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My Time as an Intern with Better Days 2020
by Gabi Price, Historical Intern May 2, 2019 I’ve been working with Better Days 2020 for about eight months now, and I can confidently say I’ve been overwhelmed with the wealth of information that exists about women in Utah history. Had you asked me what I expected out of this internship in August, you would […]Read More -
Contention At The Convention
Contention at the Convention By Sarah Hancock Jones October 18, 2018 Filing into the Salt Lake City and County building in the spring of 1895, Utah women thought they had it in the bag. They had been working for years to build support for universal suffrage in the state constitution: collaborating with national leaders […]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 -
Zitkála-Šá And The Struggle For Minority Voting Rights
Zitkála-Šá And The Struggle For Minority Voting Rights By Barbara Jones Brown, Better Days 2020 Historical Director November 7, 2017 Ratified in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution states, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State […]Read More -
In Behalf Of The Ladies: Eliza R. Snow (1804–1887)
In Behalf Of The Ladies: Eliza R. Snow (1804–1887) By Jennifer Reeder October 31, 2017 Eliza Roxcy Snow, one of Utah’s earliest settlers, worked to empower women. She encouraged women to act independently, speak publicly, participate in civic activity, and defend religious freedom. In February 1870, one week after territorial governor Stephen A. Mann signed […]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 -
2020 Marks Monumental Anniversaries In Suffrage History
2020 Marks Monumental Anniversaries In Suffrage History August 28, 2017 August is a banner month in the nation’s voting history. On August 18, 1920, Congress ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, making women’s suffrage national law. Forty-five years later, on August 6, 1965,President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act, protecting suffrage rights for women and […]Read More -
Emmeline B. Wells: A Leading Suffragist In Utah And The Nation
Emmeline B. Wells: A Leading Suffragist In Utah And The Nation By Barbara Jones Brown, Better Days 2020 Historical Director August 28, 2017 After receiving the franchise in 1870, Utah women enthusiastically voted and worked alongside Eastern leaders in advocating for national women’s suffrage. Thrilled at the enfranchisement of Utah women, the president and […]Read More