History Ruins A Noble Story

Ann Hunter thought Idaho would be proud that it gave women the vote two dozen years before the nation did.

Ann voted with passion as soon as she was old enough. Dwight Eisenhower won the presidency.

“I’ve never missed an election, not presidential or local,” she says, almost mystified by her lifelong dedication to democracy. “To me, voting is a celebration.”

So Ann, who lives near Worley, was dismayed when she couldn’t find photos of North Idaho’s first female voters. She wanted the photos to exhibit in the Museum of North Idaho to mark the anniversary of the nation’s 75 years of women’s suffrage.

“That’s all I could find,” she says, with a backhanded wave at an enlarged 1920 photo. The photo shows a woman in a straw hat holding a ballot in Sandpoint. “I thought families would’ve taken pictures of Mother voting for the first time.”

Ann would have. Her parents taught their four children to express their opinions. Ann was so enamored with democracy that she joined the League of Women Voters in 1951.

She expected Idaho to gloat about its early advances in women’s rights. But so little was chronicled about women’s suffrage locally that one historian wrote, “One might conclude from this lack of fuss that voting was seen as just one more task for Idaho’s women…”

As Ann researched, the picture grew clear and her pride in Idaho plummeted.

She found evidence to support a couple of theories to explain Idaho’s silence on suffrage - that legislators gave women the vote to distract them from the temperance issue; that men wanted a stronger voice in state affairs and got it through their wives’ votes.

Now Ann understands. She’s still wants photos to tell the story of women’s suffrage in Idaho, although it’s not exactly the noble story she had planned to tell.

Think AH

Think back to October when dozens of people gathered on the red bridge between Idaho and Washington on the Centennial Trail. The goal was to build a cultural corridor and erase any imaginary borders during National Arts and Humanities Month.

Arts councils in Kootenai and Spokane counties want help planning this year’s Arts and Humanities Month celebration. They want organizations as well as schools to come up with activities that spotlight arts and humanities. Start thinking now for a good event this fall. Call 667-0625 or 777-9ART (278) for details.

Eat, drink and be merry

Fast food does have its benefits - or rather, beneficiaries. The Silver Lake Mall’s food court merchants donate 15 percent of their sales from two Tuesday evenings each month to local schools.

Already, Hayden Meadows, Borah and Seltice elementaries and Falls Christian have split $600 from the merchants. Eat at the mall next Tuesday and Hayden Lake Elementary benefits. Ramsey Elementary will reap the profits on May 9.

Library loyalty

When my daughters were toddlers, Rathdrum’s public library kept me sane. The library was tiny then, but somehow we always found 10 books each visit to tote home. I’m sure I can still recite “The Runaway Bunny,” although no one wants to hear it anymore.

It’s National Library Week and time to think about what libraries have done for you. Did you meet your spouse in the library? Did you read a life-changing book? Share your stories with Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, 83814; FAX them to 765-7149; or call 765-7128 and I’ll write them.