by Sheryl Olson
A once-famous, but now relatively unknown, Stevensville resident is included in the new “Faces of Montana” exhibit at the Ravalli County Museum. Maggie Smith Hathaway was one of the first of two women elected to serve in the Montana Legislature in 1916, just two years after women got the right to vote in Montana.
Hathaway came to Stevensville at age 26 in 1893 after her father was called to serve as a pastor at the Stevensville Methodist Church (formerly known as the Methodist Episcopal North Church, still standing at 318 College Street). A stained-glass window dedicated to her parents (Rev. and Mrs. Isaac N. Smith) is still in the current church building at 216 College Street.
Just after her arrival in Stevensville, Hathaway got involved in Montana Methodist youth programs, and at the same time, championed the cause of women’s suffrage and temperance/prohibition issues. After the death of her husband and the passage of women’s right to vote, Hathaway started her campaign to run for a House seat in the Montana legislature from Stevensville.
Hathaway went on to serve three terms in the Legislature, including serving as a Minority Floor Leader and chairperson of the Public Morals committee. The other woman elected in 1916 was Emma A. Ingalls from Kalispell, who served two terms. For their groundbreaking service, both women are featured on a bronze plaque outside of the Senate Chambers in the Capitol in Helena. Hathaway is also listed in the Montana Historical Society’s Gallery of Outstanding Montanans where she is known as a “social crusader.”
Hathaway’s history in Stevensville is also notable because in 1896 Hathaway owned 40 acres and operated a small farm on land where the Stevensville School is now located. In addition, she and her husband, parents, and other relatives are buried at Stevensville’s Maplewood Cemetery.
After her service in the Legislature, Hathaway eventually headed up Montana’s largest state agency – what is now the Department of Public Health and Human Services. A book was written about her just before her death in 1955 by MSU Professor Harold Tascher called “Maggie and Montana. The Story of Maggie Smith Hathaway.” Among the many tributes paid to her in the book, Tascher praised her for her “translation of ethics into action.”
Hathaway is also one of four women featured in a new documentary called “The Story of Us: The Women Who Shaped Montana” which made its world premiere in Helena in August 2022 and was recently shown in Missoula.
Interested valley residents can learn more about Hathaway’s contribution to Montana history at the “Faces of Montana” exhibit at the Ravalli County Museum in Hamilton. The exhibit will be featured until March 2023.