Explore the History -
Articles
-
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 -
125 Years of Utah Women in Government
November 3, 2021 Today marks the 125th anniversary of Utah women’s first elections to government! Our first election after statehood was the first time Utah women could run for public office, and Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon was the first woman elected to a state senate in the United States! Her statue will soon represent Utah […]Read More -
Utah’s early female legislators – Alice Merrill Horne
by Rebekah Clark April 15, 2018 “I wanted to write a law on our statute books in the interest of art for the masses.” Hailed as Utah’s “First Lady of the Arts,” Alice Merrill Horne exemplifies the impact of women’s political participation in early Utah. As the third woman to serve in the Utah House […]Read More -
Answering Questions About Voting Firsts
By Katherine Kitterman, Better Days 2020 Historical Director September 13, 2018 Our mission at Better Days 2020 is to share the stories of Utah women – who were the first women citizens in the U.S. to vote under a women’s equal suffrage law! We’re pretty proud of that fact, so let’s take a closer […]Read More -
On This Day: A Mother’s Influence
On This Day: A Mother’s Influence By Candace Brown, Better Days 2020 Historical Intern August 18, 2018 On this day in history, August 18, 1920, Tennessee’s youngest state representative, Harry T. Burn, sat in his Nashville hotel room, poring over a letter from his mother. Postmarked August 17, most of the seven-page note was […]Read More -
The Suffrage Resolution at Seneca Falls
The Suffrage Resolution at Seneca Falls By Candace Brown, Better Days 2020 Historical Intern July 27, 2018 On July 19, 1848, in the opening speech of the Seneca Falls Convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton declared, “We [women] now demand the right to vote.” Her audience applauded her gumption. But when she later presented the ninth […]Read More -
On This Day: Seneca Falls Convention
On This Day: Seneca Falls Convention By Candace Brown, Better Days 2020 Historical Intern July 19, 2018 One hundred seventy years ago today, on July 19, 1848, thirteen-year-old Daniel Cady Eaton broke into the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel with both his aunt’s blessing and her assistance.Once inside, he made his way to the front of the […]Read More -
“None Of The Unpleasant Results Have Occurred”
“None Of The Unpleasant Results Have Occurred” By Katherine Kitterman, Historical Director, Better Days 2020 July 10, 2018 On February 15, 1898, Susan B. Anthony led a delegation of women and men up the steps of the U.S. Capitol to speak in support of women’s suffrage. It was her 78th birthday, and the fifteenth […]Read More -
Gaining, Losing, and Winning Back the Vote: The Story of Utah Women’s Suffrage
Gaining, Losing, and Winning Back the Vote: The Story of Utah Women’s Suffrage By Barbara Jones Brown, Naomi Watkins, and Katherine Kitterman When Utah became a U.S. territory in 1850, all free white male inhabitants over the age of 21 had the right to vote if they were U.S. citizens. This meant many […]Read More -
Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon: First Female State Senator
By Rebekah Clark, Better Days 2020 Historical Research Associate January 23, 2018 Martha “Mattie” Hughes Cannon (1857 – 1932) blazed trails for women as a skilled physician, ardent suffragist, progressive public health reformer, and most notably, the first female state senator in the United States. Born in Wales, young Mattie immigrated with her family […]Read More -
Susan B. Anthony and Her Strong Utah Ties
Susan B. Anthony and Her Strong Utah Ties By Barbara Jones Brown, Better Days 2020 Historical Director December 15, 2017 Like many American suffragists, Susan Brownell Anthony (1820 – 1906) began her activism by working to abolish slavery. Raised in upstate New York in the Quaker tradition, she became passionate about social equality and […]Read More -
Winning Back the Vote: Ruth May Fox
Winning Back the Vote: Ruth May Fox Congress Took Away Utah Women’s Voting Rights in 1887. But Utah Suffragists Like Ruth May Fox Won Them Back. September 20, 2017 In February 1870, Utah women became the first to vote in the modern nation. For the next seventeen years they cast their ballots in high […]Read More