A newly unveiled mural in the Kansas Statehouse celebrates women’s enduring fight for voting rights leading up to the 19th Amendment’s ratification in 1920. On January 29, which marks Kansas’ anniversary as the 34th state in the Union, Governor Laura Kelly and state officials presented the “Rebel Women” mural, a large piece adorning a wall on the first floor.
The event featured a blend of traditional Kansas Day celebrations, which often showcase the state song “Home on the Range,” and a performance of the “Suffrage Song,” reflecting the historical struggle for women’s suffrage. The mural, authorized by a state law in 2022, was created by artist Phyllis Garibay-Coon from Manhattan, Kansas, and portrays 13 significant suffragists from the state. The occasion drew a crowd of several hundred, with some attendees even dressing as 19th-century campaigners.
Kansas has a history of priding itself as a free state, staunchly anti-slavery, but also as a front-runner in women’s voting rights. Women in Kansas were allowed to vote in school board elections as early as 1861, followed by city elections in 1887. Notably, Kansas also made history by electing the nation’s first woman mayor, Susanna M. Salter, in Argonia that same year. In 1912, Kansas voters amended the state constitution to fully grant women voting rights, showcasing the state’s progressive stance.
