NIMI & NINA MCCONIGLEY
This two-part profile features Nimi McConigley - the first woman of color in the United States to run a television news station and the first Indian-born person in the United States to be elected to state government, and her daughter, Nina McConigley - the award-winning author of Cowboys and East Indians
Nina McConigley (left) and her mother, Nimi McConigley (right)
Journalist & Politician, Nimi McConigley - the first woman of color to run a TV news station and the first Indian-born person in the country to be elected to state government in Casper, Wyoming.
“You can do it! You just have to have courage, and trust and believe in yourself, and not let defeat stop you. Keep trying!”
Listen to Nimi's Story.
Nimi’s storied life began in Madras, India where she became an established journalist- working for India’s first and to-date, only female Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. She attended Columbia School of Journalism, worked at WGBH- the PBS station in Boston, then ran her own station in Delhi. There, she met her husband, Pat and relocated because of Pat’s work to Casper, Wyoming where they've lived for the last 40 years.
In Casper, Nimi became the first woman of color to run a television news station, and later, ran for office and became the first Indian-born person in the entire US to serve in state government. Known as a community-minded person for years before running for office, Nimi helped start the hospice program in Casper as well as a weekly foreign film club. Her story is a true tale of courage, being yourself and embracing difference as a strength.
Nimi McConigley- a former Wyoming legislator born in Madras, India who has called Casper, Wyoming home for the last 40 years.
“When I was sworn into the legislature, my mind flashed back...did I ever think I’d end up in the cowboy country? Here I am in the Wyoming state legislature, being sworn in as a legislator. Who would have ever thought this little girl in India would have ever ended up here.”
Nimi wearing one of her many sari's, a traditional Indian dress. This design is known as a 'temple' sari, for the peaks which resemble a temple.
“You’ve got to believe in yourself. When your validation comes from inside you, and you validate yourself, that can’t be taken away by anyone.”
Listen to Nina's Story.
Nina McConigley is an accomplished author whose work speaks to issues of identity, race, and the immigrant experience in the American West. However, Nina didn't always want to become a writer. Working an insurance job after college made her realize she needed to pursue a more artistic path. She soon enrolled in a creative writing class and has never looked back.
Nina's first book, Cowboys and East Indians won the prestigious PEN America Open Book Award in 2014, as well as the High Plains Book Award, and made Oprah’s year-end Best of List. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Orion, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Virginia Quarterly Review, High Country News, and American Short Fiction, among other publications.
In addition to writing, Nina was a professor at the University of Wyoming for 13 years and now teaches at Colorado State University as well as teaching students around the country. In 2019-2020 she was a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard University and was a 2022 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Creative Writing Fellowship. Her play, based on Cowboys and East Indians, has been commissioned by the Denver Center for Performing Arts and will be premiering in the near future.
Award-winning author and professor, Nina McConigley.
“I feel it’s my responsibility to my students who come in from all over Wyoming to show that there are people of color that grew up here, we stayed here, and we love it here.”
Nina (left) with her mother, Nimi (right) at Nimi's home in Casper, Wyoming.
“I think when I sit down to write it’s that I want to tell an interesting story. It’s what’s in your subconscious. It just seeps onto the page.”
Nina and Nimi McConigley.
Resources:
NinaMcConigley.com
