Foreword to When a Woman Campaigns: Emily Sloan's Races to Become Montana's First Female County Attorney

Emily Sloan is a remarkable figure in Montana history—a brave and resolute woman who practiced law for nearly twenty years and ran for public office seven times early in the twentieth century. She practiced law because that was the best of the escape routes open to her, and she obediently ran for office to boost her chances of succeeding at law. Although neither practicing law nor running for public office were her first choices, she committed herself wholeheartedly to those enterprises. She remained true to her calling as well: she never gave up her writing.

At her death, she left behind a memoir, a volume of published poetry, a published novel, many short stories, hundreds of unpublished poems, a journal of her last few years, letters, and more. At the risk of dispensing with professorial or professional objectivity, I offer my hope that you enjoy this small chapter in Emily’s life story.