1903 Hopkins High School Grad Became Women’s Rights Leader

Bess Prather, a 1903 graduate of Hopkins High School, because a prominent Women’s Rights leader in Arizona, working for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. The November 8th, 1973 Hopkins Journal reprinted a feature on her.

Back in those days, there were only three career paths available for women – the phone office, teaching, and nursing. But she had parents who were teachers, and her dad encouraged her to do things. She went to the University of Missouri, taught school, got married, and went to Casa Grande (AZ).

From 1930 on, Prather lobbied for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, meeting with legislators from all over the state. She formed the belief that women were to be heard, and not seen. She helped draw up the constitution for the Arizona Women’s Political Caucus. She was part of many civil organizations in Casa Grande, including the Planning & Zoning Committee, the Chamber of Commerce, and served as Postmaster for Casa Grande.

Prather’s burning sense of curiosity about the world didn’t stop when she retired at 70. She learned to sell stocks, became a registered parliamentarian, and gaveled many organizations. “Our approach is that the country should be fair to women and give them their rightful place,” she once said. “I really can’t understand a man who will sit there in the legislature and vote against it.”