Katherine Kitterman | Better Days for Women: Relief Society and Women’s Suffrage

Latter-day Saint Women Podcast

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

5 • 670 Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2020

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Utah Relief Society women were among the first in the United States to receive the right to vote, and Seraph Young, the grand-niece of Brigham Young, was the very first woman to cast a ballot in the United States under a women's equal suffrage law in 1870. In this episode, historian Katherine Kitterman shares highlights of the story of Relief Society and the women’s suffrage movement, discussing how Relief Society participation empowered Utah women to be articulate, effective, and organized as they helped elevate and increase the standard of living for women throughout Utah and the United States. Additional Resources: 2020 Church History Museum Exhibit: Sisters for Suffrage https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/landing/museum/sisters-for-suffrage;https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/sisters-for-suffrage-exhibit-2019?imageView=Photo-Nov-21,-5-43-56-PM.jpg February 2020 Church magazine article: "The Beginning of Better Days": How the Relief Society Works to Bless the World https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2020/02/the-beginning-of-better-days-how-the-relief-society-works-to-bless-the-world?lang=eng Video: Latter-day Saint Women and the Right to Vote https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2019-03-1080-latter-day-saint-women-and-the-right-to-vote?lang=eng Church History Resources: Suffrage and Relief Society https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/latter-day-saint-womens-suffrage-research-guide/suffrage-and-relief-society Additional Information: UtahWomensHistory.org

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Latter-day Saint Women podcast, where we share the legacy of women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
0:12.2	You'll get to know the faithful women who shaped our past and hear from inspiring women of faith today.
0:17.2	I'm Shailen Back.
0:18.2	And I'm Carly Geiman. We're your co-hosts.
0:22.9	Today, we are so excited to have Catherine Kitterman with us here in the studio to talk with her about the Relief Society's
0:28.0	involvement in women's suffrage, just the right to vote. So Catherine, welcome. We're so
0:32.7	excited to have you. Thanks for having me. We are not experts on this topic, but you are. So we're so excited to be
0:39.3	able to pick your brain and ask you questions and hear from your wealth of knowledge and your
0:44.2	expertise and experience. So Catherine works as the historical director for Better Days 2020,
0:50.7	which is a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating Utah Women's History and encouraging women today
0:56.2	to be more engaged in the community.
0:59.4	Catherine earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Brigham Young University and is currently
1:03.8	a Ph.D. candidate in American History at American University in Washington, D.C.
1:08.9	And we thought this was so interesting.
1:10.9	Her doctoral work actually focuses specifically on Latter-day Saint-Women's struggle for suffrage in 19th century, Utah.
1:18.4	Previously, she worked at BYU as an adjunct professor in church history and doctrine,
1:24.0	and she also worked as a research assistant for saints, which is the recently published
1:29.1	narrative history of the church. Catherine is also the co-author of the recently published book
1:34.6	Thinking Women, A Timeline of Suffrage in Utah. So again, we feel so lucky to have you here
1:40.0	today to discuss the legacy of Relief Society women's involvement. And this is such an important
1:45.4	and inspiring story. So we're excited to be able to share with our listeners more about that.
1:50.2	And Catherine, we're especially excited to have you on the episode today because we're celebrating
	...

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