Research Guide
Latter-day Saint Woman’s Suffrage
Overview
This guide presents sources for researching the woman’s suffrage movement in Utah. Utah women received the right to vote in 1870, but this right was taken from them by the Edmunds-Tucker Act passed by the federal government in 1887. Utah women were again granted the right to vote in 1896, when Utah became a state. In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was passed, extending the right to vote to all women in the United States.
Please note that some of these sources are third-party websites not affiliated with the Church; as such, the Church does not endorse their content.
Government and the National Suffrage Movement
This section identifies items and collections at both the state and federal government levels pertaining to suffrage in Utah. It also lists Church History Library holdings related to the national suffrage movement, which was reenergized in the late 1860s. The movement was sparked largely in response to the Fifteenth Amendment, which granted the vote to all citizens regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” but did not mention gender.1
Utah women played an important role in the ongoing suffrage movement, and Utah politics were central to many larger debates.
Definitions:
The International Council of Women was formed in 1888 in Washington, D.C., with the mission of bringing together women’s organizations from around the world to advocate for equal rights and improved living standards.2 Latter-day Saint leader Susa Young Gates served as a delegate from Utah and attended meetings around the world.3
The National Council of Women, the United States branch of the International Council of Women, was also formed in 1888. Susa Young Gates and Emmeline B. Wells served on the council, and many other Latter-day Saints attended conventions as delegates of the Relief Society and the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association (YLMIA).4
The National Woman Suffrage Association was organized in 1869 as a split-off from the national suffrage movement. The National Woman Suffrage Association opposed the Fifteenth Amendment because it did not include women’s right to vote.5
The Edmunds-Tucker Act was passed by congress in 1887 to end the practice of plural marriage.6 In addition to disincorporating the Church and the Perpetual Emigrating Fund Company, the act also disenfranchised Utah women,7 who had been voting since 1870.
Bills and Legislation
This collection contains the files of the Utah Territorial Legislative Assembly. Records in the collection include minutes, communications, reports, acts, resolutions, and memorials. The collection also includes the original copy of the
This is the record of a bill introduced to the US Congress in 1869 that granted the territory of Utah voting rights “without any distinction or discrimination whatever founded on sex.” The bill was based on the idea that granting women suffrage would end the practice of plural marriage. The bill passed.
This is the record of a bill introduced to the US Congress in 1882 to disapprove and repeal an act of the Utah territorial governor and legislature giving women the right to vote. The bill died in committee.
Speeches
This pamphlet contains three speeches in support of woman’s suffrage given by Orson F. Whitney at the Constitutional Congress of Utah. See also
This speech was given by Franklin S. Richards at the Utah Constitutional Convention. (This item is available to view on microfiche at the Church History Library.)
This statement by Martha Hughes Cannon (and other representatives from throughout the West) regarding suffrage in Utah was read before the US House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary in 1898.
This pamphlet contains the speech given by George Sutherland, a representative from Utah, to Congress on February 18, 1914, in support of suffrage, drawing on the experience of those states that had already given women the franchise.
Printed Material
This three-volume biography of Susan B. Anthony, written by Ida Husted Harper, contains her public addresses, letters, and other primary source information. Content relevant to Latter-day Saints and suffrage in Utah is treated in volume 1, pages 388–90, and volume 3, pages 1150–53. The Church History Library has a copy of all three volumes. The full text is available online through the Internet Archive.
This pamphlet, created circa 1887, announced a special international council to celebrate forty years of the woman’s suffrage movement. It includes a call for unity and an expression of hope that the council would find effective methods to achieve their goals.
This printed broadside is an appeal for assistance in conjunction with the International Council of Women held in Washington, D.C., from March 25 to April 1, 1888. The announcement identifies the need to cover the expense of the large council and asks women to give their “time and strength” as well as monetary contributions.
This document was written by Belva Lockwood (a national suffragist leader) in 1888 and discusses her belief that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in territorial Utah were unfairly treated by the federal government, emphasizing the disenfranchisement of women who lost the right to vote under the Edmunds-Tucker Act.
This 1914 printed pamphlet, written by Susa Young Gates in response to a letter of inquiry from women in England, states the benefits of suffrage and the political participation of women in Utah.
This pamphlet, also written by Susa Young Gates, relates the story of how Emmeline B. Wells leveraged Utah women’s voting power in a congressional committee to raise the age of consent from 14 to 18 in Utah.
This pamphlet, printed from a speech given by Angie F. Newman at the 49th Congress in June of 1886, states her opposition to Latter-day Saint women being allowed to vote. With the support of George F. Edmund, she also wrote similar documents for the 50th and 51st Congresses. In her speech, Newman refers to a document created by “Mormon women” to express their grievances, which is also
This printed document, written April 6, 1886, was addressed to the president of the United States and Congress in memorial of a mass meeting of Utah women where they expressed their grievances with the existing Edmunds-Tucker Act. In the document, they described the many injustices, harassments, and other indignities they had suffered and appealed to the government to investigate the violations of their rights.
This archivist-compiled collection contains postcards pertaining to the Church, its culture, and its members. There are
Suffrage and the Relief Society
As one of the largest religious women’s organizations in the world, the Relief Society was invited by national suffrage leaders to participate in national and international councils devoted to achieving woman’s suffrage. Relief Society leaders spoke out as delegates at conventions and councils all over the United States and spoke to international audiences. Relief Society leaders and other prominent sisters promoted ideas of suffrage and equal rights in the Woman’s Exponent and as they traveled around western North America to fulfill their Church callings. They were supported in their efforts by each other and the communities they visited.
The Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association and the Primary organization were also involved in suffrage efforts. Utah women worked as suffragists, politicians, writers, editors, doctors, board members, business owners, and pioneers of home industry, all in addition to their religious responsibilities and charitable work. A major goal of the suffrage movement was to increase the standard of living for women, which aligned with the Relief Society’s goal to provide charity and relief.
Publications
The Woman’s Exponent was a privately published newspaper written for the women of the Church. The paper was conceived to be
The Relief Society Magazine was the official publication of the Relief Society from 1914 to 1970. It focused on issues important to women and continued the Exponent’s trajectory of content written by women for women to unite and inspire. The collection is held by the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University and hosted digitally on the Internet Archive.
Published documents related to the Relief Society’s involvement in the National Council of Women.
This song book was published by the Woman’s Exponent and contains songs, poems, and other inspiration about suffrage, freedom, and religion.
This book was published in 2016 and contains a collection of original documents compiled by Kate Holbrook, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Jill Mulvay Derr, and Matthew J. Grow. This volume relates the history of the Relief Society in the 19th century, covering the years 1842 to 1892.
In 2020, the diaries of Emmeline B. Wells were transcribed and added to the Church Historian’s Press. This website includes information about the Woman’s Exponent and a
Beginning in 2020, the Discourses of Eliza R. Snow were transcribed and added to the Church Historian’s Press. The website includes discourses on woman’s suffrage, such as the
Meeting Minutes
This record contains minutes of suffrage meetings in Glenwood, Utah, as well as some notes from Relief Society and Mother’s Class meetings.
Contains minutes of suffrage meetings held in Farmington, Utah, including remarks by Zina D. H. Young.
Contains minutes of suffrage meetings held in various Relief Societies in Salt Lake City, Utah, including lists of members and dues.
Contains minutes of Relief Society general board meetings in which the women discussed items such as woman’s suffrage, the Relief Society’s involvement in the National Council of Women, and their participation in the International Council of Women.
Personal Papers and Journals
This comprehensive collection of papers, documents, letters, journals, and other files and ephemera represents the life and service of Susa Young Gates. Gates founded The Relief Society Magazine and the Young Woman’s Journal and was a key participant in the suffrage movement. The collection includes
This collection contains records and notes made by
This collection of scrapbooks contains ephemera pertaining to the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association. It also contains information on women’s suffrage and the organization’s involvement with the National and International Councils of Women as well as other important women’s issues of the time—such as social welfare, Prohibition, and health and family issues. This collection is available to view on microfilm at the Church History Library.
Ruth May Fox; Romania B. Penrose
This is Elizabeth Fraser’s account of her life and activities in Richfield, Utah. Fraser was a nurse, midwife, and advocate for women’s rights.
This journal contains the account of Emily W. Stevenson’s travels to the East Coast of the United States with her husband and includes family genealogy, an autobiography of Stevenson’s mother, and a partial speech on suffrage.
Correspondence
This comprehensive collection contains Brigham Young’s incoming and outgoing correspondence as well as files kept by Young and his clerks during his service as President of the Church and during his involvement in territorial government, including letters to and from Emmeline B. Wells and George Q. Cannon on woman’s suffrage.
The following letters contain content related to the suffrage movement:
This letter is from a Mr. Bowen in Chicago introducing Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and requesting hospitality on an upcoming visit to Utah.
These letters from Emmeline B. Wells and Bathsheba W. Smith to Romania Penrose pertain to the International Council of Women and Penrose’s possibilities as a delegate to various conventions.
This letter was written by a woman named Georgia in Ogden, Utah, to a friend in New York about the elections held in Utah and how Georgia felt about being able to vote.
Photographs
The library has a large collection of portraiture and other photographs. You can search for the names of prominent Latter-day Saint suffrage leaders in the Church History Catalog; select the facets “digital” and “photographs” on the left side of the screen to find collections containing their pictures.
This is a postcard with cameo prints of five successive generations of voting women within the same family.
This photograph shows Susan B. Anthony with suffrage leaders from the Intermountain West, including Emmeline B. Wells, Zina D. H. Young, and other Utah women.
These photos from the 1920 victory convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and Congress of League of Women Voters include Susa Young Gates and Utah female lawyers.
This collection contains Relief Society photographs of General Authorities, prominent women, Relief Society General Presidents, and board members. It also includes oversized photographs of women suffragists circa 1888. Because of copyright restrictions, this collection is not available to view online, but digital images can be requested and viewed at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City. Remote digital access may be granted on a use/need basis. Contact us through the
Additional Resources
Blog post identifying several digitized collections related to Emmeline B. Wells, including her participation in woman’s suffrage.
Better Days is an educational awareness campaign celebrating Utah women. The year 2020 marked the 150th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Utah. Women in Utah were the first in the nation to exercise their right to vote.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress has an online exhibit titled
National Archives
The National Archives holds many documents related to the
PBS
In 2020, PBS celebrated the Nineteenth Amendment with an
This website, hosted by the National Women’s History Museum, contains articles about the history of the suffrage movement in America.
The library has a large collection of contemporary scholarship pertaining to Latter-day Saint women and suffrage. Search the catalog using the search term “suffrage,” and select the facet “library material” on the left side of the screen. This material can be requested and viewed at the Church History Library in Salt Lake City.
Notes
Notes
1. US Const., amend. XV, § 1
, constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution.
2. “History
,” International Council of Women, accessed Jun 24, 2021, icw-cif.com.
3.Susa Young Gates papers, circa 1870–1933 , Church History Library, Salt Lake City.
4. See Louise Barnum Robbins, ed.,History and Minutes of the National Council of Women of the United States
(Boston: E. B. Stillings & Co., 1898), iiif.lib.harvard.edu/manifests/view/drs:2574304$19i.
5. See Ida Husted Harper, ed.,The History of Woman Suffrage
, vol. 5, 1900–1920 (New York: J. J. Little & Ives, 1922), books.google.com.
6. “The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage ,” Gospel Topics Essays, topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
7. “Edmunds-Tucker Act,” history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
8. Mary Ann Weston Maughan, “Prospectus of Woman’s Exponent, A Utah Ladies’ Journal
,” ed. Emily Crumpton, USU Digital Exhibits (1872), exhibits.usu.edu.
2. “
3.
4. See Louise Barnum Robbins, ed.,
5. See Ida Husted Harper, ed.,
6. “
7. “Edmunds-Tucker Act,” history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
8. Mary Ann Weston Maughan, “