Tuesday marked the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women the right to vote.
The role of women in Rapid City government has evolved since South Dakotans approved the Citizenship Amendment in November 1918 and ratified the 19th amendment to the US Constitution in December 1919, just months before national ratification. The tireless work and efforts of suffragists like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, and South Dakotans like Mary Shields Pyle and Anna Rebecca Simmons paved the way for women not only to vote in elections, but to seek elected positions and to serve their communities, state and nation.
The 2020-21 current Rapid City Council is comprised of nine members which includes two women, Council President Laura Armstrong and Council member Darla Drew, who chairs the City's Legal and Finance Committee. Armstrong will be presenting a mayoral proclamation at 7 p.m. Tuesday for the Her Vote Her Voice Campaign Launch at Main Street Square. The mayor's proclamation reflects on the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the accomplishments of women to secure the right to vote and to abolish present day social inequalities.
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"It is very important to promote women of all ages, colors and backgrounds within our community, but it is equally important to encourage and support women to run for elected offices to make significant, impactful and long-lasting change for the better." Armstrong said.
"In 2017, I was honored to be elected to a historic 50/50 gender split City Council. Three years later, we only have two female members remaining on our current Common Council. We all know how the entire community benefits from gender equity in leadership roles; and while I want the open seat in Ward 1 to be filled with the most qualified candidate, a little part of me is hopeful it will be filled by a strong, competent woman."
Drew was first elected to the Rapid City Council in 2014.
"Women political leaders are still a rare commodity, even after 100 years after obtaining the right to vote," Drew said. "Our country and our community needs to develop women leaders and women who will run for office. This is an important effort because 50 percent of our population - women - should be represented in leadership positions.
"In my experience, women govern differently. We don't always agree because of our gender, but the ability to collaborate, communicate, and co-create gives women politicians a boost in getting civic work done, regardless of who gets the credit. This ability to work together is often contagious and results in a working Council which can get through hurdles quickly for the betterment of their community and constituents."
Recent city history
Women have achieved historic accomplishments on the Rapid City Council in recent years.
The June 2017 election of Laura Armstrong and Becky Drury was historic, producing the first-ever Rapid City Council comprised of an equal number of women and men. The five women members of the 2017-18 Council were Drury and Lisa Modrick in Ward One, Amanda Scott in Ward Four, and Armstrong and Drew in Ward Five. It also marked the first time in City history with more than one ward served by two women.
In July 2018, the Council elected Scott as Council president and Drury as Council vice president, marking the second time two women held the Council's leadership posts at the same time. During the 2012-13 term, Bonny Petersen served as president and Charity Doyle served as vice-president of the Council.
The 2018-19 Council continued the even-split of women and men on the local governing body and the Council's major committees were chaired by women, with Drew serving as chair of the Public Works Committee and Armstrong chairing the Legal and Finance Committee.
During the 2016-17 term, the Council was comprised of four members with Doyle, Drew, Modrick and Scott, who served as the Council's vice president. It was the third time four of the 10 Council members were women. The first was in 1990 with Delores Coffing, Vivian Pappel, Carole Hillard and Karen Bulman serving; and 1991 when the Council included Bulman, Coffing, Hillard and appointee Twyla Rabe. Bulman, Hillard and Coffing served multiple terms on the Council.
Bulman continues to serve on the City's Zoning Board of Adjustment/Planning Commission. Hillard, who died in 2007, served in the state legislature and is the only woman to have served as South Dakota's lieutenant governor (1995-2003). Coffing also served 12 years on the County Commission.
"The entire city needs to appreciate all the women over the years who have worked for the City, who have run for city council, who have volunteered on our city boards and committees," former Council member Amanda Scott said in a 2018 interview. "They have helped develop the path where people with diverse opinions and perspectives have the opportunity to serve their community, no matter their gender, age and so forth."
20th century city history
City archival records reflect a rich history of women stepping up to run for office, making their mark in city government and serving the citizens of Rapid City, especially in the last 50 years.
Paging through City Hall archives reveals the first woman to run for local office was Caroline E. Feigel, who came to Rapid City in 1886 as a member of pioneer Frederick Feigel's family. The Feigel house is one of Rapid City's oldest structures, located at 328 E. New York Street, and was built in the 1880s overlooking Rapid Creek and Roosevelt Park.
Caroline Feigel was among three members of the first graduating class at South Dakota School of Mines in 1890 and played an active role in the growth and development of Rapid City, including the donation of several acres of land for what is now Roosevelt Park. Feigel finished fourth among six candidates for city commissioner in April 1927, nine years after women obtained the right to vote.
Other women in the first half of the 20th century who ran for local office included Frieda Radusch in 1947, Marcia Scanlon in 1948 and Viola Dusek in 1951.
The first woman to be elected to the City Commission was Florence Krieger in 1955. Krieger was a teacher in the Rapid City school system and served as president of the Retired Teacher Association from 1966-70. She passed away in 1990.
Opal M. Burton was the second to serve on the local Council, elected in 1961 and re-elected in 1963. Burton grew up near Faith and worked with the Army Corps of Engineers when Ellsworth Air Force Base was being built. She was a member of several local civic organizations and died in 2014 at age 94 in Story, Wyoming.
The third woman elected to Rapid City local government office was Delores 'De De' Ghere. She was elected in 1969, lost in 1971 and was elected again in April 1972, just weeks before the June 9, 1972 flood. Ghere, who passed away in 2017, was also the first woman to serve on the County Commission. She and her husband Warner operated Ghere Construction and she holds the unique distinction of serving on the Council, Commission and the Pennington County School board.
The year 1972 marked the first time two women served on the local Council at the same time as Ghere and Bernita Loucks were elected. Loucks would be re-elected in 1974 and 1976 and she ran for mayor in 1979, finishing second in a three-way race won by Art LaCroix. Loucks served 26 years on the South Dakota Water Management Board (1986-2012) and currently lives in Rapid City.
Darline Gerlach won a term on the Council in 1975 and Norma Thomsen was elected in 1976 and re-elected four times, serving until 1986.
Numerous women would run and be elected to local government offices from the 1980's to the present time.
Scott also pointed to the contributions of women who served as effective '11th members' of the Council. These women included Grace Mickelson and Mildred 'Ma' Brown, who consistently attended Council and Committee meetings and were outspoken with their opinions, perspectives and insights on community issues with mayors and council members.
Who was the first woman to run for mayor of Rapid City? According to records, Loucks was the second woman to run for mayor. In 1965, Yvonne Nelle Snyder received 65 votes in a four-way race won by Fred Dusek. Snyder died in 1994 and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery.
Moving forward
The work of women in city government isn't limited to holding elected office and overall City employee numbers show there remains room for improvement with many opportunities for women to work in city government. Of the City's 811 benefitted employees, there is a wide disparity with 183 women (22.56%). Women currently serve as City department directors, division supervisors, engineers, planners, attorneys, human resources specialists, analysts, accountants, mapping specialists, firefighters and police officers. The City also has nearly 30 citizen boards, committees and commissions that provide important input on policies that shape City government and the community. These boards provide insights and input in areas that include the airport, library, Civic Center, Journey Museum, historic preservation, air quality, parking, disability issues, zoning and planning, sustainability, parks and recreation and several others.
The decades of work by suffragists to secure passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution has yielded legions of women who have and continue to serve their communities, including Rapid City.