"For the Advancement and Betterment of Humanity": The Fight for Women's Suffrage at Utah's Constitutional Convention.

This article focuses on the efforts of Utah women's suffragists in 1895 to regain the right to vote during the drafting of Utah's state constitution. After women in Utah Territory had initially gained suffrage in 1870 but lost it under the 1887 Edmunds-Tucker Act, suffragists organized grassroots resolutions, petitions, and testimonies before the constitutional convention's Committee on Elections and Suffrage to advocate for inclusion of women's voting rights. Prominent figures such as Emmeline B. Wells and Martha Hughes Cannon, along with diverse women leaders, successfully persuaded the convention despite opposition, leading to the adoption of women's suffrage in Utah's 1895 constitution. While this enfranchisement excluded many Native Americans and Asian immigrants due to federal laws, it marked a significant milestone that influenced the national suffrage movement and contributed to Utah's statehood in 1896.