In the Non-Fiction Corner: Pioneering the Vote

In the Non-Fiction Corner With

 Lauren

Pioneering the Vote by Neylan McBaine is a fascinating read on the history of Utah, specifically their journey to statehood and how women got the right to vote. The story is mostly told with Emmeline B. Wells, who is a compelling heroine who gave much of her life to paving the way for women who came after her to have the rights and privileges that we enjoy today. In fact, learning more about the life of Emmeline B. Wells was my favorite part of the book, I enjoyed it just as much as learning about the history of women’s suffrage. She accomplished so much in spite of the hardships she faced.

There is a lot going on in this book, from a quote at the beginning of each chapter, short biographies of many of the women’s lives, sections about looking back, some about looking forward, and then the actual story. I thought it was great that the author used different fonts, or I would have been very lost. I particularly enjoyed the highlights of the women’s lives, I loved learning about the backgrounds of the women that played a role in women’s suffrage all over the country, not just in Utah. This book is very timely and covers an important topic, and I appreciate the author putting forward a historically accurate and well researched book on one of the most important events in our country's history.

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Here's the back copy:

In 1895, Utah's leading suffragist, Emmeline B. Wells, welcomed her friends Susan B. Anthony and Reverend Anna Howard Shaw to a gathering of more than 8,000 people from around the nation at the Rocky Mountain Suffrage Convention. Tensions and setbacks had defined the effort to enfranchise women up until that point, but the women gathered in Utah to celebrate the suffrage movement's recent wins and strategize their next triumphs. Pioneering the Vote tells the remarkable, largely unknown story of the early suffrage victories that happened in states and territories in the American West, when the East was still decades away from the 19th Amendment. With the encouragement of the Eastern leaders, women from Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and Idaho came together in a unique moment of friendship and unified purpose to secure the vote for women in America.

About the Author:

As CEO of the Better Days 2020 non-profit, which popularizes women's history through education, legislation and the arts, Neylan McBaine combines a Silicon Valley career in brand marketing with her experience in advocating for women.

Since co-founding Better Days 2020, Neylan has become a leader in speaking and writing about women's leadership and the U.S. suffrage movement, with a specific focus on Utah and the west's early role in that movement. She has developed a team of historians, educators and marketers that have changed the way Utahns view and understand women's history, leading to shifts in current perceptions of Utahns generally. As a TEDx presenter, columnist and writer, Neylan has been called a "change agent" and "uniquely important." She is also the founder of another non-profit, The Mormon Women Project, and the author of the best-selling "Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women's Local Impact". Neylan is a graduate of Yale University, mother to three daughters, and lives in Salt Lake City.