Today in Women’s History
A quiet moment that made history unfolded in Utah 156 years ago.On February 14, 1870, a young Utah woman cast a vote that helped change the
By Avery Sloane, KUTVTue, February 10, 2026
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A quiet moment that made history unfolded in Utah 156 years ago.
On February 14, 1870, a young Utah woman cast a vote that helped change the course of women’s rights.
That moment marked the first time women voted in the United States, cementing the legacy of Seraph Young and Utah’s role in the women’s suffrage movement.
Utah Historical Society events manager Eliza Carr spoke to ARC Salt Lake about Seraph Young and that first historic vote.
“It was a municipal election for Salt Lake City, and it was the first one where women could legally vote in the United States,” Carr said. “It made Utah the first place where women could exercise that right to vote.”
Carr said Wyoming passed a women’s suffrage law before the Beehive State, but the first vote by women happened in Utah.
Young’s great uncle was Brigham Young, leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Young was also a schoolteacher, and Carr said they believe she was among the first to vote because she needed to cast her ballot before heading to class.
“She was one of 25 women who voted that day, that we have record of,” Carr said. “She probably had no idea she was the first.”
A monument called A Path Forward was installed in 2020 at the Salt Lake City Council building, just south of the Utah State Capitol, to memorialize that moment.
“The incredible thing about Seraph’s story is that she voted 50 years before women in the United States could vote generally,” Carr said. “This monument symbolizes that.”
The first woman to vote in modern American history was a school teacher. 156 years later men are moaning about too many women teachers and women being able to vote.