Most Dangerous Women:
Women of the West

Synopsis—

Throughout history, women changemakers have often been labeled “dangerous” and “subversive,” yet their vision has proved prophetic. Most Dangerous Women: Women of the West presents the stories of women in Wyoming and other parts of the West, where women first gained the right to vote and hold public office. Women’s newly won visibility established them as effective leaders, shaping the West and fueling the quest for national women’s suffrage. In the film, women legislators, business and community leaders, faculty, activists, and students from the West reflect on dangerous women in their own lives, the complexities of women’s activism, historic and contemporary initiatives and coalitions, and their hopes for the future. 

Credits—

Director: Janet Fitch
Associate Director: Patricia Ostermick
Producers: Janet Fitch, Pang Yang Her, Harriet L. Rothman, Alden Hoot
Photography: Pang Yang Her (San Francisco), Mike Vanata (Wyoming), Maria Petrella (Chicago, Washington D.C.), Jean Yang (Chicago)
Editor: Carol Brandt
Associate Producer: Julia Obert
Historical Advisor: Merry Wiesner-Hanks
Consultants: Jan Maher, Beth Pollock Bruch, Susan Kerns, Laj Waghray, Alden Hoot

Trailer—

The trailer for Most Dangerous Women: Women of the West.

Resources—

Most Dangerous Women encourages viewers to discover and document women in their own families and communities whose voices and actions contribute to the creation of a more equitable, socially just, and peaceful world. The following toolkit and supporting videos are appropriate for middle school through college classrooms, and for community groups of all stripes, the film provides information and inspiration.

Toolkit—

This toolkit includes discussion questions and resources for all audiences, and also specific additional resources for classroom use.

Assembled by Dr. Merry Wiesner-Hanks, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dr. Lindsey Harness, Alverno College, and Patricia Ostermick.

UW-Milwaukee Panel—

This 5-minute video features panelists and audience members at a public screening in Milwaukee of Most Dangerous Women: Women of the West, a documentary presenting the stories of women in Wyoming and other parts of the West, where women first gained the right to vote and hold public office. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County, the panelists include local political and community leaders, who reflect on their own experiences and the “dangerous women” in their own lives. Audience members respond to film and the panel with suggestions about what films like this can accomplish in the classroom and with community groups.

Wyoming Film
Screening Tour 2023—

This 7-minute video features panelists and audience members at several public screenings in Wyoming of Most Dangerous Women: Women of the West, a documentary presenting the stories of women in Wyoming and other parts of the West, where women first gained the right to vote and hold public office. Sponsored by the Wyoming Humanities Council, the panelists include local political and community leaders, some featured in the film, who reflect on their own experiences and the “dangerous women” in their own lives. Native American women in particular share the insights of their mothers and grandmothers— “you’re not coming behind me, you’re going ahead of me and you’re going to walk past me.”