Nellie tayloe ross biography

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Nellie Tayloe Ross was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, on November 29th, 1876. She was one of six children. Her father was related to the builder of the Octagon House in Washington, D.C., the home of President James Madison and his wife after the White House was burned in the War of 1812. Her mother’s family owned a big plantation before the Civil War.

Early Life and Education

Nellie Gets Married

In 1900, Nellie met a lawyer named William Bradford Ross while visiting relatives and they became good friends. In 1902, the couple moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming and got married. They had four sons, but one died as an infant.

Her Husband Becomes Governor of Wyoming

William decided to pursue a political career. He considered himself a Progressive Democrat. The Progressives wanted to break up monopolies, protect the poor, improve government and provide good drinking water, food and drugs for everyone. In 1904, William ran for local prosecutor and won. He had difficulty winning other political races, because Wyoming was a Republican state and most people did not share his Progressive views. In 1922, William finally won the race for governor.

Nellie Becomes America's First Female Governor

In 1924, William died of appendicitis and Nellie was nominated by the Democrats to run for governor. She ran against a Republican lawyer named Eugene J. Sullivan. She did not spend a lot of time campaigning, but she won on November 4, 1924. On January 5, 1925 Nellie was sworn in and became the

About

NELLIE TAYLOE ROSS, the first woman to take the oath of office and serve as governor of a state, was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. Educated in both public and private schools, she settled in Cheyenne after her marriage to William B. Ross. Upon the death of her husband, who had been elected Governor in 1922, Nellie Ross was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the unexpired term of the governorship pursuant to the convening of an emergency Democratic State Convention, and defeated her Republican opponent to take her husband’s place. As governor, she stressed the need for tax relief for farmers, and proposed legislation to require counties, school boards, and the state council to prepare budgets and publish them before levying any taxes. She opposed legislation to empower the state bankers’ association to appoint state bank examiners, instead backing a measure designed to prevent bank failures while making examining officials responsible to the governor. After being defeated for reelection in 1926, Ross went on to become vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, and was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to two five-year terms as Director of the U.S. Mint. She died in Washington, D.C.

Source

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. E. New York: James T. White & Company.

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 4. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.

Wyoming State Archives

Audio Cassette, Bradford Ross discussing Nellie Tayloe Ross's correspondence with Joseph C. O’Mahoney from 1924 to 1933; original recording is very poor (42 minutes, 42 seconds)

Articles written by Nellie Tayloe Ross, 1926-1956

Articles on U.S. Mint, 1952, 1959, 1984

Artwork: Political cartoon by W.A. Rogers, "All Ready for the Coolidge Rodeo", March 4, 1925

Bound Volumes

Campaign Materials

Campaign Signs

Certificates- Director of U.S. Mint

Certificates- Gimbel Brothers Building Dedication

Degrees

Fortune Magazine, article titled, “The Wonder Boys in Washington” which includes a segment on Nellie Tayloe Ross as U.S. Mint Director, p. 19-23 1933

Governors' Conference

Governors' Conference in Maine

Governors' Trip to Spain

Hatch Act

Interviews with Nellie Tayloe Ross, 1930-1950

Manuscripts, 1920-1948

Manuscripts by Nellie Tayloe Ross

Manuscripts: "Has Woman a Right to Vote!"

Manuscripts: "Progress and the Eternal Feminine"

Miscellaneous, 1938-1941

Motion Picture Film, President Roosevelt Appoints Nellie Tayloe Ross as Director of the Mint, (1 VHS and 1 Betamax tape - copies; 43 seconds)

National Recovery Administration, ca. 1930

News Releases

Notes

Pamphlets and Other Printed Material

Phonograph Recordings:

CBS Radio broadcast: International Federation of Business and Professional Women's Club, 3rd Annual Int

American politician (1876–1977)

Nellie Davis Ross (née Tayloe; November 29, 1876 – December 19, 1977) was an American educator and politician who served as the 14th governor of Wyoming from 1925 to 1927, and as the 28th and first female director of the United States Mint from 1933 to 1953. She was the first woman to serve as governor of a U.S. state, and remains the only woman to have served as governor of Wyoming. She was a Democrat and supported Prohibition. She ran for re-election but refused to campaign herself.

Ross was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, to James Wynns Tayloe, a native of Tennessee, and Elizabeth Blair Green, who owned a plantation on the Missouri River. Her family moved to Miltonvale, Kansas in 1884, and she graduated from Miltonvale High School in 1892. She attended a teacher-training college for two years and taught kindergarten for four years.

On September 11, 1902, Ross married William B. Ross, whom she had met when visiting relatives in Tennessee in 1900. William B. Ross was governor of Wyoming from 1923 to his death on October 2, 1924. Ross su