JEFFERSON CITY - Several local women were honored Monday night at the Capitol, as part of an event held by the Women Legislators of Missouri.
The 11th Annual DeVerne Lee Calloway Award was handed out Monday night in the Capitol Rotunda. About 150 people were on hand for the ceremony, which was followed by a reception at the governor's mansion.
DeVerne Lee Calloway was the first African-American woman it serve in Missouri's legislature, and was known for her advocacy of civil rights. She represented the St. Louis area from 1963 to 1982.
Each year, the Women Legislators of Missouri - a group that, naturally, is composed of women state representatives and senators -- give the DeVerne Lee Calloway Award to "a Missouri woman who...has made major contributions to equality and social justice."
Rep. Marilyn Ruestman, R-Joplin, who serves as the president of the Women Legislators of Missouri, said this year the focus was on education. About twenty public officials and educators from around the state were nominated for the award, including Nina Brueckner, who started the community clinic in Joplin.
Sen. Irene Treppler, the first woman ever elected to the Missouri Senate, was announced as the winner of the award Monday night.
"It's an honor to be among so many great ladies," Treppler said. She joked that over her long career, she was particulary fond of one accomplishment -- passing a bill to put more toilets in the women's bathroom.
"The integrity exhibited by strong women everywhere is particularly evident in our recipient tonight," Ruestman said.
In addition to the nominees, several dozen educators were also singled out as honorees during the ceremony, including several from the Joplin area.
Jyl Augsburger, principal of Granby elementary school, Karen Mason, teacher at East Newton High School, and Denise Mounts, principal of Diamond middle school, were all in attendance Monday night to be honored at the Capitol. Donna Dorsey and Barbara Badley, both teachers in Diamond, were also honored, although they were unable to attend the ceremony.
Augsburger and Mason also had the opportunity to observe the House of Representative in session earlier in the day, and were recognized by the chamber as special guests.
Each of the women honored at the event was also presented with a yellow rose -- an allusion to the 1920 women's suffrage debate at the Tennessee state capital. In what some refer to as a Tennessee's own "war of the roses," those supporting the ratification of the amendment granting women the right to vote sported yellow roses, while those opposed to it wore red roses. In the end, a represenative of the red rose camp switched sides, and American women gained the right to vote.
Rep. Ruestman told the crowd that Missouri women no longer simply had their place "behind the kitchen sink," but also "behind the CEO nameplate."