Original photo by Chris Dorney/ Alamy Stock Photo
State seals are often crimped or stamped on legal documents, lending them authenticity. Yet these small symbols have another role, as miniature visual histories specific to each state, often simultaneously representing hopes for the future. At least that’s how artist Emma Edwards Green viewed the seal she created for Idaho in 1891 — which just so happens to be the only state seal designed by a woman.
Idaho became the 43rd state on July 3, 1890, formed from a territory that had once included land in present-day Montana and Wyoming. Upon statehood, Idaho legislators looked to commission the state seal’s design by way of a competition, with a generous $100 prize (about $3,300 today) for the winning artist. Green, an art teacher who had relocated to Boise after attending school in New York, was in part inspired by the fact that it seemed Idaho would soon give women the right to vote. In March 1891, Green’s work was selected as the winner, beating out submissions from around the country.
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It's a factIn 1928, the Western state embossed “Idaho Potatoes” on its plates, a reference to its spud farms, which produce nearly one-third of the country’s crop. (The motto later became “Famous Potatoes.”) Many other states have since followed the trend for slogans and mottos on plates.
The final design, which is also featured on Idaho’s flag, is packed with symbolism. Worked into the design are cornucopias and wheat to represent Idaho’s agriculture, a tree meant to be reminiscent of the state’s vast timberlands, and a pick and shovel held by a miner. Green’s most forward-thinking detail, however, is an image of a man and woman standing at equal heights in the seal’s center, a symbol of gender equality that would eventually come with voting rights for all. True to their word, Idaho legislators passed women’s suffrage in 1896 — five years after Green’s seal became the state’s official symbol — making Idaho the fourth state to enfranchise women, more than 20 years before the 19th Amendment gave the same right to women nationwide.
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Idaho’s official nickname is “the Gem State.”
Some of Idaho’s ancient volcanoes could once again become active.
South-central Idaho is home to Craters of the Moon National Monument, a 750,000-acre preserve at the foot of the Pioneer Mountains. Established in 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge, the park has rugged lava fields resembling the moon’s pitted surface, likely created 2,000 to 15,000 years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions. Surprisingly, the site’s more than 25 cinder cone volcanoes are considered dormant — not extinct — despite 2,000 years passing since their last activity. That’s because volcanologists believe they erupt on a 3,000-year cycle. In fact, the USGS believes it’s possible another eruption will happen in the next 1,000 years. However, Craters of the Moon is graded as a “low threat” volcanic site, since cinder cone volcanoes are the smallest kind (no more than 1,200 feet tall), with only moderately explosive eruptions lasting less than a year.
Interesting Facts writers have been seen in Popular Mechanics, Mental Floss, A+E Networks, and more. They’re fascinated by history, science, food, culture, and the world around them.
