Interesting Women of the Capital City

While most of Jefferson City’s history has been told from the perspective of men author Michelle Brooks’ Interesting Women of the Capital City offers a different look instead focusing on the women who made their own way in the city’s first two centuries. The 10 featured individuals range from Lydia Montague who opened the community’s first school for African Americans before the end of the Civil War to the nation’s first female news bureau chief Jerena Giffen who covered the 1954 Missouri State Penitentiary riot in evening-wear. Also recalled is the early suffrage work of Dolly Sheldon the hotel operations of Emma Mathews the civil rights leadership of Estella Diggs and more. Join us as Brooks recounts the lives of these resilient women who made the best of their circumstances and the opportunities afforded them.

Host or Publisher Missouri State Archives