May of 1895 was a big step forward in the fight of Utah women for suffrage. It was then that the state constitution, which included voting rights for female citizens, was approved by the territorial legislature. In commemoration of this event, a new Youtube video launched on Friday,
“So we wanted to commemorate that anniversary of Utah women, making one more step towards regaining the vote, and having this moment to kind of share their work and their methods with other suffragists from around the country,” said Katherine Kitterman, the historical director at Better Days 2020.
Better Days 2020 is a non-profit working to popularize Utah women’s history. In May of 1895, Utah’s state constitution was approved by the territorial legislature, which included voting rights for female citizens of the state.
“So we have people talking to us from different places in the state with different backgrounds and talking about what the women across Utah did to regain the right to vote after they had lost it. We knew that we couldn't tell everybody's story or include all of what happened. So we chose a few key historical women and men who were big parts of that story who could kind of take us through, as narrators of different chunks. We also wanted to make sure that we included women of color. They were telling the same story from a little bit of a different perspective.” Said Kitterman.
The 40-minute video went live on Youtube on Friday. Kitterman said no matter the background or circumstances of the people in the video, these historical figures are individuals everyone can learn from.
“Everybody's stories matter. And everybody's method of bringing about change will be a little bit different.I think one of the things they would really want us to take from their story is that our voices are important, and that we need to need to be involved," Kitterman said.
For more information about Better Days 2020, visit www.betterdays2020.com.