Fused By Numbers

1. Ho-Poe-Kaw (1700’s)
• Ho-poe-kaw, or Glory of the Morning, was the first woman described in the textual record of Wisconsin.
• Was chosen to lead her people around 1727, when she was 18.
• Under Ho-poe-kaw’s leadership, the Ho-Chunk sided with the French against the Meskwaki in several battles during the 1730s and 1740s.
Sources:
https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS517
https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/ho-poe-kaw-glory-of-the-morning/

2. Lorena “Hick” Hickok (1893-1968)
• Born in Wisconsin, attended Lawrence University briefly and wrote for the Milwaukee journal.
• The only female reporter assigned to the “Roosevelt Special,” Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (FDR’s) campaign train, in 1932. This led to a very special relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt
• Her final job, was the executive secretary of the women’s division of the Democratic Party. Her position allowed her to advocate for progressive politics and candidates.
Source: https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/lorena-hickok/

3. Evangeline Bergstrom (1872-1958)
• She became captivated by a paperweight kept on a table in the parlor of her grandmother’s home. At 63 years old she re-developed this captivation and became an avid collector and expert of antique paperweights
• Self-published books on the history and collection of antique paperweights
• Evangeline and her husband, John Nelson Bergstrom donated a substantial amount of money and their home upon her husband’s death to create a museum for the city of Neenah
Source: https://bmmglass.com/history/

4. Edna Ferber (1885-1968)
• Novelist and short-story writer who wrote with compassion and curiosity about Midwestern American life.
• Ferber moved to Appleton at age 12 and worked as a reporter for the Appleton Daily Crescent as a teenager.
• In 1924 she won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel “So Big.”
Sources: https://www.britannica.com/search?query=edna+ferber
https://www.postcrescent.com/story/news/2019/10/25/appletons-notable-women-exhibit-highlights-20-impactful-women-citys-history/2449402001/

5. Electa Quinney (1798-1885)
• Wisconsin’s first public school teacher and a member of Wisconsin’s Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans.
• Came to Wisconsin 1827 following New York’s widespread removal of indigenous. The year after her arrival, Quinney founded the state’s first school without an enrollment fee in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.
• Taught both Native and white children, many who could not have attended school if there had been a fee, and had forty to fifty children in her class at a time
Sources: https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/electa-quinney/
https://uwm.edu/eqi/about/electaquinney/

6. Jessie Annette Jack Hooper (1865-1935)
• A suffragist who became prominent in Wisconsin civic reform groups and women’s organizations.
• In 1922 she was Wisconsin’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate.
• During World War I, she was active in Red Cross work, Liberty Loan drives and food conservation.
Source: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS1640

7. Helen Farnsworth Mears (1878-1916)
• A renowned sculptor who launched her career with the sculpture “Genius of Wisconsin,” commissioned for the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.
• Born in Oshkosh on December 21, 1872, Farnsworth Mears showed artistic ability at an early age, and she was encouraged by her parents to pursue sculpting.
• A recreation of “ Genius of Wisconsin currently stands in the Wisconsin Capitol Building.
Source: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/

8. Ellen Kort (1936-2015)
• Born in Glenwood City and grew up in Menomonie, WI
• Began writing poetry in elementary, became Wisconsin’s first poet laureate in 2000, and is also known as the “godmother of Wisconsin poetry”
• Contributed to the growth of poetry across the state by sharing the art everywhere and seeking to make it accessible to all. Quotations from her poems are inscribed in such places as the Green Bay Botanical Garden, the Milwaukee Midwest Express Center, and the Fox River Mall, and stamped into the cement of Appleton sidewalks.
Source: https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/ellen-kort/

9. Ingrid Washinawatok (O’Peqtaw-Metamoh, 1957-1999)
• A member of the Menominee Nation, and at age 14 she helped push for her tribe’s federal status to be reinstated.
• Co-founded the Indigenous Women’s Network, was the executive director for the Fund of the Four Directions, an active member of the Indigenous Initiative for Peace, and served on many other chairs and boards.
• Served on the UN in various capacities, representing Indigenous people’s rights internationally.
Sources: https://flyingeaglewomanfund.org/about-ingrid/
https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/ingrid-washinawatok/

10. Mee Moua (b. 1969)
• Came to the United States in 1978 from Laos following the Vietnam War and went to high school in Appleton, Wisconsin.
• The first Hmong American to be elected to a state legislature in the US when she was elected to Minnesota State Senate in 2002.
• After retiring, Moua served as president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, an organization promoting civil rights and social equity for Asian Americans.
Sources: https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/mee-moua/
https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=10744

11. Peg Lautenschlager (1955-2018)
• Practiced law in Oshkosh, specializing in family and domestic abuse law. She was also an adjunct faculty member at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, Ripon College, and the University of Wisconsin Law School.
• The first female district attorney for Winnebago County (1985-1988), U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin (1993-2001), and the first female Attorney General of Wisconsin (2003-2007).
• As Attorney General, Lautenschlager created a Public Integrity Unit, was a leader on environmental issues, and sued 36 pharmaceutical companies for reporting inflated drug prices.
Source: https://womeninwisconsin.org/profile/peg-lautenschlager/

12. Theda Clark Peters (1871-1903)
• Daughter of C.B.Clark, one of the founders of Kimberly Clark. She graduated from Wells College in New York in 1892, one of only seven women in her class
• When she became pregnant in 1903, Theda Clark Peters left private instructions to her brother that stated that if she were to die in childbirth, a portion of her estate should be used to build a hospital and school of nursing to ensure others could receive the health care they needed.
• Honoring his sister’s wishes, C.B. Clark Jr. donated $96,000 to build a hospital in Theda Clark Peters’ memory. He donated an additional $50,000 to help fund care for those who couldn’t afford it.
Source: https://thedacare.org/a-continuing-legacy-of-care/

13. Helen Kimberly Stuart (1869-1956)
• In 1929, Mrs. Helen Kimberly Stuart (of Kimberly-Clark fame) donated land to the city of Neenah which was named Kimberly Point Park
• Donated the land, now known as “Kimberly Point”. The deed, submitted in Oshkosh, WI deemed the land “to be used permanently, continuously, and forever for public park purposes”.
• First female Alderperson in Neenah, WI
Sources: https://www.hmdb.org/PhotoFullSize.asp?PhotoID=306260 – plaque on Kimberly Point
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=82675
https://www.neenahhistoricalsociety.com/history-and-mission