Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman U.S. governor

On January 5, 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross was inaugurated as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first woman to serve as a state governor in U.S. history.

Her path to the office was unusual. Her husband, Governor William B. Ross, died in office in late 1924, and Wyoming’s Democrats nominated his widow in the special election that followed. She won comfortably and took the oath in January, narrowly beating Miriam “Ma” Ferguson of Texas, who was sworn in just over two weeks later.

Wyoming had a habit of leading on such firsts; it was already known as the Equality State for granting women the vote back in territorial days.

Ross served a single term and lost a close re-election bid, but her public career was far from over. In 1933 she became the first woman to head the United States Mint, a post she held for two decades. She remains the only woman ever to govern Wyoming.