Marchers wearing sunflowers and the purple, white and gold sashes of the suffragist movement made their way down Main Street in Logan on Friday. They walked from the Tabernacle to the Historic Cache County Courthouse in a reenactment of a suffrage march. It was meant to commemorate almost a century since the adoption of the 19thAmendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote.
Candi Carter Olson, a professor at USU and one of the directors of the Bennion Teachers’ Workshop, said this year’s workshop focus was on the intersection of gender, media and suffrage in the United States from 1848 through today. Carter Olson said that Utah is making strides in voting access.
“Utah has been an incredibly progressive state in working on developing voter rights," she said. "We have hopped from 39thto 21stin the US in voter turnout. Utah is doing a fantastic job, but everything can be improved.”
Marchers presented a Declaration of Sentiments to Logan Mayor Holly Daines and Cache County Councilwomen Gina Worthen and Barbara Tidwell. While the women declined to sign the document for various reasons, they all showered the group with high praise.
“It’s just a way of telling the story about our history and helping us remember that we do have it pretty good now," Mayor Daines said. "We had a lot of people who fought for those things way back then. So we need to continue to help others who may need to have barriers broken down as well.”
