Emmeline B. Wells

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Emmeline B. Wells (1828-1921) was a leading figure in the suffrage movement and in her faith. Wells advocated for the rights of women to vote, run for office, and experience religious freedom.

Wells was born in Massachusetts in 1828 to an intellectual family. She was the only one in her family to receive a private education and, as a teenager, earned her teaching certificate. At age 14, she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, married (the first of three times), and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, and thereafter to Salt Lake City with fellow Church pioneers.

As she grew older, her attention turned to politics, public service, and writing. For 37 years, Wells served as editor of Woman’s Exponent, a newspaper for women of the Church, and in it, advocated for woman’s economic, educational, and suffrage rights. Editorials supporting the topic of plural marriage were also included, a practice in which Wells participated.

The Utah Territory granted women’s suffrage in 1870. Wells was among the first women to vote in the nation. Even though Wells had gained the right to vote, she joined forces with movements for the national cause of women’s suffrage, working with Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Carrie Chapman Catt in the National Suffrage Association.

In 1887, the U.S. Congress rescinded Utah womens’ voting rights to reduce the presumed power the Church had over the state. Outraged over their loss, Wells led other Utah suffragists in a battle to regain their ballot. Efforts were successful, and equal suffrage was included in the State Constitution when Utah entered the Union in 1896.

At age 82, Wells served as general president of the Relief Society, a religious organization designed to help those in need, until shortly before her death at age 93. One year before her death, Wells’ dream of giving every U.S. woman the right to vote was realized when Congress passed the 19th Amendment granting equal suffrage.

This sculpture was gifted to the State of Utah on February 29, 1928, on what would have been Wells’ 100th birthday.

The Sculptor
Cyrus E. Dallin (1861-1943) was a notable sculptor born in Springville, Utah. In his youth, Dallin sculpted with clay and at eighteen, began formal art studies in Boston and Paris. Dallin’s prize-winning works can be found throughout the country, and locally-Angel Moroni atop the Salt Lake Temple and Massasoit outside the Utah State Capitol.