Kids learn about key women in Utah's history, and lawmakers join in the fun
SB161 is sponsored by Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, and would help to codify multiple initiatives and organizations within the Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement.
The bill, which includes the Utah Women's History Initiative, was heard in the House Economic Development and Workforce Services Standing Committee on the same day as Utah Women Making History Day was celebrated at the Capitol. The bill already passed through the Senate and will now go to the House floor for a final vote.
On Tuesday, hundreds of students from around Utah came to the Capitol for the sixth annual Utah Women Making History Day, put on by the Utah Women's History Initiative and Better Days.
The event featured a variety of displays where children could visit to learn more about prominent women in Utah's history. The displays and booths were set up by partner organizations such as the Utah Education Network, the State Board of Education and Women's Leadership Institute.
'We try to align community organizations talking about a woman doing that same work that they do today. So it's pretty fun,' said Katherine Kitterman, who manages the Utah Women's History Initiative.
During the event, students were able to interact with a member of the Lieutenant Governor's Office of Elections who was portraying Seraph Young Ford, the first woman to vote in Utah. They were also able to complete certain tasks, and visit a number of booths in order to receive a prize at the end.
The students also learned about other women such as Reva Beck Bosone, who was Utah's first female judge; she was also a state legislator and radio and TV host. At one booth, they were able to meet female mayors who are currently serving around the state.
A group of students gathered in the Capitol's Gold Room to hear from Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, who spoke about women in Utah's history, such as Martha Hughes Cannon, the first woman in the U.S. to be elected to a state senate. Henderson also shared her own experience being a woman in the Utah Senate and how she got to where she is today.
'If it's worth doing, it's not going to be easy, and that's one thing that you should always remember, that just because something is hard doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Often, it means you should,' Henderson said. 'And the more you do hard things, the tougher you get.'
This event was first started in 2020 as a celebration for the 150th anniversary of the first votes cast by women in Utah.
'Better Days had started this, again to honor that anniversary of voting rights and also to show kids, look at the rich legacy of leadership that we have here in this state,' Kitterman said. 'Look at the women who've come before us and paved the way, who have seen a problem and done something to solve it, or stood up, or gathered folks together to make a difference.'
There are nine divisions within the Department of Cultural and Community Engagement and SB161 covers five of them; the Utah State Library, the Utah Historical Society, the Utah Commission on Service and Volunteerism, the Division of Arts and Museums and the State Historic Preservation office.
The bill would codify the Utah Women's History Initiative, which was funded in 2021 but is not yet in code. The purpose of the initiative is to educate the Utah public on women's contributions to the state's history and support relevant historical and cultural organizations.
SB161 would provide updates to the Utah Service Fellowship which is a part of the Utah Commission on Service and Volunteerism. In the Division of Arts and Museums, it would change the grant eligibility criteria.
The fifth division that is affected by the bill is the State Historic Preservation Office, which under that bill would see technical changes.
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