The Missouri Life Magazine February 2012 issue lead article is titled: "Top 10 Women who changed Missouri." Two of ten women chosen for this honor were based in the Ozarks are are a part of our Ozarks cultural heritage. The magazine editors assembled a panel of women who 'today lead the way in their own respective fields: artists, business owners, educators, a lawyer, a senator, and even a state forester" to make the final selection of the Top Ten from the pool of 95 nominations. None of the nominated women are still living; they needed to already have stood the test of time.
From the magazine article, on Annie White Baxter (1864-1944): "Almost 30 years before women received the right to vote, Annie White Baxter shocked the community when she was nominated as Jasper County clerk. Even more shocking, Baxter was elected, making her the first woman in the United States to ever be elected to the office of county clerk." Baxter grew up in Carthage and Joplin graduating from Carthage High School.
The second Ozark based woman is more familiar to the general public, the beloved literary legend, Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957). The magazine article say: "Despite her enormous success, Laura Ingalls Wilder kept her life simple, as it had been throughout her childhood in the Missouri Ozarks - the inspiration for her famous series." The Wilder family arrived in the Missouri Ozarks in 1894. After some rough times, and with the farmhouse on the farm east of Mansfield completed, Laura turned to her other interests, such as writing. After having submitted her first manuscript to the Missouri Ruralist in 1911, she eventually became a columnist and editor, with her column: "As a Farm Woman Thinks."
If you do not read Missouri Life, regularly, you are missing out on many fascinating stories and photos related to Ozarks cultural heritage among other interests. Please consider a subscription.
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