Women’s History Month with the Kanab Museum

Long before most women in America were recognized as full participants in public life, the women of the Utah Territory were already using their voices and exer­cising their rights on the frontier. To honor this legacy of early female leadership, the Utah Historical Soci­ety invited the Kanab Museum to partner in hosting a special Wom­en’s History Month drop-in craft activity on Saturday, March 7, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Kanab Center.

Women’s suffrage activists picket outside the White House in Washington, D.C., in November 1917. The group includes Mrs. C.T. Robertson of Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo: National Archives, public domain.

At this event you can create a suffrage ban­ner inspired by the ones used by early women’s rights advocates. The banner-making craft was selected by the Utah Historical Soci­ety to highlight Utah’s pioneering role in the struggle for women’s rights, which began in 1870 when the Utah Territory became one of the earliest in the nation to grant women the right to vote. That right was revoked by Congress in 1887 with the passage of the Edmunds-Tucker Act. Despite this setback, Utah women would go on to regain the vote nearly a decade later.

In 1896, suffrage was officially written into the new state consti­tution, granting Utah women recognized as U.S. citizens the right to vote and to run for office. However, women and men who were not considered eligible for citizenship, including many Native Americans, remained excluded from those rights for decades. Beyond the state’s borders, Utah women were also highly visible in the campaign for national voting rights. They carried banners in parades, protests and public meetings to advocate for change. Two Utah suffragists, Lovern Robertson and Minnie Quay, even journeyed to Washing­ton, D.C., in 1917 to join the historic White House pickets, part of a sustained effort that ultimately helped secure passage of the 19th Amendment. Today, those contri­butions are formally recognized each March through Women’s His­tory Month.

Women’s History Month traces its ori­gins back to 1978 in Santa Rosa, Califor­nia, where the Edu­cation Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women orga­nized the first “Wom­en’s History Week.” Shortly thereafter, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential procla­mation recognizing National Women’s His­tory Week. President Carter stated, “From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first Ameri­can Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and some­times their contribu­tions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

In 1987, Congress officially designated March as Women’s History Month. At that time Congress also called upon the President to issue a proclamation encour­aging Americans to ob­serve Women’s History Month. Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions reaffirm­ing this designation and requesting yearly presidential recogni­tion. Since 1995, every president has con­tinued the tradition by issuing an annual proclamation honor­ing March as Women’s History Month.

Locally, that rec­ognition takes shape through community events such as this one. By hosting this activity, the Utah His­torical Society and the Kanab Museum hope to deepen public ap­preciation for the many contributions women have made to Utah’s history. Community members of all ages are invited to attend, learn more about the past and create a banner to take home as a colorful reminder of the women who helped shape our state.