1914-15: ‘Sewing Circle earned funds to pay for Cody Presbyterian Church,
1914-1915’ [Sub Neg 13792 derivative, Cody, Wyoming State Archives]
T
he story of the First Presbyterian Church Cody is fascinating,
and driven by a familiar theme in Wyoming history – the hard
work of early Wyoming women. Julia Goodman gathered the
women of Cody in 1905 to create the Women’s Society as an arm of
the Presbyterian church, and these ladies were the engine behind the
church’s formation and its building. The ladies pictured here (many
obviously very young!), helped raise funds for the construction of
the church by sewing aprons. That’s the surface statement – but
think deeper into what that meant … It was shared with me that
these aprons were sold for five cents. Of course, this doesn’t take into
consideration the cost of the materials to make the aprons, the time
involved, and also that these women, young and old, were also taking
care of the needs of their homes and families (some of them many
miles from town). Yet these ladies gathered, sewed, sold five cent
aprons (as well as other events such as meals, etc.), and helped raised
funds for an entire building. As I am learning from many Wyoming
historical stories, the ladies were often the driving force behind the
scenes, noticing needs for churches, Sunday schools, education, etc.,
and set about using the
means provided to them at
that time to quietly make it
happen – often with the men
receiving those accolades the
ladies may have deserved.
I am so excited to see these
ladies represented in the
Wyoming State Archives
– their commitment to the
religious culture of Cody
1909: ‘Laying corner stone {sic}
will remain preserved
at Presbyterian Church, Cody’
for generations to come.
[Sub Neg 13788, P79-15_1,
Historical material found at
Cody,
Wyoming State Archives]
codyfirstpresbyterian.org.
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