Pioneering the Vote: The Untold Story of Suffragists in Utah and the West

by Neylan McBaine

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 West at the Rocky Mountain Suffrage Convention. They were there 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. 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.

Told in alternating fiction and non-fiction narratives, this book offers a rare look at the suffrage movement from the point of view of the women in the western United States. With 2020 marking the centennial of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, join with these remarkable figures from the past to celebrate women’s right to vote.
 

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Feminism, Politics, Biography, Womens

1 pages, Audio CD

First published August 4, 2020

Reviews

[Porter Broyles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take everything you think you know about Women's Suffrage and throw it out the window!

This book is unlike any other story you are familiar with.

Women's Suffrage in Utah and the West did not emerge in the same way it emerged in the rest of the country.

The role of women on the frontier was different from the that of women in "civilization." These differences manifested themselves in ways unexpected. For example, in Wyoming, the number of women were such a small portion of the state that nobody really cared if they gained the vote.

Utah, however, posed a myriad of fascinating challenges. One of the big issues confronting Utah at this time was the issue of Polygyny. A traditional argument against women's sufferage in most of places was that wives are such a natural extension of their husbands that it would simply be granting married men two votes. In Utah, where husbands were married to more than one man, the rationale went that these men were gaining even more power by enfranchising women.

But not only that, but many women's sufferagettes who would dispute that argument in other parts of the country bought into it! Women were enfranchised to vote to dispell Polygyny, but they didn't. Non-Mormon view against Polygyny were so strong, that others thought the only way a woman would accept Polygyny would be if they were forced or brainwashed.

This simple bias changes the Sufferage story and the dynamic.

Two other things I found of particular interest were:

1) Susan B Anthony always travelled with an ordained minister. She knew that she couldn't speak the language of faith, so she went with somebody who could.
2) When Anthony arrived in Utah, she was expecting to meet an old friend from her first visit to Utah in 1871. The old friend had stayed in contact with Anthony over the years and Anthony knew that she was important in the Latter Day Saint faith. What Anthony did not know is that her friend was married to the founder of the Reformed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints---a splinter group from what we know as Mormons.

[Teenage Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot:
Emmeline B. Wells is preparing for the Rocky Mountain Suffrage Conference, the largest conference for the suffrage movement that she has ever planned. With 72 women alone in the welcoming party, Emmeline welcomed her mentor Susan Anthony into Utah for the second time in her life. With the historical telling of the women's suffrage movement in the west, and the story of Emmeline running the Suffrage Conference in May of 1895. As August 26, 2020, being the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, which allowed people to vote regardless of their sex, this book celebrates the amendment by giving a historical outtake on how the west took charge of the suffrage movement.

Thoughts:
Neylan McBaine did their research with this one! Told in the style of both in-the-moment conversational writing and history textbook reflecting back in the day, McBaine kept the book flowing with page segments celebrating important women of history by a page length life story of them and how they contributed to the suffrage movement. McBaine kept the plot moving, even if the writing was difficult to follow due to the names and dates you will have to keep track of while reading. This book is unique because of the niche topic McBaine is writing in, talking about specific women suffrage during the Rock Mountain Suffrage Conference, with particular focus on Emmeline B. Wells. The part I found most interesting was around the Mormon religion and how that played its part in Utah from the suffrage movement and Utah becoming a state. I felt like McBaine did a really good job of explaining the problems, without taking a religious side and just gave us the bare historical facts. Overall, this is an easy history text to understand the history of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment, some important women history should remember, and the fight these women had to do to allow their voice to be heard in politics. This book is a must read if you are interested in women history and how the Nineteenth Amendment came to be.

[Courtney Hatch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neylan McBaine's Pioneering the Vote: The Untold Story of Suffragists in Utah and the West is one of my favorite 5 star reads this year. McBaine takes a unique approach to telling this history of women securing suffrage in the Western US well before the 19th amendment by telling the stories of these women in three different ways. She gives us a taste of narrative historical fiction by zooming in on the events of the 1895 Rocky Mountain Suffrage Convention but also takes the time to pause and give us brief biographical sketches of the key women involved. She then frequently zooms out to factually show us how this culminating event fits into the greater suffrage movement and its effects on the relationship many of these women have with their region and religion. 

The text deceptively covers an impressive breadth of information. I was impressed not just by McBaine's thorough research, but also at her ability to take complex historical events and personas and present them to us with consumable clarity. As the CEO of @betterdays2020, she has been at the forefront of popularizing this powerful, yet overlooked, episode of women's history. The mini-bios of important, but often forgotten, women scattered throughout the text is also reminiscent of her dedication to exposing the diversity of faithful female experiences also seen through her work in developing The Mormon Women Project. You can feel a personal dedication and heart in these carefully considered words.

. The stories we tell in our histories and the moments we deem worthy of memorializing have a powerful effect on our lives. I'm grateful for the work McBaine and her team have done to influence our narrative. This is a story worth paying attention to, and it is a story told extremely well in this format. I highly recommend you check it out.

[Joleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love history, especially women’s history, you need to read this book! Pioneering the Vote: The Untold Story of Suffragists in Utah and the West tells the story of the fight for the women’s right to vote in western states and territories. It was fascinating learning about the unique challenges Western women faced in advocating for their rights. I would highly recommend this book, I really enjoyed it.

[Sheila (sheilasbookreviewer) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This non-fiction book is a fantastic look at women's voting and suffragist history in Utah and the West. This book is full of information that I didn't know a lot about. At the beginning of the book, readers learn that the first American women to cast a ballot as an equal citizen to men was a Salt Lake City resident. It happened on Feb. 14, 1870, by a twenty-three-year-old school teacher, Seraph Young. That made me super excited that it was a school teacher who cast this first ballot. 2020 is the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment which gave women the right to vote. Pioneering the Vote tells the story of the gathering of 8,000 people from around the West who came to the Rocky Mountain Suffrage Convention. Emmeline B. Wells was Utah's leading Suffragist. I really enjoyed learning more about her life. I'd read before about Susan B. Anthony a very famous USA Suffragist, but in the book, readers learn about many women who brought about change to benefit all women back then and which has continued into today's world.

This book is a wonderful read for those who love history, and especially for women to appreciate the sacrifices that so many women made for all women in our country. I will definitely be reading more from this author and the causes that she supports.

[Dorothy Minor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neylan McBaine has written about Utah’s leading suffragist, Emmeline B. Wells. In Pioneering the Vote: The Untold Story of Suffragists in Utah and the West, McBaine chronicles the stories that few know about suffrage victory in the West.

At the Rocky Mountain Suffrage Convention, Emmeline Wells brought Susan B. Anthony and Reverend Anna Howard Shaw to talk to a crowd of over 8,000. Often, the story of women’s victories in gaining suffrage centers on the eastern states and accomplishments of women there. McBaine has brought to light stories of equal importance about the battle to win the right to vote for women. The women who spent countless hours rallying, protesting, and speaking out will now be recognized for their worthwhile efforts.

McBaine has chosen a unique way of telling the stories of women like Emmeline B. Wells, Amalia Post, Charlotte Ives Cobb Godbe Kirby, Zina D. H. Young, and Ellis Meredith Stansbury along with other important women of the West. McBaine begins with a fictional narrative, a story that could easily be true about each woman honored. Then she follows that chapter with the true events.
This method of adding the fictional story adds to the drama. McBaine does consider what the women might have said in certain circumstances. For example, one of my favorite stories is about Jennie Anderson Froiseth who was born in Ireland and immigrated to Salt Lake City. Froiseth had met Julia Ward Howe, author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” who “urged Froiseth to follow the lead of many Eastern women in creating a women’s club for literature and continuing learning.” To that end, Froiseth created the Blue Tea with the purpose of promoting “mental culture” for women.

Froiseth was particularly outspoken against polygamy and worked hard to have it outlawed. Not only that, she “supported the creation of safe spaces for the elderly and orphans, as well as a children’s daycare.”

Readers will quickly see that all of the women found in McBaine’s Pioneering the Vote had many talents and they worked hard not only the gain the vote for women but also to improve conditions for all, especially women and children.

Neylan McBaine herself is quite accomplished. She is a public speaker and non-profit leader. She focuses on stories of American women and especially those in Utah and other Western states.
McBaine is CEO of Better Days 2020, a non-profit which supports education about women’s history. McBaine has worked in marketing in Silicon Valley, so she has great experience in turning those skills to helping women. Learn more about Better Days 2020 at this link: www.betterdays2020.org. Check this link, https://www.neylanmcbaine.com/, to discover more about Neylan McBaine herself and her work.

[Annique Mcgregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title wasn't that catchy (other than a cute play on words) for me to want to read it, but I became interested in this book after hearing the author speak at the Fireside Series at Claremont Graduate College. I was dubious about the juxtaposition of a historical novel told from the viewpoint of Emmeline Wells with factual information, but it actually worked quite well. I especially appreciated learning little tidbits about Utah history (e.g. world renowned for their silks, bathing retreat at the Great Salt Lake). It drags a little in the middle, and I found myself forgetting or mixing up some of the stars of the women's suffrage movement, but overall, it was a fascinating read and very enlightening to discover how proactive Utah women were as trailblazers for the women's vote. In the Q&A session after the fireside, Neylan McBaine said the women in the church today would be very surprised at the roles of Utah women of the church in the late 1800's. We would almost not recognize each other given how involved and proactive women were in the day to day activities of the church back then compared with today. That gave me pause for thought (once again) in realizing how much the culture drives our perception of our church (both within and without) instead of doctrine. Female members of the church can and should do so much more! We have only to look to our ancestors from only 100 years back! There is an exhaustive list of sources and recommended bibliographies of prominent characters in the book, but disappointingly, I did not see references for the two bibliographies about Emmeline Wells that McBaine referenced in her fireside. That is the woman I am most interested to learn more about!

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It isn’t every day that you read a non-fiction book that reads like a novel. This one does.

Pioneering the Vote tells the story of how many of the women in the states of the west got the right to vote. There are a lot of things discussed in this book that I have never thought of before. I know I have taken the right to vote for granted. I hope that after reading this one, I won’t any more.

Each chapter in this book tells a part of the story. Most of them have a bit from the 1895 Rocky Mountain Suffrage Convention. These parts were really interesting. I love history! And reading them gave me an insight into life in 1895.

Some of the other things included are some of the history behind the suffrage movement, biographies of the women who would have been major players in this movement, and some of what happened later.

This is an interesting and timely book. I enjoyed it!

I was sent a copy of Pioneering the Vote as a gift from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Beth Given · Rating 3 out of 5]

Were women in territorial Utah oppressed (wives of polygamists) or progressive (leaders in the suffrage movement and among the first to vote in elections)? Somehow it's a little of both, and this book chronicles the events surrounding women's suffrage in the West, with Emmeline B. Wells at the center of the story.

There was a lot of information here, and that doesn't always work with audio -- I think I missed plenty of details. The "sidebar" biographies didn't translate particularly well to an audiobook; it took me awhile to figure out what was happening there. But I did gain some knowledge about this time in history, and I learned about a handful of amazing women. Even though some of this felt dry at times, I'm glad I listened to this book.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a book I wanted written ages ago, one I would have written myself if I had the time.

Fantastic look at not only how the women of the west won the vote first, but the reasons why Utah Mormon women defended their rights as polygamous wives. It doesn’t gloss over the trauma and tragedy many polygamous women faced, but also doesn’t shy away from the freedoms it granted them.

Well done and an important read for any woman or man.


My only complaint was the dialogue aspects threw me off. It reads more like historical fiction and should have been labeled as such. Also..a little long winded.

[Cathy | A Case Full of Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't lie. This one was really hard for me to get through. It contained a lot of great information, and a lot that I'm ashamed to say I didn't know about, especially since most of it focuses on Utah and that is my home state. I feel like I should have learned a lot about it in school.

The book is written as a fictional narrative which alternates with straight facts. In addition to this, there are little vignettes of women important to the suffrage cause interspersed throughout the book. With all of the shifting between these three formats, it became a little irritating to switch so often. The fictional narrative was the most engaging part, but even that was a bit dry and hard to wade through. The factual parts were even more so, reading like a text book.

My favorite part of the book was actually less about women's suffrage and more about the practice of polygamy amongst the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I loved hearing the perspective of the women. This is another thing I'm ashamed to admit I don't know enough about, as I'm a member of the same church and it is a large part of our history.

I wanted to give the book two stars because it was so difficult for me to finish, but I am giving it three because it does contain information that I'm very glad to have learned.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain Publishing for sending me a review copy of this book.

[Red · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book adds a unique chapter to Women's suffrage. By filling in how much Utah offered. I think the author is point out because Utah had polygamy, it's easier to just not acknowledge what Utah did for the movement. The books is factual and fast moving in pace. I appreciated how much is covered, without getting lost in the weeds.

[Marilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an emotional journey! I finished in tears as I reflected on the years of work and sacrifice countless women gave in the fight for women's suffrage.

This book was well-written and well-researched, but is not a light read. There is a lot of information and the format does take some getting used to - it flips between the current setting of the book(the 1895 Rocky Mountain Women's Suffrage convention), mini biographies of influential suffragettes, and the past events leading up to the convention. I did find it useful to read the the mini biographies at the beginning of the chapter rather than stopping to read them in the middle. Once I became used to the format, I did not mind it but it did take several chapters to get the flow down.

I loved that these women, some of whom I had never heard, came alive for me as I read their stories and learned of their struggles. One sister is quoted, referring to Emmeline Well's writings in the Women's Exponent, that "gaining the vote...was about being able to define ourselves, rather than be defined. It was a struggle to gain broader experience and usefulness, to acknowledge the dignity and value of the individual." I am reminded of how privileged I am to have the opportunity and am grateful to the women who came before and paved the way for women everywhere.

A potent and informative read. Every woman - and man - should be acquainted with the history of the suffrage movement because understanding the past will help us to not take for granted our present circumstances and show us how we can make progress as a society in helping every man and women to achieve the dignity of participating in the political process.

I received a complimentary copy of this book but my opinions are my own.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I wasn’t sure about the style of the book, but it had a lot of historical information I had never heard before and loved learning.

[Matt Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book, beginning to end! I couldn't put it down! I can't recommend this book enough. So much history has been forgotten by the country as to where the suffrage movement really took off (in the West). Most people think the movement began around 1910 in the Eastern US and ended in 1920, when reality was much longer and in a different location.

I love how the author draws us in with novel-like scenes and then backs it up with historical context. I wish other historical writers used this format when writing historically accurate books. The biographical sketches on each of the main characters was also a beautiful touch.

The end notes are especially interesting because it is clear how much research the author did as well as just how much of the thought process, dialogue, and scenes are brought to life using original material.

I learned so much about how many ladies of the time viewed polygamy, which is hard to understand given current social norms. It opened my eyes as to the freedom that type of system gave ladies given the very patriarchal system they lived under.

All in all, an absolutely necessary read for anyone interested in the women's suffrage movement in the United States.

[Marnae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel-ish part wasn't super my cup of tea (I listened to the audiobook, and during the narrative sections about the suffrage conference, I was just biding my time until McBaine got into the meat again). But I can imagine that it probably makes it more readable for some people. I do think it was effective at getting me to connect with and remember the women better.

The information in this book is top-notch. Emmeline B. Wells is one of my favorite historical figures now. If I ever get asked that icebreaker question about having dinner with one person, I'd probably ask if I can cheat and choose Wells, Susan B. Anthony, and Martha Hughes Cannon since they all knew each other.

Utah's suffrage history is fascinating. First woman to vote under equal suffrage laws. First woman elected as state senator. And tons of polygamy drama intertwined with it all. If you're unfamiliar, this book is a solid intro.

[Emily Flynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a heavy read full of interesting facts and a narrative surrounding Polygamy and Women's suffrage. Included is information about those that participated and led the movement that brought women the vote in Utah and beyond. Included is a perspective of how polygamy played into that.

I enjoyed the history shared in this book and appreciated the new facts of a subject I haven't really studied but felt appropriate this year. It might not be one I read again simply because I prefer more fiction based books, but I would recommend it to those that have an interest in women's suffrage and polygamy and how they played through history.

I received an early e-copy from Netgalley and this is my honest review.

[AcademicEditor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not everything important in the US happened east of the Mississippi, the author notes early on. Even the story of women's suffrage in Wyoming is told far too simplistically--leaving out the women of Utah because of the ties to LDS and polygamy. The author takes the 1895 Suffrage Conference as a focal point for retelling the biographies of some key figures in the movement. I didn't love the amount of imagined dialogue between the women, but some may like that style.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review

[Lisa-Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite part of this book was the way it placed some of Utah’s famous women leaders – such as Emmeline B. Wells and Eliza R. Snow – in the context of the larger suffrage debate of the late 1800s. Wells and Snow used their leadership skills to debate the issues of the day. They met and were mentored by Susan B. Anthony and other suffragette superstars. The strange confluence of Mormon religious thought and American electoral politics drew these women together. Utah women held their first protest meeting at the old Tabernacle on January 6, 1870. Between 5,000-6,000 women gathered to hear speeches from their female leaders, and it grew into a series known as “The Great Indignation Meeting.”

“These meetings served several purposes for the Latter-day Saint women of Utah, not the least of which was to demonstrate their intelligence, their free will, and their eloquence. The meetings allowed generations of women to enter public life with a dramatic flourish…Emmeline and others of her generation found the indignation meetings transformative.” Utah’s territorial legislature gave women the vote in February, 1870. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton traveled to Utah the next year to meet with their LDS sisters-in-arms and give lectures in the Tabernacle. It was a fascinating time for Utah women and I was thoroughly immersed in it (thanks, Matt and Brandi!)

The book was less successful for me when it came to the format. The story is told in alternating voices, some fictional and some non-fictional. The pages are confusing with different fonts intended to alert the reader as to the difference between fact and fiction. I found it a strange way to present the complicated information. One-page biographies of women are interspersed with factual reporting, but then the story will switch to an historical fiction account of Emmeline’s feelings or musings and it seems incongruent.

Still, the book covered a lot of essential territory. It includes the history of women’s suffrage in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Colorado. It explores the unfairness of women of color being technically enfranchised but still barred from voting in some settings. It charts the course of the Utah Constitution in 1895, which included women’s right to vote. And it celebrates some amazingly strong-willed women. On her 1906 deathbed, Susan B. Anthony slipped a ring off her finger and had her friends send it to Emmeline B. Wells in Utah with a note about their bond of friendship. Emmeline lived into her 90s and witnessed Utah’s ratification of the U.S. 19th Amendment, “a living testament to the self-reliant western women who had first opened the door.”

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book interested in women's suffrage, but learned so much about the history of Utah and the Church of Latter Day Saints - much more than I anticipated initially. The text centers around the Rocky Mountain Suffrage Conference in 1895 in Salt Lake City, and jumps back and forth in time to tell the story of Mormons and Suffrage while holding around this frame for the narrative. While it works sometimes, and I can understand trying to keep a clear interest, I felt it would have been stronger with a more streamlined linear timeline. The ARC I received also had some formatting issues that also embedded what might have been short text box biographies of certain critical characters into the middle of each chapter, but these text boxes in my ARC always started in the middle of sentences and after the character had already been introduced, which minimized its overall effect.
A huge strength of the text for me was the historical reporting and inclusion of official speeches by those involved, particularly as a rhetoric teacher who's always looking to uncover more speeches to use in class. When the text is firmly grounded in these official speeches, the text is engaging. However, some of the connective tissue and creative nonfiction elements were a noticeable tone shift for me that was less effective. McBaine herself notes in the epilogue that she has "manufactured dialogue in order to present background information or themes" and makes note of it in the endnotes, but some of that dialogue does indeed feel manufactured and stilted, like it is overplaying to be old-fashioned, with an awkward and bulky flow that didn't sound genuine to the women's voices. I didn't enjoy these sections, and some (like when Emmeline Wells is sitting alone in her house wondering if someone will ever stay to love her) felt out of place and like a dramatic tone shift.
Overall, if you're looking to learn more about history, particularly that of Utah, LDS, or suffrage, this is a solid read to provide information, which I think works best in installments rather than a binge. Many individuals are introduced (and occasionally seem to blend into a large mass), but Emmeline B. Wells, who I viewed as the protagonist of the book, is given a strong overall biography. This however, is not the best book I have read on women's suffrage.

I received an ARC from Netgalley/the publisher.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW! So much history I knew nothing about. Did you know the first women to vote in America was in Utah?? I didn't either-- not until this book. This was phenomenal and opened my eyes to many things about America, Mormonism, Polygamy, and the Suffrage movement. So thankful for the tanacious women before me who fought for Womens rights and spent their life doing so! A few quotes I enjoyed:

"She wrote later in her diary that she was determined to “train my girls to habits of independence so that they never need to trust blindly but understand for themselves and have sufficient energy of purpose to carry out plans for their own welfare and happiness.”

“It is pitiful to see how men opposed to woman suffrage try to make the women believe it is because they worship them so, and think them far too good. . . . Let us hope the practical experience that will come with the ballot may convince even them that good may follow and they and their children receive the benefit of what they could not discern in the future progress of the world.”

“I do not believe that woman was made merely for a wife, a mother, a cook, and a housekeeper,” invoked Whitney. “These callings, however honorable—and no one doubts that they are so—are not the sum of her capabilities. All the arguments against woman suffrage, however plausible, however sincere, are simply pleas for non-progression.”

A man once said to me that he was afraid to see women in politics, because politics were so dirty, and he said men were the ones that made them so dirty. Well, I responded, if they are so dirty, why not let women cleanse them. She can use a mop better than anyone else!

I have no interest in replacing men or claiming what they have. We are different creatures, in temperament and nature as well as in capabilities. We do not come to disrupt and tear down, but to civilize and build up.”

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book. It revolves around Emmeline B. Wells' experience at the Rocky Mountain Suffrage Conference, between the time the all-male Utah Constitutional Convention approved a constitution with universal suffrage and the time Congress accepted Utah as a state, thus approving the Utah Constitution. The conference hosted luminaries such as Susan B. Anthony and Rev. Anna Howard Shaw, as well as women from Colorado and Wyoming (who had suffrage) and Idaho (where the battle was about to begin). It was very interesting to get a look into Emmeline's life and history, as she is one of my heroes, especially for her work on the Woman's Exponent.

The book flashes back to earlier struggles on the road to suffrage for Utah women. One was the constitutional convention, where Apostle B. H. Roberts argued against female suffrage--how could he get this so wrong when he got so much else right? Fortunately other Church leaders, including President Wilford Woodruff and Franklin S. Richards, were in favor of female suffrage and women won the day. It's odd to see Church leaders involved in such political fights. Other flashbacks include brief general histories of the suffrage movement in general and in particular states, often told in the context of short biographies of the leading women in the suffrage movement. The book is well-written, but in order to set the biographies and histories and flashbacks apart from the rest of the text, the editor or publisher decided to switch from serif to sans-serif fonts--and I found that distracting; also, sans-serif fonts are hard to read. It's hard to see an otherwise helpful and interesting book made less readable by design choices.

[Happy Reading Watching · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝐏𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐨𝐭𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐭𝐚𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭
𝐁𝐲 𝐍𝐞𝐲𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐜𝐁𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞
⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐭𝐚𝐡 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐭𝐚𝐡 𝐈 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭, 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝.

Thank You to Shadow Mountain for the advance copy in exchange for my honest thoughts and reviews.

Book Synopsis:
"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. They were there 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. 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."

[Ashuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

After taking a women's history class in regards to voting and similar subjects that women were not allowed to have a voice in before we gained the vote in 1920, I found myself wanting to know more about the people involved who made it happen. The focus of what I learned in school was based on Eastern supporters and fighters for women's rights, not Westerners. Therefore, this book was a treat in teaching me more about how the West started giving the most rights to women back in the 1800s first before the East did. It was interesting to have a narrative through Emmeline though I think it might have been better to have just had straight facts without trying to romanticize the events that occurred but it wasn't bad. I am not sure if the author was aiming for this type of book on purpose or wanted a more pure historical stance on what occurred in the past, but in any case, it is an enjoyable read. I still learned new information that tied together with what I learned about how women won the vote. I would not be opposed if this book was provided in the same class I took for future students to learn about another aspect about the people who changed the lives of women and people in general everywhere. I do recommend this book if one is looking to learn more about the history of women's rights.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 3.5, but rounded up. I have the Utah First to Vote license plate and not only did I take Women’s Studies at Brigham Young University, I was the TA for the class for multiple semesters. None of those things gave me the information provided in this book. There were names I knew from church history but I can’t say that I knew much about their lives.

This book was very informative but a bit dense at times. There were so many names that I struggled to keep who was who straight, but there is not much helping that when the book is historical non-fiction and is discussing a community of real people. I was hoping that I would find one of my ancestor’s names but alas I did not (not that I’m overly surprised by that fact.

I will say that I do not think this book was meant to be an eBook. There were issues with the formatting that meant that I didn’t have chapter breaks, and inserts that would have had mini-bios of individuals were mixed in with the text. These things made it difficult to read. One other thing that I found a bit odd was that the author included dialogue between people. There is no way to know what was said and it makes me question the authenticity of the rest of the book.

Thank you to Net Galley and Shadow Mountain for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Magen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The greatest disappointment of this book are the elaborations on events. I'm a great fan of Erik Larson and how he is able to construct scenes from original documents, but McBaine here falls short because it's so obvious that she had to build them from scratch, down to tears and smiles that make the book more fiction than it should be. This isn't a romance, so don't treat it like a romance! It hurts your credibility!

My second disappointment with this is that it reads like apologetics. I don't mean when McBaine talks about the beliefs that Mormon suffragettes held regarding polygamy, I mean the aire by which the whole book is written. McBaine has worked as a church marketer and doesn't have an academic background in history, and it's clear that her aim is to validate the church as it is today based on the progressive efforts made by church members in the nineteenth century. This is a really weird flex that I wish so called Mormon "feminists" would stop using.

There's plenty of decent historical facts here if you can get past the modern language fictional conversations. There's little analysis or sound commentary offered. As far as Mormon female authors of church history go, you're better off with Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Linda K Newell, Juanita Brooks, or even the heretic Fawn Brodie.

[Lorin Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Setting her narrative around the 1895 Rocky Mountain Suffrage Conference, Neylan McBaine expertly weaves the history of women's right to vote in Utah, the Mountain West, and beyond. The narrative of the 1895 conference, attended by Susan B. Anthony and Reverend Anna H. Shaw, is presented as a smooth flowing story, novel-like in its ability to capture the reader. Well defined historical glimpses both before and after 1895. Mini-biographies highlight key figures in the suffrage movement in Utah and other parts of the country.
I chose to read this as my Independence Day reading and have no regrets. Previously aware of many of the facts and players in the history of the women's vote, it surprised me how they wove together with the issues of polygamy and statehood. McBaine helps the reader see these events through the eyes of Emmeline Wells helping the reader to understand the perspective of women who lived more than 150 years ago.
This book is a must-read for anyone commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment.

I received a complimentary e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ rounded to 4. The story of winning suffrage in the western United States is fascinating. I learned so much from this book. There were so many complicated factors—polygamy in Utah and Idaho being one—and competing interests. The women who worked in the cause were each unique and their motivations and their visions of the way forward didn’t always align, making the fact that they were able to find unity and progress in the cause all the more inspiring. I loved the non-fiction more than the fictional elements of the story. Sometimes it was hard to tell when we were reading conversations that had been perhaps recorded in someone’s diary or were fully imagined by the author. Although, a level of cheesiness sometimes gave away the latter. There are bio pages interspersed throughout the narrative which I loved because they highlighted many important figures in the cause whose names you don’t hear as often as Susan B. Anthony or even Emmeline Wells. I think this book would be great for someone in high school or new to non-fiction.

[Caitlin Theroux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC. The opinion expressed in this review is mine alone and may not reflect the views of the author, publisher, or distributor.

An interesting little missive!

Sometimes books about history can be doorstops, which makes them intimidating to some readers. Having a concise book about some of the driving forces behind the American West's suffrage movement is a perfect way to introduce readers to the subject, especially ones who may be new to researching the topic.

I've seen Susan B. Anthony's shawl. I've read about her and seen documentaries where she's a focal point. But the pioneer stage is one that hasn't received much attention. I think it should, having finished McBaine's account of the history.

This comes to the publishing world at a good time, too. More than ever we need to examine who receives rights and who doesn't, then examine why that is. I'm excited to get this into the hands of one of my coworkers.

[Jamie (jamie.reads.books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you enjoy history, particularly women’s history, I highly recommend this book. Pioneering the Vote: The Untold Story of Suffragists in Utah and the West tells the story of the fight for women’s right to vote in Utah as well as other western states and territories. So much of what we know today about the suffrage movement comes from its history in the Eastern states. The West's suffrage movement history seems to be largely ignored. Did you know that the first American women to cast a ballot as an equal citizen to men was a Utah resident? It happened on February 14, 1870, in Salt Lake City, by a twenty-three-year-old school teacher named Seraph Young. I had no idea. I also had no idea how much the suffrage movement in Utah was tied up with early Mormonism's practice of polygamy. All so interesting. With 2020 being the year we celebrate the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, I think this is a great time to pick up this book.

I received an ARC from Shadow Mountain in exchange for an honest review.

Publish date - August 4, 2020