bullard and family

Casiville Bullard, Addison Bullard, and their children, ca. 1908. Pictured are (clockwise, left to right) Casiville, Lilly, Addison, Howard, Janet, and Casiville Jr. Public domain.

Minnesota Representative Karen Clark

Minnesota Representative Karen Clark

Minnesota Representative Karen Clark, ca. 1991.

Elaine Goodale Eastman

Elaine Goodale Eastman

Elaine Goodale, undated. Public domain. Goodale married Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) in 1891.

Esther J. Guyer

Esther J. Guyer

Esther J. Guyer, ca. 1936. Guyer was president of the Schubert Club in St. Paul from 1930 to 1933.

Willmar 8 strike headquarters

Willmar 8 strike headquarters

Willmar 8 strike headquarters, February 21, 1979. Photograph by the St. Paul Dispatch-Pioneer Press .

Gomez-Bethke, Irene (1935–2021)

“We are one race—the Human Race.” These are the words of Irene Gomez-Bethke, a daughter of Mexican parents who immigrated to Minnesota. Throughout her life, she played a leadership role in bending the arc of history toward social justice, serving as Minnesota Commissioner of Human Rights, guiding boards and commissions as a volunteer, and co-founding both Centro Cultural Chicano and Instituto de Arte y Cultura.

Irene Gomez-Bethke with her lifetime achievement award

Irene Gomez-Bethke with her lifetime achievement award

Irene Gomez-Bethke with a lifetime achievement award from Mitchell Hamline School of Law’s Latino Law Student Association, April 15, 2016. Used with the permission of Jesse Bethke Gomez.

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Women