2
3
4
5
6
7 Cosponsors:
8 Cheryl K. Acton
9 Kim F. Coleman
10 Jennifer Dailey-Provost
11 Susan Duckworth
12 Suzanne Harrison
13 Sandra Hollins
Marsha Judkins
Karen Kwan
Karianne Lisonbee
Carol Spackman Moss
Candice B. Pierucci
Stephanie Pitcher
Marie H. Poulson
Susan Pulsipher
Angela Romero
Lawanna Shurtliff
Christine F. Watkins
Elizabeth Weight
14
15 LONG TITLE
16 General Description:
17 This resolution celebrates the history of women's suffrage in Utah.
18 Highlighted Provisions:
19 This resolution:
20 ▸ describes the history of women's suffrage in Utah, including that Utah was the first
21 place in the nation where a vote was cast and counted under a women's suffrage
22 law;
23 ▸ acknowledges the Utah women who contributed to women's suffrage;
24 ▸ celebrates and honors Utah's suffragists; and
25 ▸ encourages Utah women to continue to participate in civic life.
26 Special Clauses:
27 None
28
29 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
30 WHEREAS, Salt Lake City, Utah was the first place in the United States where a vote
31 was cast and counted under a women's suffrage law;
32 WHEREAS, after unanimous passage by the Utah Territorial Legislature, on February
33 12, 1870, Governor Stephen Mann signed a bill into law granting voting rights to women
34 citizens of the territory;
35 WHEREAS, on February 14, 1870, an election was held in Utah in which 25 women
36 voted;
37 WHEREAS, Seraph Young, voting in a Salt Lake City municipal election, was the first
38 woman to cast a vote in an election;
39 WHEREAS, thousands of women across the territory voted in Utah's general election
40 on August 1, 1870;
41 WHEREAS, in 2020, Utah celebrates the 150th anniversary of the first vote in Utah
42 cast by a woman;
43 WHEREAS, Utah women voted for 17 years before federal legislation revoked their
44 suffrage, and then organized and worked together to regain voting rights in Utah's state
45 constitution;
46 WHEREAS, Utah paved the way for women's voting rights to spread across the United
47 States;
48 WHEREAS, Emmeline B. Wells exercised unwavering leadership in the women's
49 rights movement, working with Susan B. Anthony and other national leaders to initiate
50 women's voting rights;
51 WHEREAS, Sarah M. Kimball promoted advancement for women politically,
52 economically, and spiritually;
53 WHEREAS, Hannah Kaaepa, a resident of Iosepa, Utah, spoke to a national women's
54 convention to advocate for Hawaiian women's voting rights;
55 WHEREAS, Emily S. Richards represented Utah women at national conventions and
56 organized the Utah Woman's Suffrage Association in 1889;
57 WHEREAS, Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon spoke in favor of women's suffrage and was
58 elected as the nation's first female state senator in 1896;
59 WHEREAS, Elizabeth A. Taylor worked to help black women in Utah register to vote
60 and participate in the political process in the early years of Utah's statehood;
61 WHEREAS, women's suffrage and political rights were made possible because of the
62 leadership of visionary Utah women and men who understood that our nation prospers when
63 each citizen has the opportunity to participate in the public sphere;
64 WHEREAS, after Utah's statehood, Utah women continued to work to secure suffrage
65 and citizenship rights for women of color and to break down barriers to their political
66 participation;
67 WHEREAS, Utah women have worked on efforts related to an Equal Rights
68 Amendment to the United States Constitution; and
69 WHEREAS, in 2019, Utah designated February 14 as Women's Voter Registration Day
70 and recognizes that day as a celebration of democracy, rights, and opportunities for all women
71 in Utah:
72 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the state of Utah that
73 Utah celebrates being the first place in the nation where women voted under a women's
74 suffrage law.
75 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature acknowledges the legacy of Utah's
76 strong influential female trailblazers who served in their families and communities and honors
77 the Utah suffragists who advanced the rights of women and promoted the democratic values at
78 the core of the United States.
79 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature encourages Utah women to
80 continue to participate in civic life.