Woman’s Exponent was a Salt Lake City-based newspaper that was published semimonthly or monthly from 1872 to 1914 and covered topics germane to Mormon women, ranging from domestic affairs and church-related events to national topics such as slavery and the suffrage movement. In conjunction with Better Days 2020, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of Utah women’s history, teams at the University of Utah (Digital Matters and the J. Willard Marriott Library) and BYU (BYU Office of Digital Humanities and the Harold B. Lee Library) have collaborated to highlight data from the entire 42-year run of Woman’s Exponent. 

We hope this project will reveal the fascinating, complex, and sometimes contradictory history of suffrage in Utah, as it deals with matters of statehood, religion, early feminism, and national politics.