Display in library captures essence of Utah women past and present

As community members visit the Morgan County Library, a new sight awaits them! A display of Martha Hughes Cannon is stretched across the entrance of the library giving everyone an opportunity to appreciate and learn about this influential woman who was a skilled physician, ardent suffragist, progressive public health reformer, and most notably, the first female state senator in the United States. 

Born in Wales, Cannon immigrated to Utah with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As information provided by Better Days tells us, she was deeply impacted by the deaths of her baby sister and father which led to her aspiration to become a medical doctor at a time when women rarely even pursued secondary education. In response to Brigham Young’s encouragement for women to enter the medical field, she enrolled in the University of Deseret, now the University of Utah, at age 16 to fulfill the pre-med requirements. Cannon then went on to earn her medical degree from the University of Michigan and a pharmaceutical degree from the University of Pennsylvania where she was the only female student in that program. During those years, she also became heavily involved in the women’s rights movement.

A busy lady, Cannon split her time between being a doctor, mother, influential speaker, advocate, and more. When the Utah constitutional convention approved including women’s suffrage in the new state constitution in 1895, Cannon was the first woman in Salt Lake City to register to vote. The territorial court, however, ultimately determined that women could not vote in that pre-statehood election to ratify the constitution and elect the new state’s first legislature. The next year, in the first Utah election that permitted women to vote and run for office, Cannon ran as a Democrat in an at-large election for one of five state senate positions. Cannon’s husband and Emmeline B. Wells were also on the ballot as Republican candidates. The Democratic-leaning Salt Lake Herald endorsed Cannon rather than her Republican husband, stating that she was “the better man of the two.” When the election results were counted, the Democrats swept the election and Cannon’s victory garnered national attention. 

“We are proud that the first female US Senator was from Utah. Utah women have a great history of working to make their communities stronger, and Dr. Cannon would fit right in with the amazing women we see in Morgan County today,” commented Morgan County Library Director Erin Bott. “Here at the library, it is our mission to provide Morgan County residents with access to materials and resources to meet their educational and personal enrichment needs. The beautiful display of Martha Hughes Cannon fits that mission perfectly, by allowing visitors to admire the statue while learning more about a fascinating figure from history. We invite everyone to stop into the library and meet Martha!”

“At Better Days,” explained Better Days Executive Director Katherine Kitterman, “We created the Martha Hughes Cannon traveling exhibit in March 2022 to build up to Martha’s eventual send off to DC.”

In 2018, the Utah State Legislature voted to send a statue of Dr. Cannon to represent Utah in National Statuary Hall in Washington, DC. The statue was sculpted by local artist Ben Hammond and completed in 2020; however, because of Covid, the 125th Anniversary of the first Utah Women’s election to public office in the United States and the dedication of the statue in DC was halted. Until then, Utahns can visit the full-sized statue in the Utah State Capitol Rotunda, right outside the Supreme Court chamber doors until the end of the summer when it will be headed to the nation’s capital. “Every state has two statues in the collection and when Martha is installed,” enthused Kitterman, “she will be just the 13th woman in the hundred statue collection!”

With such a positive response from the community, the duration of the display at the library was able to be extended from two to four weeks, which will be through June 29. “Morgan Historical Society and Morgan County Library were happy to have the opportunity to have this display brought to our community,” said Morgan County Historian Cindy Kay. “We hope that people will take the time to come and check out all of these women who changed all of our lives for the better. We also hope they bring their children and teenagers to help them learn. There are two displays, one in the front foyer of the library and one inside the library. Few communities in Utah will have this opportunity. We are grateful to have this display come right to our community. When we can learn about our history I think we become better leaders and make our world better for the future.” λ