An exhibit featuring women who have helped shape Nebraska's story was the focal point at a "HERstory Month" event Friday that culminated Women's History Month. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
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OMAHA — Lucille and Ethel and 100 Nebraska women trailblazers were on display Friday at an Omaha event celebrating “HERstory Month.”
In a touch of creativity, Lucille and Ethel are names that Catherine Baker and Angela Bosak gave to a pair of mannequins they used to bring to life a collection of women they said help tell the state’s story.
They dressed the mannequins in vintage attire purchased for a few dollars at a thrift store, and on the hoop skirts pinned a photo of each of the 100 women. An online book tells a bit about each.
“Nebraska is often overlooked, being in the middle of the country, and stories of its remarkable women have often been left untold,” said Baker, who works in the City of Omaha Human Rights and Relations Department, where Lucille and Ethel hang out when not on display. “But we have so many amazing women and people need to care, and know they exist.”
The “Historical Women of Nebraska” display coincided with national Women’s History Month, which was established in 1987. Baker said her team is seeking a place where the exhibit might become a more permanent fixture.
It is expected to grow. Those now featured span generations. Many have passed on. They represent diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, with a common denominator being that they were identified through research, community submissions and historical records, said Baker, whose team included Bosak, a teacher with expertise in history.
Among those featured are members of the same family: Mary Gale, Susan La Flesche Picotte, Susette “Bright Eyes” La Flesche and Rosalie La Flesche.
Represented also are authors, suffragists, educators, pioneering judges and aviators, a rancher, a jazz vocalist and a woman who became a professional bicycle racer in 1889. There are the first two Black women and first Latina elected to the Nebraska Legislature, the state’s first female governor, the first Black female police officer in Nebraska, a pacesetter in the U.S. military.
Judge Riko Bishop, the first Asian American female judge in Nebraska who since 2013 has sat on the Nebraska Court of Appeals, was among honorees who attended the Friday reception hosted by the Human Rights and Relations Department at the Omaha-Douglas Civic Center.
Bishop was an unconventional law student, enrolling at age 32 after serving as a teacher and working in private business.
“When problems would arise, I found myself wanting to help people get resolutions, and I didn’t know how,” she recalled. “That’s when I went to law school.”
Decades later, she still sets aside time to meet with youths and others to encourage and inspire them to pursue dreams they never thought were within reach. Having not grown up with financial means, living at one point in a trailer court, she recognizes the value of mentorship and responsibility of paying it forward.
She said she felt honored to be among the 100.
“Getting to meet some of these other women today was a treat,” said Bishop.
Accompanying the project is a statement that the display represents just a fraction of women who have “quietly shaped Nebraska’s story.”
“Countless others have worked tirelessly, often in silence, making their communities better, raising families and pushing the boundaries of possibility in ways that are often invisible to history.”
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
