Explore the History - Articles
Articles
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World War One Toolkits
March 2024 We’re pleased to announce a new toolkit and resources about Utah women in World War One! The Great War shaped and was shaped by millions of women across the globe, and Utah women were no exception. World War One involved Utah women in new capacities. Some witnessed the violence of the war firsthand […]Read More -
World War One and Women in the Workforce
By Lauren Webb Because so many men left jobs to fight in World War I, women were given new opportunities for work. Many Utah women went to work in positions that had never been open to them before. On September 24, 1919, seventeen-year-old Alta Hester clocked-in to her job as an elevator operator at the […]Read More -
Goshute Women: Protesting the Draft
by Lauren Webb In 1918, a group of women living on the Goshute Reservation in Western Utah took action to protest the arrest of a group of their men. The men had been arrested for resisting the draft during World War I. By the beginning of the First World War, most Native and Indigenous peoples […]Read More -
Emmeline B. Wells and the Relief Society Grain Saving Movement
By Emily Peterson, Better Days Research Assistant Beginning in 1876, members of the Relief Society, the women’s organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, began a mass effort to grow and store grain. Emmeline B. Wells, editor of the Relief Society magazine The Exponent, wrote an article encouraging women to grow wheat […]Read More -
Utah Women, the Search for International Peace, and World War I
by Amber Taylor, LDS Church History Library Most nineteenth-century women in the United States couldn’t yet vote at the national level, but they participated in benevolent societies and later clubs as a way to assert their influence locally and nationally. In the 1890s, many suffragists in the US and abroad began turning their club work […]Read More -
She Started It – Annual Student Art Contest Now Open!
September 6, 2023 We’re pleased to announce the return of our annual “She Started It” art contest for students in grades 4 – 12! Utah women make history, and we need your help to show it. Download the contest flier here, or read on for full details. Submit to the contest here The task: Create […]Read More -
Education Coordinator Position
August 16, 2023 ✏️ We’re seeking a part-time education coordinator to join our team! Do you have an education background? Are you passionate about women’s history? Email info@betterdays2020.org with your resume and a short introduction to yourself. This position can be tailored to fit the right person. Because our team is fully remote, we’re looking […]Read More -
Roses in the Garden
June 21, 2023 We’re incredibly excited to reveal the 8 women featured in our newest mural by artist Bill Louis, “Roses in the Garden”! In partnership with the Utah Historical Society, Wasatch Community Gardens, and NeighborWorks Salt Lake, we commissioned this mural to honor women who have shaped Salt Lake City’s westside neighborhoods. It stands […]Read More -
She Started It – Annual Student Art Contest
September 21, 2022 Utah women make history, but they’re often missing from our textbooks, classrooms, and public art. We need your help to change that! Our annual student art contest is open for submissions through January 25, 2023. Winners in each age category will receive cash awards and prizes from Utah businesses, and they’ll be […]Read More -
Lifting As We Climb
August 5, 2022 Black American Women of Utah’s History – Richmond Park Mural We’re pleased to share the new mural unveiled this summer at Salt Lake City’s Richmond Park! This project to highlight leading women in Utah history was a collaboration between Better Days, the Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation, and Wasatch […]Read More -
The Ladies’ Literary Club
by Toni Pilcher, Better Days Graduate Intern May 18, 2022 In the fallout of the Civil War, many American women were trying to build new and meaningful connections within their communities. The war had really challenged what it meant to live in an increasingly diverse country. In response, women flocked to special interest clubs like […]Read More -
Martha Hughes Cannon Traveling Exhibit and Toolkits
February 23, 2022 It’s been 125 years since Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon made history as the country’s first female state senator. Utah chose to send a statue of her to represent our state in Washington, D.C., but the pandemic delayed her planned installation in 2020. Her statue should make it to our nation’s capital this […]Read More