VOTES FOR WOMEN

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VOTES FOR WOMEN
AN ALL-WOMEN TOWN COUNCIL
ELECTED IN 1911 WORKED TO
IMPROVE KANAB. CALLED A “MOST
REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT
OF WOMAN SUFFRAGE."
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2020

In the United States, women struggled for years to gain voting rights until the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. Prior to this around 1847, the Mormons, led by Brigham Young, arrived in the Utah Territory. As they built communities, local government was established and laws were passed. The Utah Territory made history in 1870 when it became one of the few places in the United States to give women the right to vote. Women of the territory enjoyed this right until 1887, when Congress passed the Edmunds-Tucker Act. Between 1887-1895 citizens across the territory mobilized for the cause of woman suffrage. When Utah became a state in 1896 voting rights for women were restored.

One of the first all women town councils was elected in the Town of Kanab in 1911. During their time in office, the women worked tirelessly to improve their community. A February 28, 1914 edition of The Woman’s Journal details their accomplishments:

They passed an ordinance raising the licenses of peddlers and traveling merchant, aiming to support and protect local tradesmen. Another prohibited cattle, horses, etc., from running at large in the public streets which is one of the nuisances of most country towns…They had the cemetery surveyed and platted, and issued deeds to all who pay a small fee for the lots. They prohibited racing ball and other noisy games and sports on the Sabbath, and they prohibited gambling and all games of chance. They wisely joined the Kanab Irrigation Company in building a large dam to keep out the flood waters that menaced the town each year.

These are just some of the deeds which caused The Journal newspaper, on January 29, 1914, to describe the Town Council of Kanab as a “most remarkable achievement of woman suffrage.”