Hebard, Grace Raymond (1861–1936)

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Hebard, Grace Raymond (1861–1936)

American educator, author, and suffragist. Born Grace Raymond Hebard on July 2, 1861, in Clinton, Iowa; died on October 11, 1936, in Laramie, Wyoming; daughter of Reverend George Diah Alonzo Hebard and Margaret E. Dominick (Marven) Hebard; State University of Iowa, B.S., 1882, M.A., 1885; earned a doctorate at Illinois Wesleyan University, 1893.

Born July 2, 1861, in Clinton, Iowa, Grace Raymond Hebard was the third of Reverend George Hebard and Margaret E. Dominick Hebard 's four children. Her father died when she was young, and Grace was educated at home by her mother.

Hebard formed her suffragist opinions during her early college years at the State University of Iowa when her enrollment in traditionally male courses met with prejudice. In 1882, she received a B.S. in civil engineering and after graduation worked as a draftswoman in the land office of the U.S. surveyor general at Cheyenne, Wyoming, the only woman on a staff of 40. Hebard remained there for nine years, while also furthering her studies. She received her master of arts degree from Iowa State (1885) and eight years later earned her doctorate from Illinois Wesleyan University through a correspondence course.

Appointed a trustee of the University of Wyoming at Laramie in 1891, Hebard also became secretary of the board of the four-year-old institution, but her first impressions of the school were bleak: "There were no trees, no fences, no grass, no bushes. North of the [only] building there was still a buffalo wallow, and to the east nothing but sagebrush." She soon became involved with administrative details, including directing policy, hiring and firing faculty, and supervising the physical plant. Her determination to see the university soundly established caused some to accuse her of usurping power from the president of the board. In 1903, she left the board of trustees but remained its secretary until 1908.

Hebard turned from administration to teaching when she became the associate professor of political economy at the University of Wyoming in 1906. By the end of her career, she was head of the department. For 25 years, from 1894 to 1919, she also served as university librarian.

Grace Hebard's achievements extended beyond her myriad roles at the university. In 1898, she became the first woman admitted to the Wyoming bar, although she never practiced law. In 1914, she was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Wyoming. For a time, she was the Wyoming state tennis champion, both singles and doubles; she was also the state golf champion. She supported numerous causes, including child-labor reform, woman suffrage, and immigration restriction, and was a leader at the Cheyenne women's convention of 1889. With an intense interest in the history of the American West, particularly Wyoming, Hebard wrote seven books; the most significant were The Bozeman Trail (1922), Washakie (1930), and Sacajawea (1933). Although popular when written, over the years her writings have suffered under scrutiny and are often considered more folklore than history. Hebard spent many summers doing research among the Shoshoni Indians and championed the movement to preserve and identify the historic trails in Wyoming. She was adopted into the Shoshoni tribe and named "the good woman, the woman with one tongue."

Hebard retired in 1931 and died in 1936 at the age of 75 in Laramie, Wyoming. She was buried in Green Hill Cemetery. Her extensive library and manuscript collection were bequeathed to the University of Wyoming library.