Voting Rights Rescinded

After the Edmunds-Tucker Act became law, women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined local and national efforts to regain voting rights. In 1889, Emily S. Richards organized the Utah Woman Suffrage Association, an affiliate of the National Woman Suffrage Association. Across Utah, women in the Church formed local suffrage organizations and gathered each month to study the role of government. They also educated their neighbors on the importance of women’s voting rights. Many items featured in this exhibit were created by the Beaver County Woman’s Suffrage Association (BCWSA), one of the nineteen branches of the Woman Suffrage Association of Utah. The BCWSA met regularly to promote education and influence politicians to support women’s suffrage. Dues collected by the group supported Utah’s suffrage leaders as they attended national suffrage meetings.

Women in the Church of Jesus Christ also engaged at the national level, participating in the International Council of Women, the National Council of Women, and the World’s Congress of Representative Women held at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.

Artifacts