Latest news with #PhyllisGaribay-Coon
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kansas Statehouse's newest art installation, first by woman artist, celebrates suffragists
The Kansas Statehouse's newest art installation, a painting of the state's suffragist icons, is unveiled on Jan. 26, 2025. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector) TOPEKA — A crowd clamored Wednesday at the Kansas Statehouse to see the state's suffragist icons and family members memorialized in paint. The mural-sized installation is the first by a woman artist in the Kansas Statehouse. The artist, Phyllis Garibay-Coon, painted the majority of the work in her dining room, she said ahead of the unveiling. Titled 'Rebel Women,' the work was the subject of speeches, a dedication and awe from those gathered Wednesday, which was also Kansas Day. Gov. Laura Kelly marked the day as an occasion to celebrate 'bold, visionary, badass' women. In a speech, she reiterated her commitment to public education and touted economic development wins such as the Panasonic battery plant in De Soto. The painting was the brainchild of the League of Women Voters, which pitched it to the Capitol Preservation Committee for approval. Legislators approved bills in 2022 authorizing the memorial. The bills forbade the use of public funds for the project. The painting depicts more than a dozen suffragist figures from Kansas' history. Among them: Anna O. Anthony of Leavenworth, sister-in-law to pivotal women's rights and suffragist figure Susan B. Anthony; Laura M. Johns of Salina, a journalist and organizer who was president of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association for nearly a decade; Annie L. Diggs a public speaker and journalist who was the first woman to register to vote in Lawrence despite opposition from local men; and Lutie Lytle, the first Black person to be admitted to the Kansas Bar Association and one of the first Black women to earn a law degree and work as a law professor. The painting also features the great-grandmother of an attendee at Wednesday's unveiling, as well as the painter's mother, Helen Garibay Coon. Helen Garibay Coon was an avid reader and encouraged the same in her children. A silver ring is visible on her hand. Nicki Harders, the artist's eldest sister, gifted Phyllis Garibay-Coon the ring after the painting's unveiling. The sisters' father died the day before the unveiling, making it a proud but sad moment, Harders said. Their father was blind and hard of hearing before he died, said Jennifer Vulgamore, another one of the artist's sisters. 'Now he can see it with clear eyes and with mom,' Vulgamore said.
The Independent
29-01-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Kansas unveils a mural honoring 'rebel women' who campaigned for voting rights
Kansas has a new mural in its Statehouse honoring women who campaigned for voting rights for decades before the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted those rights across the nation. Gov. Laura Kelly and other state officials unveiled the 'Rebel Women' painting that spans an entire wall on the first floor on Wednesday, the anniversary of Kansas' admission as the 34th U.S. state in 1861. While Kansas Day is traditionally marked with renditions of the official state song, 'Home on the Range,' Wednesday's event also featured the women's voting rights anthem, "Suffrage Song,' to the tune of 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic.' A 2022 law authorized the mural, and artist Phyllis Garibay-Coon, of Manhattan, in northeastern Kansas, won the contest with a depiction of 13 prominent Kansas suffragists. A few women in the crowd of several hundred people were dressed as 19th century campaigners who were active before statehood. Kansas prides itself as entering the union as an anti-slavery free state, but it also was more progressive than other states in gradually granting women full voting rights. Women could vote in school elections in 1861 and in city elections in 1887, and the nation's first woman mayor, Susanna M. Salter, was elected in Argonia, Kansas, that year. Voters amended the state constitution in 1912 to grant women full voting rights.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Kansas unveils a mural honoring 'rebel women' who campaigned for voting rights
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has a new mural in its Statehouse honoring women who campaigned for voting rights for decades before the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted those rights across the nation. Gov. Laura Kelly and other state officials unveiled the 'Rebel Women' painting that spans an entire wall on the first floor on Wednesday, the anniversary of Kansas' admission as the 34th U.S. state in 1861. While Kansas Day is traditionally marked with renditions of the official state song, 'Home on the Range,' Wednesday's event also featured the women's voting rights anthem, "Suffrage Song,' to the tune of 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic.' See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. A 2022 law authorized the mural, and artist Phyllis Garibay-Coon, of Manhattan, in northeastern Kansas, won the contest with a depiction of 13 prominent Kansas suffragists. A few women in the crowd of several hundred people were dressed as 19th century campaigners who were active before statehood. Kansas prides itself as entering the union as an anti-slavery free state, but it also was more progressive than other states in gradually granting women full voting rights. Women could vote in school elections in 1861 and in city elections in 1887, and the nation's first woman mayor, Susanna M. Salter, was elected in Argonia, Kansas, that year. Voters amended the state constitution in 1912 to grant women full voting rights.
Associated Press
29-01-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Kansas unveils a mural honoring ‘rebel women' who campaigned for voting rights
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has a new mural in its Statehouse honoring women who campaigned for voting rights for decades before the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted those rights across the nation. Gov. Laura Kelly and other state officials unveiled the 'Rebel Women' painting that spans an entire wall on the first floor on Wednesday, the anniversary of Kansas' admission as the 34th U.S. state in 1861. While Kansas Day is traditionally marked with renditions of the official state song, 'Home on the Range,' Wednesday's event also featured the women's voting rights anthem, 'Suffrage Song,' to the tune of 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic.' A 2022 law authorized the mural, and artist Phyllis Garibay-Coon, of Manhattan, in northeastern Kansas, won the contest with a depiction of 13 prominent Kansas suffragists. A few women in the crowd of several hundred people were dressed as 19th century campaigners who were active before statehood. Kansas prides itself as entering the union as an anti-slavery free state, but it also was more progressive than other states in gradually granting women full voting rights. Women could vote in school elections in 1861 and in city elections in 1887, and the nation's first woman mayor, Susanna M. Salter, was elected in Argonia, Kansas, that year. Voters amended the state constitution in 1912 to grant women full voting rights.
