Articles

by Katherine Kitterman, BD2020 Historical Director July 10, 2020 You’ve seen the photos of sash-wearing suffragists holding banners outside the White House or marching down Pennsylvania Avenue. But do you know the meaning of the colors they wore? And what about the colors of other important organizations working for women’s rights? The first major campaign […]

by Katherine Kitterman, Better Days 2020 Historical Director July 8, 2020 If you’ve been watching the new PBS documentary The Vote, you may have wondered how Utahns fit in with the national suffrage parades and protests of the 1910s. In 1913, Alice Paul organized a grand parade down Washington, D.C.’s Pennsylvania Avenue for the National […]

June 10, 2020 2021 update––We’re not handing out pins at physical locations this year, but if you take a photo at locations matching all 15 women and send us a message on social media, we’ll mail you a prize! You can also email info@betterdays2020.org to claim your prize. This summer, get outside and have fun […]

June 1, 2020 Welcome back to Reading Club! For our last week, we’re looking at the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), an essential piece of legislation protecting the rights of people of color who often faced significant obstacles when trying to vote. This Vox article by Dara Lind features 19 different charts and maps […]

By Tiffany Greene, Better Days 2020 Historical Research Consultant May 25, 2020 Dr. Ellen Ferguson and Claire Ferguson: A talented speaker and intelligent thinker, Dr. Ellen Ferguson began practicing medicine in Salt Lake in the 1870’s. One newspaper noted: “In…all that relates to the medical profession, Mrs Dr. Ferguson has no superiors and few equals.” […]

May 21, 2020 EDIT: Deadline is June 12–but if you need more time to submit a proposal, please let us know at the email address below! Better Days 2020 is seeking artists to design and create a temporary interactive art installation that honors Utahns’ work for civil and human rights and encourages voting and civic […]

May 18, 2020 Welcome back to Reading Club! Up to this point, we have discussed the creative methods women from all walks of life used to gain voting rights, from bicycles to pop culture. Once the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, suffragists wanted to enshrine this important step forward in American history — but […]

by Katherine Kitterman, Better Days 2020 Historical Director May 13, 2020 125 years ago today, the Rocky Mountain suffrage convention opened in Salt Lake City. As women packed into the Salt Lake City and County Building, national suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Rev. Anna Howard Shaw took the stand. Seated next to them were leaders […]

May 11, 2020 A warm welcome back to Better Days 2020 Reading Club! Last week we dove into the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade; this week, we turn to Indigenous activists’ fight for political legitimacy. The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, but many women and men were still ineligible to vote due to racist and […]

by Tiffany Greene, Better Days 2020 Historical Research Consultant May 10, 2020 Today we honor the mothers and other women in our lives whose hard work, example, and support help us grow to our full potential. Here are a few mother/daughter duos in Utah suffrage history: Hannah Kaaepa and Makanoe Kahluhilaau Kaaepa: Twenty-five-year-old Hannah Kaaepa […]

By Katherine Kitterman, Better Days 2020 Historical Director May 7, 2020 Tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of V-E Day! Here’s a sampling of Utah women’s experiences on the home front during World War Two. After the United States entered the war in December 1941, millions of men were called up for military service and women […]

May 4, 2020 The day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration in 1913, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) held a parade down Washington, DC’s Pennsylvania Avenue in support of a constitutional women’s suffrage amendment. It was the first large, organized, political march on Washington in U.S. history. The parade was organized by Alice Paul, […]