Honoring Wichita's Women - Past & Present - For Women's History Month

From Visit Wichita:

March 8, 2021

Throughout Wichita’s history, women have played an important role. They have shaped the city in many ways and continue to be an invaluable part of why Wichita is the Heart of the Country.

The national Women’s History Month, celebrated in March, got its start in 1980 when President Jimmy Carter designated a Women’s History Week in early March. By 1987, Congress passed a resolution to turn that celebration into a month. More than a dozen states by that time had already turned Women’s History Week into Women’s History Month to commemorate the achievements and experiences of women.

Because there are so many, it's difficult to list all the female changemakers and ceiling breakers in Wichita – past and present – so we’ve compiled a sampling of women who’ve made their mark on the city.

Women in Wichita’s History

Catherine Greiffenstein, who was a landowner, helped run the frontier trading post she and her husband, William, started in Wichita’s early days.

Catherine McCarty
Credit: Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum

One of the city’s first women entrepreneurs was Catherine McCarty, who bought some land and started a laundry service. Additionally, McCarty was the only woman to sign Wichita’s founding charter in 1870. Also noteworthy, she is the mother of outlaw Billy the Kid.

Although she was not born in Kansas, this list wouldn’t be complete without prohibitionist Carry Nation, who brought Wichita national attention when she destroyed the Eaton hotel bar with a hatchet in 1900. After seeing her first husband suffer from an alcohol addiction that eventually killed him, she took it upon herself to crusade against it. The Eaton bar was Wichita’s fanciest and most prominent at the time, making it a perfect target for Nation and her trusty hatchet.

Olive Ann Beech
Credit: Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum

Olive Ann Beech was the co-founder, president, and chairwoman of the Beech Aircraft Corporation. She founded the company in 1932 with her husband, Walter Beech, and three others. She earned more awards than any other woman in aviation history and was often referred to as the “First Lady of Aviation.”

Born in Wichita in 1919, Mary Chance VanScyoc was one of the country’s first recognized female civilian air traffic Controller’s in the United States.

Mark Arts, the regional arts hub that started in November 1920 as the Wichita Art Association, was influenced heavily by many women: Maude Gowen Schollenberger, an arts supporter and long-time president of the Wichita Art Association from the 1930s into the 1960s; Olive Ann Beech, Gladys Wiedemann and Mary Robinson Koch, three philanthropists who were influential to the organization beginning in the 1960s.

The Wichita Art Museum, which celebrated its 85th anniversary in 2020, was started by two women. Louise Caldwell Murdock, owner of an interior design company and widow of Wichita Eagle business manager and part-owner Roland P. Murdock, provided the seed money to start WAM’s collection when she died in 1915.

Hattie McDaniel
Credit: The Kansas African American Museum

Hattie McDaniel, a Wichita-born film actress, became the first African-American to be nominated for, as well as the first African-American to win an Oscar. In 1940, McDaniel received the award of Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her portrayal of Mammy in Gone With the Wind, 1939. She was honored with a star on the Walk of Fame in 1960.

Former President Barack Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, was born in Wichita in 1942.

Actress Kirstie Alley, best known for her role as Rebecca Howe in "Cheers," was born in Wichita on Jan. 12, 1951.

Doris Kerr Larkins
Credit: The Kansas African American Museum

Parishioner Doris Kerr Larkins led the effort to protect the Calvary Baptist Church, now The Kansas African American Museum, from urban renewal’s wrecking ball. Larkins and many others went on to launch the First National Black Historical Society in 1973.

Professional basketball player Lynette Woodard was the first woman in history to play for the Harlem Globetrotters. She was added to the team’s roster in 1985 and played on the team for two seasons. Woodard went on to play overseas and in the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association).

Joanna Gaines of HGTV’s “Fixer Upper” was born in Wichita in 1978.

Janelle King | The Workroom

Influential Women in Wichita Today

Today, Wichita has many women-owned businesses, including some of its most beloved eateries. If you are visiting Wichita and are looking to support restaurants and specialty food and beverage shops in Wichita owned by women, here are several to choose from:

Sarah Leslie | Leslie Coffee Co.

The Anchor, The Artichoke Sandwichbar, Bagatelle Bakery, Beautiful Day Café, The Brown Box Bakery, The Donut Whole, Jenny Dawn Cellars, Jimmie’s Diner (North Rock and South locations), The Kitchen, Leslie Coffee Co., Monarch, Mort’s Martini & Cigar Bar, Sweet Allie B’s, Tanya’s Soup Kitchen and Two Olives.

Other tasty Wichita establishments with women co-owners are Five Star Catering at Sugar Shane’s Café, Hopping Gnome Brewing Company, Kookaburra Coffee, Monica’s Bundt Cake, Nortons Brewing Co., Old Mill Tasty Shop, The Popcorner (East & West locations), Prost and Ziggy’s Pizza (Clifton Square, East & West).

Kelsey Metzinger | Bungalow 26

It’s not just the dining scene that is bursting with talented women, local shops and unique businesses across the city are owned and co-owned by women: American Fun Foods, Artistic Limousine, A. Jay Health and Wellness, Bash Booking Agency, Bungalow 26, Bohemia Healing Spa, Cocoa Dolce (Bradley Fair, New Market Square and Old Town), Colour T-Hair-apy Salon & Oxygen Bar, Country Boys Carriage, Delivery.com Wichita, Drone-tography, LLC, The Farris Wheel, Generations Antiques and Artisans, The Hive, Hundred Acre Floral, Lucinda’s, Paramount Antique Mall, Sunflower Travel Corp., Uniquities Home, Urban Interiors, The Health Connection, Wichita Union Stockyards and The Workroom.

Museums and Attractions With Women at the Helm:

• Board & Brush: Wichita’s go-to for wood sign-making experiences
• CityArts: Offers year-round art classes in digital arts, photography, fiber, silversmithing, glass fusing, glass blowing, painting, pottery and drawing
• Mid-America All-Indian Museum: Just steps from the Keeper of the Plains, the museum preserves the heritage of the American Indian and houses an impressive collection of art from the Keeper’s designer, Blackbear Bosin
• mama.film: Showcases films to unite nurturers of all kinds, to reflect and ignite conversation
• Old Cowtown Museum: A living history museum that immerses you in the sights, sounds and activities common to a Midwestern cattle town like Wichita
• Orpheum Theatre: Opened in 1922 and hosts world-class entertainment from its historic stage
• Paint the Towne: Offers guided painting experiences
• The Kansas African American Museum: Celebrates the richness of the African American experience and its indelible influence on American culture, tradition, language, music and art
• Wichita Art Museum: Home to an outstanding collection of American art from artist like Edward Hopper, Mary Cassatt, John Steuart Curry and Dale Chihuly.

Hotels Either Owned, Co-owned or Managed by Women:

If you are visiting Wichita and are looking to support lodging owned and/or managed by women, this map can help in your search.

This press release was produced by Visit Wichita. The views expressed here are the author’s own.