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Once upon a time, Kanab had an all-female City Council
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| Contributor | User 215 |
| Last Edited | User 215 Apr 19, 2005 01:37pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Salt Lake Tribune |
| News Date | Tuesday, April 19, 2005 07:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | KANAB - Imposing fines for the use of slingshots, abolishment of demon rum, and no ball games or races of any kind on Sunday - these were just some of the ordinances passed by the Kanab City Council between 1912 and 1914.
What makes the laws exceptional is that they were enacted by an all-woman council elected by voters in the southern Utah town on the state line with Arizona.
The council was the subject of a lecture Friday night at the Kanab Library by Brigham Young University researcher Kylie Nelson Turley, whose presentation was part of the Utah Humanities Council "Roads" Scholar program.
Turley said the all-woman council was led by Mary Wooley Chamberlain, a polygamous wife who acted as the mayor as well as one of the five members of the council. The women took their jobs seriously, even though it is unclear exactly how they got on the ballot, said Turley.
"Neither Chamberlain nor the others campaigned," said Turley, adding none actively sought to get elected during the 1911 election. Their cause was helped by the fact that women had the vote in Utah.
She said three "ditch loafers" are suspected by some of putting the names on the ballots, while others believe it was a joke on the part of the town's young men who were displeased on how the older men were running the town.
When told they had won, the women were disgusted by the prospect of governing the town. But with encouragement from residents and family, they took control. |
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