Louise Line: Bold Woman of Missoula

Nominator:

Barbara Larsen

Who is my bold woman?

Louise Chapman Line

Where and when did she live?

1891 or 92 to 1985. Originally from Wisconsin, she lived her married life in Missoula. I knew her as Mrs. Line. Her husband, Robert Line Sr, was an early dean of the University of Montana business school. The Lines lived on a ranch up in Missoula’s South Hills. It is still the family home.

What did she do?

She was a suffragist who worked alongside Jeannette Rankin in the fight for American women’s right to vote. She was involved in the publication of a newspaper called “The Order of the Unicorn.”

What does she mean to me?

She was an elder in the Missoula valley, and I lived with her and her husband, then in their 90s, as a caregiver in 1980 or 1981. Among other things, we have the Lines to thank for open space on Mount Dean Stone. Mr. Line was such a force. His father, I believe, was the founder of Line's Drug in Columbus, the first drugstore in Montana. His dad was also a doctor, back when the x-ray machine was not so much for broken bones as for locating bullets. When I lived with them, there were piles of literature they had published. They were also very involved in the Theosophical Society in Missoula—I think the literature was tied to that.

Further notes from Beth Judy: Louise Chapman Line attended Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin, from 1910 to 1911 and Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, from 1912 to 1914. In 1915 she earned an M.A. in English at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. Throughout her life, the ideals of the Progressive Movement never stopped inspiring her. She taught at Centralia High School in Centralia, Illinois, from 1915 to 1916, and at New Trier Township High School in Kenilworth, Illinois, from 1916 to 1918. She was used to big cities and culture, so when she married her husband, Bob, little Columbus, Montana, was a bit of a shock, but she made the best of it. She raised her children there, and her husband, who ran several businesses, became interested in the teaching and improvement of business skills. In 1927, the family moved to Missoula when Mr. Line became a professor and dean of the School of Business Administration. In Missoula, Louise was active in the University Church Women, the local Cosmos Club, a theosophical study group, the Nonpartisan League, theatrical presentations, the peace movement, and she initiated the development of some parks in Missoula. (From Archives West and an interview with Ann Line, Louise Line’s daughter-in-law)