Did you know that the first women to vote under equal suffrage laws were in Utah? And that they were the only women whose voting rights were revoked by Congress? Utah women’s political participation was controversial because of the practice of polygamy, and their right to vote was attacked as soon as they cast their first ballots in 1870. Retrace the steps of the first voting women in Salt Lake City while learning about the contentious and complicated twists and turns of their history. From gaining the right to vote in 1870, losing it in 1887, and restoring it in Utah’s 1896 constitution, Utah suffragists knew how to lobby, parade, petition, and persuade to win women’s voting rights, decades before the passage of the 19th Amendment.
You can print out your own self-guided walking tour of Salt Lake’s suffrage sites, explore them online, or pick up a printed guide at Council Hall on 300 N. State.