Women Who Built Utah

We have heard the stories of the men who contriubted to the Utah of today, but what about the women?

These stories include women who have fought for the rights we have today, who experienced intense discrimination and opposition but chose not to back down.  These women assisted in racially integrating Utah's school system, establishing greater environmental protections against nuclear waste,  survived forced incarceration, and passed legislation establishing protections for workers. 

In an attempt to represent the holistic nature of women in Utah, this exhibit includes stories from various identities including LGBTQ+, Indigenous, Japanese American, and more.  The exhibit includes 6 cases, each of which includes collections relating to a part of Utah women's history: the Equal Rights Amendment, Topaz Interment Camp, Education, LGBTQ+, Women in Politics, and Indigenous People. 

The Aileen Clyde Women's Legacy Archive is a collection within Special Collections dedicated to document and preserve the history of women whose lives and work helped create social and cultural change.  While the Clyde collection was the cornerstone of this exhibition, not all of the collections included are a part of it.  

The materials included are a small part of what is available for students and community members at the Marriott Library! The University of Utah's Marriott Library's Special Collection Department is home to over 1600 unpublished historical collections, over 80,000 rare books from cuniforms to artist books, and over 500 collections containing official records of the University of Utah.  While some of these items date back thousands of years, the majority tell the story of Utah and the people who shaped the state. 

This exhibition highlights just a few of the change-makers in Utah and Western American history across multiple issues and time periods.  This webpage is created in conjunction with the physical exhibition by the same name on display from April 1-May 30 2025 in the Marriott Library's Special Collections Reading Room. This page includes digital resources not available for the physical exhibit due to use restrictions.