skip to main content
Tools for Educators

Immerse yourself in stories
of women who shaped history

All Books
Preschool
Elementary
Junior High
High School +
Finish the Fight: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote
Finish the Fight: The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote

Book Description

The bright and colorful illustrations in "Finish the Fight" introduce young readers to the untold stories of Black, Asian, Native American, and Latinx leaders of the national suffrage movement. The book includes historical information on 12 suffrage leaders from diverse backgrounds: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, Elizabeth Piper Ensley, Mary Church Terrell, Angelina Weld Grimke, Mary Burrill, Mabel Ping-Hua, Ida Wells Barnett, Jovita Idar, Juno Frankie Pierce, Susette La Flesche Tibbles, and Zitkala-Sa.

Utah Connection

illustration by Brooke Smart

Elizabeth Taylor was an African American suffragist, community organizer, and journalist who lived in Salt Lake City.  She worked with the Republican Party in Utah, helped her husband run The Plain Dealer–a local Black newspaper–and organized The Western Federation of Colored Women in 1904.

 

 

 

 

illustrated by Brooke Smart

Zitkala-Sa, who is highlighted in this book, lived in Utah from 1902-1916 on the Uintah-Ouray Federal Reservation.  She worked as an advocate for native voting rights for her entire adult life.

Discussion Questions

  • Why were some groups of people living in the United States denied access to voting?
  • What different tactics did the women in this book use to advocate for change in voting laws? Besides voting rights, what issues were important to these women?
  • Choose one woman from the book and write a letter to her explaining how you feel about what she accomplished in her life.
How Women Won the Vote: Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and Their Big Idea
How Women Won the Vote: Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and Their Big Idea

Book Description

After meeting for the first time in a London police station, Americans Alice Paul and Lucy Burns became good friends and allies who went on to organize a successful national suffrage march in 1913 as well as a campaign to picket the White House for the entire year of 1917. "How Women Won the Vote" tells the story of these two women through colorful illustrations, historic photos, and well-researched narrative. The back of the book includes a timeline of suffrage events in the United States as well as historical sources and notes.

Utah Connection

Salt Lake Herald-Republican 3-10-1913, p. 3

Edna Groshell, a Utah suffrage leader and former president of the Woman’s Democratic Club of Salt Lake, led Utah’s delegation in the 1913 suffrage parade. We don’t know how many other Utahns made the journey to Washington, D.C. to join in.

 

Utah suffragists Lavern Robertson and Minnie Quay were so committed to fighting for the national suffrage amendment that they joined the protests by the National Woman’s Party and participated in picketing the White House in 1917, ultimately becoming victims of the infamous “Night of Terror.”

Illustration by Brooke Smart

Discussion Questions

  • What strategies did Alice and Lucy use that you see activists using today?
  • Do you agree or disagree with the strategies of Alice & Lucy?
  • Which groups of people were left out of Alice & Lucy's strategies to achieve equal suffrage? What could they have done differently to include those people who were left out?
  • Do you and your friends have any "big ideas" that could make a difference in your school or community?
Vote For Our Future
Vote For Our Future

Book Description

Join the students of Stanton Elementary as they transform their school into a polling place and encourage their families, friends and community to vote on the first Tuesday in November.

Utah Connection

“A Path Forward” memorial in Salt Lake City, Utah

In August 2020, “A Path Forward”–a new memorial installed for the 19th amendment centennial– was installed at Council Hall in Salt Lake City.  The memorial honors Utah women who worked for voting rights expansion from 1870-the present day.  

Discussion Questions

  • What can children like you do to help their school and community?
  • Draw pictures of what your school would look like if it were a polling place like Stanton Elementary.
  • Interview an adult in your life and ask them about voting. Ask them questions like, "Where do you go to vote?" "How old do you have to be to vote?" "Tell me about a time that you voted."
Equality's Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America
Equality's Call: The Story of Voting Rights in America

Book Description

The rhyming text of "Equality's Call" gives a brief overview of how voting rights have expanded throughout the history of the United States. Young people will have fun joining in on the refrain used throughout the book: "a right isn't right 'till it's granted to all." The back of the book includes an explanation of important voting rights milestones and key historical figures that are included in the illustrations in the book.

Utah Connection

“A Path Forward” Utah Women’s History Memorial

In August 2020, a new memorial commemorating the 19th amendment centennial was installed on the grounds of Council Hall in Salt Lake City. Council Hall is the site of the historic first female vote under an equal suffrage law in the United States. “A Path Forward” honors Utah women who worked for voting rights expansion from 1870-the present day.

Discussion Questions

  • How can children like you help to make the world more fair and equal?
  • Why is it important for everyone to have the chance to vote?
  • Can you look through the book and find the following historic figures: Carrie Chapman Catt, Anna Julia Cooper, Mabel Ping-Hua, Alice Paul, Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin? (hint: the last pages of the book will show you what they look like)
The Voice that Won the Vote: How One Woman's Words Made History
The Voice that Won the Vote: How One Woman's Words Made History

Book Description

Febb Burns made history in August 1920, when she wrote a letter to her son Harry encouraging him to vote in favor of women's suffrage in the Tennessee State Senate. Senator Burns' tie-breaking vote led to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, and that one vote was the result of the words of his mother.

Utah Connection

Elizabeth Hayward courtesy of Emily Wessman

Utah women had already been voting for many years by the time Febb Burns wrote her important letter to her son.  In fact, Utah state senator Elizabeth Hayward, and state representatives Anna T. Piercey, Dr. Grace Stratton Airey, and Delora W. Blakely were serving in the state legislature when Utah ratified the 19th Amendment in October 1919.  

 

 

 

 

illustration by Brooke Smart

When Utah ratified the 19th Amendment, John E. Heppler was the speaker of the state House of Representatives.  He requested that Anna T. Piercey preside over the House session when ratification took place, likely due to the influence of his mother, Lucy Heppler, a long-time Utah suffrage leader.

 

Discussion Questions

  • When has an adult in your life given you advice that helped change your mind about something?
  • When have you used your voice (or your pen) to speak up about something that matters to you?
  • By 1919, millions of women were already voting in the US. Afterwards, many still could not vote. Do you agree or disagree with the statement at the end of the book: “the woman who, without speaking a word, gave all women a voice”?
  • Write a story about how the senators and representatives in Utah worked to ratify the 19th Amendment.
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box

Book Description

As early as 1838, black women in the United States have been organizing and advocating for the right to vote. This book chronicles the key players and events of the near 200 year struggle for equality for black women and women of color. Includes a bibliography and source notes.
The Womans Hour  adapted for young readers): Our Fight for the Right to Vote
The Womans Hour adapted for young readers): Our Fight for the Right to Vote

Book Description

In this chapter book adapted for young readers, Elaine Weiss chronicles the events of the summer of 1920, when national suffrage leaders gathered in Nashville to ensure a successful ratification of the 19th amendment by the Tennessee state congress.
Champions of Change: 25 Women Who Made History
Champions of Change: 25 Women Who Made History

Book Description

Commissioned by Better Days 2020, this picture book features the illustrations of Brooke Smart and introduces readers to 25 Utah women who advocated for their communities and made a difference in the state of Utah.
Utah Women Making History Trading Cards
Utah Women Making History Trading Cards

Book Description

The captivating and colorful illustrations by Brooke Smart introduce readers young and old to 50 Utah women who made history. Each card includes biographical information on the back.
I Could Do That!: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote
I Could Do That!: Esther Morris Gets Women the Vote

Book Description

This picture book biography chronicles the life of Esther Morris, hatmaker, business owner, mother, wife, and suffragist, who was instrumental in getting women the right to vote in Wyoming Territory. “I could do that!” was Esther’s battle cry when people told her she wasn’t allowed to do certain things. A story about a woman with bold determination, this picture book makes a great read-aloud with its cheery dialogue and colorful, humorous illustrations.

Utah Connection

This mural depiction of women first voting in Utah, by painter David Koch, hangs in the Utah Capitol Building. Seraph Young, the first woman to vote in Utah and the modern nation, is center wearing the yellow dress.

Wyoming Territory was the first to grant women voting rights, in December 1869. Utah Territory granted women the vote several weeks later, on February 12, 1870. Women in Salt Lake City voted two days after that, making them the first women to vote in the modern nation. Many women in Utah were like Esther Morris, fighting for their rights, running for and serving in political offices, and involving themselves in their local communities.

Discussion Questions

  • What kinds of things did Esther learn by example in her own family growing up?
  • How did Esther handle challenges in her life, especially when people told her she couldn’t do something?
  • Why did Esther want to vote?
  • What personal characteristics did Esther have that you also have? How did these characteristics help Esther accomplish her goals? How might they help you?
  • What things would you like to do or change today? What’s the first step you can take to start working on them?
Marching with Aunt Susan: Susan B. Anthony and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage
Marching with Aunt Susan: Susan B. Anthony and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage

Book Description

The story of women’s suffrage told from the perspective of Bessie Keith Pond, a real-life ten-year-old from California, unfolds in this picture book biography. Bessie joins the campaign for women’s suffrage after Susan B. Anthony visits her town. Based on Bessie’s diaries, this picture book shares not only the main events in the fight for women’s suffrage, but also how even young girls can make a difference in their communities and the world.

Utah Connection

Annie Wells Cannon at age 2 ½ . Photo courtesy of Kathy Knowlton

Many young girls in Utah watched their mentors, aunts, mothers, and older sisters fight for suffrage. The road to the passage of the 19th Amendment took 72 years, so these young girls grew into adults who continued the fight for women’s voting rights. For example, Annie Wells Cannon was eleven years old when women in Utah were first granted suffrage in 1870. Her mother, Emmeline B. Wells, was Utah’s leading suffragist and good friends with Susan B. Anthony. Annie not only helped her mother write and edit the women’s rights newspaper, the Woman’s Exponent, she grew up to be a suffragist and a Utah state legislator.

Discussion Questions

  • Why do you think some people didn’t want women to vote?
  • How would you feel if someone told you that you could not vote when you grow up?
  • Bessie and Rita did things like make posters and lick envelopes as part of the suffrage cause. What could you do in your community at your age to help with a cause you believe in?
  • Is there a woman who is a role model to you? How does her example inspire you to make a difference in your community?
The Taxing Case of the Cows: A True Story About Suffrage
The Taxing Case of the Cows: A True Story About Suffrage

Book Description

Abby and Julia Smith fight taxation without representation. Since women did not have the vote, the Smith Sisters refused to pay a property tax—a tax on their cows—because they had no say in this tax law. They decide to fight this unfair law—and draw attention to women’s suffrage—through creative means.

Utah Connection

In 1911, Kanab elected to the City Council Mary Woolley Chamberlain, Luella Atkin McAllister, Tamar Stewart Hamblin, Blanche Robinson Hamblin, and Vinnie Farnsworth Jepson. Jepson resigned shortly after being elected but was quickly replaced by Ada Pratt Seegmiller.

Cows were the motivation for the Smith sisters to become politically active in their community, and cows were the motivation for five women in Kanab, Utah, to also get involved in local politics. In the early 1900s, women in Kanab were frustrated by the mess being caused by cows and other farm animals running loose around the city. It was dirty, smelly and made it difficult to walk down the street or drive a wagon on the road. Men had always been in charge of running the town, but they weren’t doing anything about the problems in Kanab. So women in Kanab decided to run for office to make changes, and they won they mayorship and all four town commissioner seats! The women took their new leadership roles seriously. They passed laws to punish animal owners who didn’t keep their animals fenced in and did many other things to clean up their town. Like the Smith sisters, the Kanab women weren’t afraid to stand up and make a difference.

Utah women also were not happy about being taxed without the right to vote. Taxation without representation was one of the main arguments given by pro-suffragists for including equal suffrage in the Utah State Constitution in 1895.  

Discussion Questions

  • The Smith sisters were against “taxation without representation.” What does that mean? What did they do to try to change things?
  • The leaders of Glastonbury were all men, and they decided that women should pay higher taxes. Have you ever noticed men and women (or boys and girls) being treated differently? How does it make you feel? Why do you think this happens? What can be done to change this?
  • When the city took the sisters’ cows in place of the tax payment, how did the townsfolk support Abby and Julia? How have you seen people in your community support others?
  • What important things would you like to do or change? What’s the first step you can take to start working on them today?
Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told
Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told

Book Description

This award-winning picture book biography tells the story of Ida B. Wells, suffragist, activist, educator, and journalist, who spoke out about the evils of lynching and the unequal treatment of African Americans. Quotes from Wells’s autobiography are weaved throughout and paired with beautiful watercolor illustrations.

Utah Connection

President Coolidge and Osage Indians, 1924

Even though laws are written and passed, sometimes these laws aren’t fairly enforced. In the case of voting rights, throughout history many states and the federal government have passed restrictive laws and practices making voting difficult if not impossible for various groups of people. Examples: 1) after the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1870, giving black men the right to vote, some states and counties still prevented African Americans from voting by passing their own restrictive laws. 2) Congress passed laws in 1924 that granted U.S. citizenship (and voting rights) to all American Indians, even those living on reservations under sovereign indigenous nations. But American Indians in Utah could not vote because they were not considered “residents” of Utah but “residents” of their own tribal nations. In 1957, the Utah State Legislature passed a law that allowed all American Indians in Utah to vote regardless of whether they lived on a reservation or not. 3) In the late 1800s, Congress passed anti-polygamy laws. The Edmunds-Tucker Act took away the voting rights of polygamous men and all Utah women.

Discussion Questions

  • What truth do you think Ida wanted told? When have you spoken truth?
  • What was Ida’s strongest weapon against discrimination?
  • What admirable characteristics did Ida portray? How can you develop similar characteristics?
  • What role did Ida play in fighting for women’s suffrage and equal rights for all people? What type of discrimination did she experience in that role?
  • What impact did Ida’s words have on the nation?
  • When you witness discrimination against others (or towards yourself), what can you do?
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909

Book Description

Ukranian immigrant Clara Lemlich fought for better working conditions in U.S. garment factories in the early 1900s. This picture book biography chronicles the story of young Clara leading the largest walkout of women workers the country had ever seen. It includes striking illustrations, an author’s note, and further readings on the garment industry.

Utah Connection

The J. G. McDonald shipping room, July 1911. Photo Courtesy of Utah State Historical Society

In January 1910, fourteen immigrant ‘chocolate girls’ at the McDonald Candy Company in Salt Lake City went on strike after the firm refused the workers’ request to increase their wages. The strikers organized the Chocolate Dippers’ Union of Utah No. 1, the first union of women workers in Utah. Unfortunately, the union was short-lived, and the strikers did not achieve their goal of higher wages. Instead, they lost their jobs. But the efforts of these women to improve their work situation in one of Utah’s major industries made them exceptional.

From Kathryn L. Mackay, “The Chocolate Dippers’ Strike of 1910,” Utah Historical Quarterly, Vol. 83, No. 1, 39-51.

Discussion Questions

  • Do you think Clara and her coworkers were justified to strike? Why or why not?
  • Do you think there are situations where workers are not justified to strike?
  • What do you do when you feel like quitting? How do you carry on?
  • Clara and her coworkers’ strike resulted in changes in workplace conditions. However, the Chocolate Dippers in Utah were not as fortunate. Do you think it’s worth striking even if strikes do not result in desired changes?
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March

Book Description

This award-winning memoir provides a first-person account by Lynda Blackmon Lowery, the youngest marcher in the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. She was jailed nine times before her fifteenth birthday and marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr., showing just how courageous young people can be. The illustrations give the text a graphic-novel feel. The concluding chapter explains the fight for voting rights and contains short biographies of those who died fighting for the cause.

Utah Connection

Nettie Grimes Gregory. Courtesy of Utah State Historical Society.

Nettie Grimes Gregory was a native Tennessean who moved to Salt Lake City in 1913 with her husband, William, a railroad employee. They quickly adapted to life in Utah and Nettie sought to make herself useful to the community. She was especially concerned about the lack of wholesome recreation for young people living on the city’s west side. She and her husband began some activities at the Calvary Baptist Church but found that the number of young people wanting to participate exceeded the capacity of the church’s facilities. The answer was obvious to the Gregorys. Their neighborhood needed its own building with adequate space for a variety of community activities, including weddings, socials, and youth programs. William Gregory donated a small parcel of land, and…Nettie “recruited black women belonging to the Salt Lake Community Club and the Nimble Thimble Club to act as leaders in the fund-raising drive.” They held dinners, bake sales, and bazaars.

In 1959 construction of the first civic building in Salt Lake City built by African Americans began. The project required 5 years to complete, but the idea had been in Nettie’s heart for almost 20 years. Although Nettie had died of a stroke on July 6, 1964, those preparing to use the building recognized her by naming the new structure at 742 West South Temple the Nettie Gregory Center. The needs of African American youth had spurred the drive to build it, but the Gregorys always envisioned it as a place where people of all races and creeds would be welcome. Nettie was a person who believed that even young people could make an impact and difference.

Adapted from Utah History to Go: https://historytogo.utah.gov/people/utahns_of_achievement/nettiegrimesgregory.html

Discussion Questions

  • This book includes a comprehensive discussion guide with supplemental materials and questions.
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

Book Description

This multiple award-winning book uses poetry told in a first-person voice and vivid collage illustrations to share the story of Fannie Lou Hamer. When Fannie was in her 40s, she learned from young activists who spoke at her church that she had voting rights, and she volunteered to register to vote despite the potential dangers in doing so. Though she faced numerous threats and was brutally beaten, she continued to champion civil rights.

Utah Connection

Mignon Barker Richmond (third from right) joins other students for an outdoor performance. Photo courtesy Utah State University Special Collections

Mignon Barker Richmond was the first African American woman to graduate from a Utah college (Utah State University), in 1921. Like Fannie Lou Hamer, Mignon worked to improve the lives of African Americans in her community. She enjoyed a lifelong association with the YWCA and volunteered with the Salt Lake Chapter of the NAACP. She helped found the Nettie Gregory Center, the first civic building in Salt Lake City built by African Americans, in 1964.

Discussion Questions

  • Of all the things Fannie did to improve the rights and conditions for African Americans, which one do you think made the biggest difference? Why?
  • Why do you think the people who beat her were never punished?
  • What gave Fannie courage to do really difficult things in her life? How can you have that same kind of courage?
Lillian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
Lillian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Book Description

Written as a celebration of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which made it illegal to use literacy tests, poll taxes, or anything else to deny American citizens the right to vote. This picture book follows the journey of 100-year-old Lillian en route to her polling place as she reminisces about the obstacles she and her ancestors faced in order to vote.

Utah Connection

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, as Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders look on. Courtesy of LBJ Library, photo by Yoichi Okamoto.

From the book’s author’s note: “The sad coda to this story is that in 2013, the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, eliminating federal oversight of states’ election processes. Since that decision, many states have created ‘voter ID laws,’ which require all citizens to present a state-issued photo ID when voting.” Utah has a voter ID requirement.

Discussion Questions

  • Why is Lillian’s experience different from others?
  • What are some of the things that kept Lillian and her ancestors from voting?
  • What are the voting requirements where you live? Do you feel that these requirements are fair?
Rightfully Ours: How Women Won the Vote, 21 Activities
Rightfully Ours: How Women Won the Vote, 21 Activities

Book Description

This book tells the story of the almost century-long struggle for women’s suffrage in the United States. It includes a timeline, online resources, and activities like creating a suffrage banner , hosting a Victorian tea, and baking a cake from the Woman Suffrage Cookbook.

Utah Connection

Cover of the Utah Woman Suffrage Song Book

Many Utah suffragists worked closely with national suffragist leaders. They held meetings and suffrage celebrations, generated petitions, paid dues to national suffrage organizations, and created items like the Utah Woman Suffrage Song Book to raise money and awareness for their cause.

Discussion Questions

  • This book includes 20+ activities that readers can engage in while they read or that can serve as extensions of the story.
Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women’s Right to Vote
Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women’s Right to Vote

Book Description

Alice Paul grew up watching what her father and other men could do, and she wanted to be able to do the same. Wearing her signature purple hat, Alice organized suffrage parades, wrote letters, protested outside the White House, and met with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. He dismissed women’s suffrage as a minor concern. However, her persistence paid off, eventually convincing President Wilson to support women’s suffrage.

Utah Connection

Utahn Lavern Robertson standing fourth from left with other suffragists as part of the Silent Sentinels on November 10, 1917. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

Utah suffragists Lavern Robertson and Minnie Quay were so committed to fighting for the national suffrage amendment that they joined one of the most famous protests by the National Woman’s Party and participated in picketing the White House in 1917, ultimately becoming victims of the infamous “Night of Terror.” For two and a half years, almost 2000 women from around the country took turns picketing outside the White House six days a week until the suffrage amendment finally passed both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on June 4, 1919.

 

Discussion Questions

  • Alice was incredibly persistent, particularly when her task seemed impossible. Have you ever continued persisting in an endeavor even when it seemed impossible?
  • Do you agree or disagree with the tactics Alice used to change President Wilson’s opinion on women’s suffrage?
  • What tactics did Alice use that you still see people using today to change people’s opinions on issues?
  • Like Alice, do you notice things in the world that need changing? How might you go about helping make these changes?
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (with a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)

Book Description

Through vintage photographs, cartoons, advertisements, cartoons, and songs, Wheels of Change provides readers the history of how the bicycle transformed women’s lives. "Let me tell you what I think of bicycling," abolitionist and suffragist leader Susan B. Anthony said in 1896. "I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel … the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood."

Utah Connection

An unidentified woman with a bicycle is shown with members of the first Utah State Legislature on the steps of the City and County Building in 1896. Photo courtesy of Utah State Historical Society

A man riding across the country on a bicycle passed through Utah in 1884. Utah’s Ute Indians first saw a bicycle in 1892 when a man from New York got lost on reservation lands. The Utes called the bike an “iron pony.” They thought it was part of a scheme to compete with and cheat them out of their beloved horses.

Discussion Questions

  • The bicycle brought about a change in women’s fashions, inspired new songs, and gave women independence and a sense of freedom that propelled the women’s suffrage movement forward. Why do you think this was so?
  • What modern-day inventions do you see being used to provide more resources and accessibility to marginalized groups?
Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten and 10,000 Miles
Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten and 10,000 Miles

Book Description

In April 1916, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke set out from New York City in a little yellow car to spread the ‘Votes for Women!’ message on their 10,000-mile journey across the United States. This picture book with lively illustrations chronicles their adventures as they furthered their cause through ingenious means.

Utah Connection

A suffrage parade coming up Main Street in Salt Lake City in August 1915 involving Utah suffragists and leaders from the National Woman’s Party. Participants were on their way to interview Utah senator Reed Smoot about his support for a national suffrage amendment. Courtesy of the National Woman’s Party.

Sara Bard Field and Frances Joliffe transported a suffrage petition and resolutions cross-country by automobile–collecting additional signatures along the way to present to Congress and the President. The automobile was driven by Swedish women Ingeborg Kinstedt and Maria Kindberg. Mabel Vernon traveled ahead of envoys by train and helped organize autocades, parades, meetings, and petition drives at various stops. In addition to stopping in Salt Lake City twice, the envoy visited San Francisco, Denver, Kansas City, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.

Discussion Questions

  • How did new inventions (bicycle, car, train, typewriter, telegraph, etc.) impact the women’s suffrage movement?
  • Why didn’t Neil and Alice travel through Utah? If they had stopped in Utah and you had lived there then, what would you have said to them?
  • What creative ways have you seen others use to raise awareness for causes they care about?
  • Other national suffrage events passed through Utah. For example, an automobile envoy passed through Salt Lake City, and suffragists paraded up Main Street in Salt Lake City, and later, up State Street to the Utah State Capitol. How do these demonstrations compare to demonstrations and protests that happen today?
Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President
Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President

Book Description

Unlike most books about Susan B. Anthony, this picture book focuses on Ms. Anthony voting in the 1872 presidential election when women did not have voting rights. She was arrested and jailed for this then illegal act, bringing attention to the women’s suffrage movement.

Utah Connection

Susan B. Anthony had a cherished dress made from black silk presented to her on her 80th birthday by the Utah Silk Commission, a woman-owned industry. The dress is on display at the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House in Rochester, New York.

Two years before Susan B. Anthony illegally cast her vote, Utah and Wyoming women received voting rights and were able to legally cast their ballots. In 1871, Anthony passed through Utah, where she spoke in the Salt Lake Tabernacle and congratulated Utah on extending voting rights to women. She became friends with Utah suffragists, championing their voting rights. In turn, Utahns adored Anthony and supported her efforts to win national women’s suffrage.

Discussion Questions

  • What was Anthony’s heart on fire about? Does she get her wish?
  • How would you have felt if you had been Anthony and had been arrested for voting? Would you have voted anyway, even knowing you’d go to jail?
  • How did other people feel about Anthony speaking out for women’s suffrage?
  • Do you think it’s ever justified for people to break laws in order to raise awareness of their cause?
Votes for Women: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot
Votes for Women: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot

Book Description

This easy-to-digest nonfiction work provides a strong overview of the women’s suffrage movement from abolition to the ratification of the 19th amendment as it honestly explores some of the uglier moments in the struggle for women’s voting rights. It includes comprehensive end matter, including endnotes, a timeline, and primary source materials.

Utah Connection

Utah, Colorado, and national suffragists at the 1895 Rocky Mountain Suffrage Convention in Salt Lake City. Photo courtesy of Utah State Historical Society. 1) Electa Bullock 2) Minnie J. Snow 3) Mary Y. Dougall 4) Susan B. Anthony 5) Phoebe Young Beattie 6) Margaret A. Caine 7) Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon 8) Martha Horne Tingey 9) Lillie Richards Moore Pardee 10) Emily S. Richards 11) Rev. Anna Howard Shaw 12) Sarah M. Kimball 13) Emmeline B. Wells 14) Zina D. H. J. Young 15) Elvira Stevens Barney 16) Ellis Meredith Stansbury (Colorado) 17) Emma McVicker 18) Rebecca M. Little 19) ??? 20) Isabelle E. Bennet 21) Harriet Amelia Folsom Young 22) Augusta W. Grant 23) Possibly Phoebe Woodruff Snow 24) Mary C. C. Bradford (Colorado)

For nearly forty years, Emmeline B. Wells and other Utah suffragists published a newspaper advocating for women’s rights, called the Woman’s Exponent. Emily S. Richards founded the Utah Woman Suffrage Association and organized local chapters throughout the Utah Territory. Utah suffragists held meetings, distributed pamphlets, signed petitions and wrote petitions demanding women’s voting rights in Utah and the nation.

In 1895, Utah, Colorado, and national suffragists met in Salt Lake City at the Rocky Mountain Suffrage Convention after Utah delegates and male voters elected to include women’s suffrage in the proposed state constitution that year. Colorado had granted women’s suffrage on November 7, 1893.

Discussion Questions

  • Choose one of the stories told in the book and create an argument as to why it should be more well-known by the general public. Why are you inspired by this story? How can it relate to your day-to-day life?
  • What did you find most surprising about this suffrage history? And why?
  • This book leaves out the role that Utah played in the suffrage movement. What information and stories from the Utah history would you want included?
Friends for Freedom: The Story of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass
Friends for Freedom: The Story of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass

Book Description

This picture book non-fiction story explains the unlikely friendship of the leading suffragist, Susan B. Anthony, and leading abolitionist and freed slave, Frederick Douglass. Despite disagreements or hardships, Anthony and Douglass remained friends, and together they promoted equality and changed the nation. The author weaves together information about the fight against slavery and the battle for women's rights, showing how the two movements were tied together. An author's note provides more information on research and on the bronze sculpture of Anthony and Douglass in Rochester, New York, that depicts the two friends having tea.

Utah Connection

Emmeline B. Wells. Courtesy of Utah State Historical Society.

Emmeline B. Wells was a Utah woman who worked for decades to promote women’s rights. She first met Susan B. Anthony when Anthony visited Utah in 1871 to celebrate Utah women gaining suffrage, and Wells slowly built a friendship with the leader of the national women’s movement as she attended several national suffrage conventions. Anthony visited Utah again in 1895 to celebrate the inclusion of women’s suffrage in the proposed state constitution, and she even bequeathed a gold ring to Wells when she died in 1906. Anthony and Wells were unlikely friends given that Anthony did not personally support polygamy and Wells was a polygamist wife. However, Anthony believed that women should be granted voting rights regardless of their marital statuses and included polygamous Mormon women in the National Woman Suffrage Association when others did not want to include them.

Discussion Questions

  • How do you think Susan and Frederick were able to stay friends even when they fought? Can you be friends with someone you might disagree with?
  • Why is it important for friends support each other through hard things?
  • Think of a time when you and a friend supported one another in a project of some kind. Did your friend help lighten your load? How does supporting one another help us achieve bigger goals?
  • What can you do to support your friends and help them achieve their goals?
Ballots for Belva: The True Story of a Woman’s Race for the Presidency
Ballots for Belva: The True Story of a Woman’s Race for the Presidency

Book Description

This picture book biography explains Belva Lockwood’s journey to becoming the first woman to run for President of the United States in 1884, before women had the right to vote. She famously said, “I cannot vote, but I can be voted for.” Despite the fact that Belva lost the election to Grover Cleveland, she did all in her power at the time to further a woman’s place in the U.S. government. The book includes an extensive author’s note, a women’s suffrage timeline, and selected bibliography.

Utah Connection

Phoebe Couzins in 1887.

In 1869, at age 27, Phoebe Couzins began her studies at Washington University Law School in St. Louis, Missouri, and earned a Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1871, becoming the first female graduate of Washington University School of Law and one of the first women in the United States to graduate from law school. After passing the bar exam, she was licensed to practice in the federal courts in Missouri, Arkansas, Utah, and Kansas. After her father died in 1887, the U.S. government appointed her as the first female in the U.S. Marshal Service, and she finished her father’s term of service.

“The Utah Bar admitted [Georgianna “Georgia” Snow] Carleton in 1872, at the age of thirty. Before her admission, Carleton studied the law for three years with her father, Zerubbabel Snow, who was then the Attorney General of the Utah Territory and later a territorial Utah Supreme Court Judge. A committee appointed by Chief Justice McKean of the territorial Utah Supreme Court examined and approved Carleton’s application for admission and her legal qualifications. Carleton served as territorial librarian, later moving to Wyoming and entered politics. She served as an alternative delegate to the 1892 presidential convention. Carleton later moved to San Diego, where she was a member of the Board of Education. She died in 1915.” From Women Trailblazers in the Law: Utah’s First 100 Women Lawyers.

Discussion Questions

  • What were Belva’s reasons for running for president in spite of a lack of support from many?
  • What may have inspired Belva to continue her campaign even when she had little support? What inspires you to keep going through hard things?
  • Think of a time that you may have lost something like a race or when you became discouraged in completing a task. How did that experience help you grow? Identify what you learned along the way in preparing for that race or that show.
  • What can you learn from experiences when you might not win?
A Lady Has the Floor: Belva Lockwood Speaks Out for Women’s Rights
A Lady Has the Floor: Belva Lockwood Speaks Out for Women’s Rights

Book Description

This picture book biography tells the story of Belva Lockwood, a lawyer, activist, and presidential candidate who devoted her life to overcoming obstacles and demanding equality for women. As the first woman to argue a case to the Supreme Court, Belva felt not only qualified to run for President, but that the laws allowed her to do so even as a woman in 1884 (36 years before the passage of the 19th Amendment that granted women voting rights). Though she did not the election, her presidential campaign changed the political landscape. The book features a thoughtful author’s note, a timeline of Belva’s life and other female political milestones, and a bibliography. Belva’s quotes are also integrated into the illustrations with a look reminiscent of 19th-century folk art.

Utah Connection

Emma J. McVicker was nominated for state superintendent of schools in 1895, but the territorial supreme court ruled that women could not yet run for election. She would later be appointed to this position in 1900. Courtesy of Utah State Historical Society.

Like Belva Lockwood, Utah women understood that suffrage was just the first step in political engagement. Even before statehood and suffrage were secured, three Utah women attempted to run for elected office in 1895 but were ultimately barred from running because of their gender. After Utah’s constitutional convention adopted women’s right to vote and hold office, controversy arose regarding whether women would be eligible to vote in the ratifying election. Although the federal Enabling Act specifically limited voting on the constitution to male citizens, some Utah delegates argued that women should at least be able to vote for state officials under the rights guaranteed in the new constitution. Accordingly, the Republican party nominated Emmeline B. Wells to run for the Utah House of Representatives, Lillie Pardee for the State Senate, and Emma McVicker for state superintendent of schools. Shortly thereafter, the territorial supreme court ruled that women did not have the right to vote in the ratifying election. Although the ruling did not explicitly address women’s right to run for office, many extended the court’s reasoning to bar the three Republican women candidates. Emma McVicker and Lillie Pardee soon dropped out of the race, but Emmeline Wells fought to maintain her candidacy as long as possible and finally capitulated only weeks before the election. Although women could not vote in the election that ratified the new state constitution and restored their voting rights, several women successfully ran for office in the election the following year.

Discussion Questions

  • How did Belva’s experience teaching girls public speaking prepare her for her future? How can you prepare today for the goals and dreams you want to accomplish?
  • Which quote of Belva’s do you like the most? Why?
  • Belva fought for the rights of all people and not just for women. How can you fight for the rights of others?
  • Even though Belva lost, do you think her campaign was still successful? Why? How can we turn what might seem like a “failure” into success?
Elizabeth Started All of the Trouble
Elizabeth Started All of the Trouble

Book Description

This biographical picture book written by award-winning author, Doreen Rappaport, portrays Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s role in both abolitionism and the women’s suffrage movement and serves as a solid introduction to the fight for women’s rights. Organized chronologically, the book presents brief details about many of the events, protests, trials, and jail sentences, as well as how women eventually gained the right to vote.

Utah Connection

Charlotte Godbe Kirby. Courtesy of Utah State Historical Society.

Charlotte Godbe Kirby was one of the first people to speak about women’s suffrage and rights in the Utah Territory. She was a woman of strong opinions who shared them openly. Even though many Mormon suffragists excluded Charlotte after her polygamous husband was excommunicated from the LDS Church (she would later divorced him), she was well known within the national suffrage movement, associated with many national leaders, and considered herself the leading spokesperson of Utah women’s concerns. She was selected by the National Woman Suffrage Association to speak to a U.S. Congress committee about women’s suffrage and spoke to thousands of suffragists in Boston’s Fremont Temple.

Discussion Questions

  • Who inspires you to make changes in your life? Why are they inspirational to you?
  • Identify an idea that you really care about. How can you encourage others to feel passionately about that idea, too?
  • How can you stand up to injustice in your own life?
  • Elizabeth and the other suffragists had to change the rules to be successful in gaining women the right to vote. What’s the difference between breaking rules and changing them? Why was changing the rules entirely the only way to success for the suffragists?
Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote
Elizabeth Leads the Way: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Right to Vote

Book Description

This biographical picture book details how Elizabeth Cady Stanton was ignited to have the radical idea that women should have equal rights to men, including voting rights. Folk-art style illustrations and an upbeat narrative provide energy to the telling of this historical figure’s life and accomplishments. An author’s note and sources are included as end matter.

Utah Connection

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (sitting) and Susan B. Anthony (standing) sometime between 1880 and 1902. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

In 1871, a year after Utah women gained suffrage, national suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony spoke in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. They congratulated Utah women on their voting rights and spoke about their hopes that all women in the nation would soon enjoy them as well. This visit began a long friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Emmeline B. Wells. However, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was barred from speaking from Mormon pulpits because she advocated ideas such as birth control that were at odds with Mormon church teachings of the time.

Discussion Questions

  • Why do you think a woman’s right to vote was such a radical idea at this time?
  • How might your life be different if Elizabeth had not pushed for women’s suffrage like she did?
  • Think of a time when someone told you that you were not able to complete some hard task. Did you complete it anyway? How did it feel when they said that to you? How did it feel to accomplish the task anyway if you did?
  • What kind of attitude do you need to be able to accomplish tasks that seem impossible?
Chasing Freedom: The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, Inspired by Historical Facts
Chasing Freedom: The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, Inspired by Historical Facts

Book Description

This historical fiction picture book captures an imagined conversation between Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony that is based on historical fact about what they might recall regarding their triumphs and struggles fighting to achieve equal rights for African Americans and women. Caldecott-award winning illustrator Michele Wood provides rich illustrations to Coretta Scott King Award winner Grimes’ engaging text. Extensive back matter provides additional resources for study and discussion.

Utah Connection

Signing of the Indian Citizenship Act with President Coolidge and Osage Indians on the White House lawn in 1924. Photo courtesy of Library of Congress.

Although the 19th Amendment granted women’s suffrage nationally, the fight for universal suffrage in the United States was not over. Not all women residing in Utah were granted the vote in 1870 or with statehood in 1896 or with the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

Though the 14th Amendment had earlier defined “citizens” as any person born in the United States, the amendment was interpreted to restrict the citizenship rights (including the right to vote) of many. For example, since Native Americans were not considered U.S. citizens during this time period, they were excluded from women’s voting rights in Utah in 1870 and 1896, and nationally in 1920. Legal barriers enacted in numerous states effectively made it impossible for African Americans to vote. Many Asian immigrants in the United States were legally prohibited from applying for citizenship (and voting rights) simply because of their countries of origin. Imagine a conversation between the people in Utah fighting for their voting rights after 1920 and the women who were able to vote at this point.

Discussion Questions

  • How might the struggle for equal rights be different if groups like those led by Harriet and Susan did not work together to achieve their goals?
  • Despite the fact that they were both women, Harriet and Susan experienced discrimination in different ways. How and why?
  • Imagine a tea between two Utah women. Who would be at this tea? What would they discuss?
  • If Susan B. Anthony and Harriet Tubman invited you to tea and asked you for an update on efforts towards equality to all, what would you tell them? What examples would you give them from your life and society to demonstrate progress and/or lack of progress?
Roses and Radicals: The Epic Story of How American Women Won the Right to Vote
Roses and Radicals: The Epic Story of How American Women Won the Right to Vote

Book Description

While there are many books chronicling the women’s suffrage movement, few offer a comprehensive overview like Roses and Radicals while still being appealing and accessible to a middle grade and high school audience. The book includes an engaging narrative, source notes, an index, and short vignettes about key players in the movement.

Utah Connection

Envoys from San Francisco Exposition carrying suffrage petition to Washington D.C. Welcoming envoys, on steps of Utah Capitol – October 16th, 1915. Front (L to R): Maria. A. Kinderberg (driver of the automobile), Ingeborg Kindstedt (machinist), Emmeline B. Wells, and Sara Bard Field (messenger). Courtesy of National Woman’s Party.

 

Check out the short overview of women’s suffrage in Utah: Receiving, Losing, and Winning Back the Vote: The Story of Utah Women’s Suffrage”

Discussion Questions

  • What do you think life would be like if women still did not have the right to vote?
  • Who are the voices around you that are not heard? Who goes unrepresented? How can you ensure that their stories are heard?
  • What lessons can be learned about resilience and persistence from the women’s suffrage movement?
  • After learning about this history, what do you feel inspired to accomplish?
  • What leader from the women’s suffrage movement most inspires you? Why?
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World
Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World

Book Description

This work depicts through beautiful illustrations and poetry the lives and experiences of 14 young women (one just six years old, another only thirteen) who were pioneers in their fields. From the first known female firefighter in the United States to Malala Yousafzai, youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, the legacies of these young women are timeless and inspirational.

Utah Connection

Five generations of voting Mormon women who voted in Utah’s first election where women could vote in February 1870 to November 1920, the first election where women could vote in federal elections. Courtesy of the LDS Church History Library.

Since the women’s rights movement spanned several decades, many older suffragists mentored younger women who became suffragists. For example, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon was mentored by Emmeline B. Wells when Mattie worked as a typesetter for the Woman’s Exponent, the women’s rights newspaper that Emmeline edited. Additionally, since women in Utah were first given voting rights in 1870, several generations of Mormon women voted by the time the 19th Amendment was ratified, granting women’s suffrage at a national level, in 1920.

Discussion Questions

  • Choose one of the young women from the book. What do you find inspiring about her story?
  • Why do you think the author chose these young women specifically? Is there a pattern or theme that unites them? If so, what is that pattern, and how can you see it in your own life?
  • Who are some influential young women in society today? What makes them influential to you? How can you emulate those qualities in your own life?
  • Choose one girl from the book and create an argument as to why she is the most influential of them all. Support your idea with facts and real-life application.
Her Story: A Timeline of Women Who Changed America
Her Story: A Timeline of Women Who Changed America

Book Description

This non-fiction work chronologically explores many of the world’s most famous women from various backgrounds and fields through a timeline format. With short blurbs about hundreds of women, this book is a great resource to offer background information about influential women.

Utah Connection

Use the interactive timeline at on the home page as a comparison and to learn about Utah suffrage milestones.

Discussion Questions

  • What connections do you make between your life and the lives of the women in the book?
  • Which women today do you think are making “herstory”? Why?
  • What can you do to become a “historical” woman or to support the “historical” women in your life?
  • What Utah milestones would you add to this book’s timeline? Why?
Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell
Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell

Book Description

This biographical picture book tells the story of determined Elizabeth Blackwell, who fought scorn and barriers on her way to becoming the first woman doctor in the United States, in a lively and engaging manner with bright, upbeat illustrations. The book includes an author’s note providing additional information about Blackwell.

Utah Connection

Deseret Hospital Board. Front row, left to right: Jane S. Richards, Emmeline B. Wells. Middle row: Phoebe Woodruff, Mary Isabella Horne, Eliza R. Snow, Zina D. Young, Marinda N. Hyde. Back row: Dr. Ellis R. Shipp, Bathsheba W. Smith, Elizabeth Howard, Dr. Romania B. Pratt Penrose. Courtesy of LDS Church History Library.

“Women founded their first formal medical organization in Utah in 1851 as the Female Council of Health. It met at least twice a month at the home of Brigham Young’s first mother-in-law.               

In October 1873, Young announced he was sending Utah women to eastern universities to train as physicians. Some of the most remarkable women in the territory answered the call, and the next fall Romania Pratt, widow of LDS Apostle Parley P. Pratt, enrolled in the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Ellis Shipp joined her in 1875, working her way through school as a seamstress until graduation in 1883.

Pratt later ran a school of obstetrics for 20 years as a resident physician at the Deseret Hospital, which the LDS Relief Society operated from 1882 until 1894. Shipp trained nurses and midwives throughout the territory and gave birth to 10 children of her own, four of whom died in infancy.               

Martha Hughes Cannon studied medicine at the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania. Her degree from the National School of Elocution and Oratory helped her become the first woman state senator in the U.S. in 1896.”

 

From Will Bagley, “Despite Today’s Legislators, Utah on the Forefront of Women in Medicine,” The Salt Lake Tribune, September 1, 2002.

Discussion Questions

  • Have you ever been consumed by an idea--like Elizabeth was consumed with the idea of becoming a doctor?
  • Have you ever been told that you couldn’t or shouldn’t do or be something that you knew you could do or be? What did you do?
  • How do you think Elizabeth felt when she arrived at medical school to learn that her fellow students didn’t want her there? What did Elizabeth do instead of giving up and returning home? What can you learn from her example?
  • What profession do you want to have? Do you feel supported in this choice? Why or why not?
Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote
Bold & Brave: Ten Heroes Who Won Women the Right to Vote

Book Description

Inspired to be bold and brave by her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand highlights the stories of 10 other women who worked to win women the right to vote--a chain of bold and brave women. With beautiful illustrations by Maira Kalman, these stories will hopefully inspire today’s generation to speak up and out for justice. The suffragists included are: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Jovita Idár, Alice Paul, Inez Milholland, Ida B. Wells, Lucy Burns, and Mary Church Terrell.

Utah Connection

Utah women at the National Council of Women conference in February 1895–a few months before Utah delegates voted to include equal suffrage into the Utah state constitution. Courtesy of Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.

 

Like the women in this picture book, Utah women also worked to win women the right to vote. Read about more of them in the “Key Players” portion of the website.

Discussion Questions

  • What similarities do these 10 women have? What differences stand out to you?
  • Which woman’s story do you find the most inspiring? Why?
  • How have your mother and your grandmothers inspired you?
  • The end of the book asks: What would you change if you could?
  • What Utah women from history would you add to this book if you had the option? Why?
Little People, Big Dreams: Emmeline Pankhurst
Little People, Big Dreams: Emmeline Pankhurst

Book Description

This picture book from the bestselling series “Little People, Big Dreams,” chronicles the life of British women’s voting rights activist Emmeline Pankhurst. It includes charming illustrations, a biographical timeline, and historical photographs from Pankhurst’s life.

Utah Connection

Emmeline B. Wells at her writing desk. Courtesy of Utah State Historical Society.

The Brits were not the only ones to have a famous Emmeline. Utah had its own Emmeline in Emmeline B. Wells. She was Utah’s leading suffragist, and she lobbied for over 30 years for Utah interests in Washington, D.C., meeting with legislators and four U.S. Presidents. Emmeline was a frequent speaker at national and international suffrage conventions and traveled the Utah Territory as president of its suffrage association. For nearly 40 years, she edited the Woman’s Exponent, a newspaper that she used to voice her support for suffrage and other opportunities for women. She also maintained lifelong friendships with national suffrage leaders like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Discussion Questions

  • What inspired Emmeline Pankhurst to fight for women’s voting rights? Who or what inspires you?
  • How did Emmeline Pankhurst show others that women were capable of doing what men can do?
  • What similarities do you see between Emmeline Pankhurst and Emmeline Wells?
  • How did both Emmelines show perseverance and dedication to their belief?
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World

Book Description

Weaving events, quotations, personalities, and commentary into a page-turning narrative, Penny Colman tells the compelling friendship between abolitionists and suffragists, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The book includes comprehensive back matter and notes for discussion.

Utah Connection

Bathsheba Smith’s membership ticket to the Salt Lake County Woman Suffrage Association, 1891. Courtesy of Ron Fox.

Emily Richards and Margaret Caine organized the Utah Woman Suffrage Association, an affiliate of the National Woman Suffrage Association, and then traveled throughout the Territory organizing local organizations. Women within these local organizations worked together towards winning suffrage at the state level.

Discussion Questions

  • How would the women’s suffrage movement have been potentially different if Stanton and Anthony had not joined forces?
  • What is the most important aspect of the women’s suffrage movement to you? Why?
  • Consider the barriers to success that plagued Stanton and Anthony. Would you have continued to fight for women’s suffrage if you were them? Why?
  • How did Stanton and Anthony work together to achieve their goals? What individual strengths did each of them have that added to their success?
  • How can you work together with friends towards mutual goals? Towards making positive changes in your communities?