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Utah has been on the cutting edge of political opportunity for women.
Apart from being one of the first territories to grant women the right to vote, Utah also holds the distinction of electing the nation's first woman state senator.
By any description, Martha Hughes Cannon was a remarkable individual.
She graduated from medical school in 1882. . .and was one
of the first staff physicians for the old Deseret Hospital,
a predecessor of LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City.
The fourth of sixth wives of a high-ranking Mormon Church
official, she was forced to flee the state and live underground
during anti-polygamy crackdowns.
In 1896 she ran for a seat on the soon-to-be-empaneled Utah
State Senate as a Democrat. Her husband ran for the same body
as a Republican. Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon was elected...the
first woman state senator in the United States.
It's a page from Utah's political history. . .in 2000 your vote can help write the next chapter.
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Martha Hughes Cannon (pictured) paved the road for women in politics by serving as the nation's first woman state senator.