Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, First Female State Senator

“All men and women are created free and equal.”

BY REBEKAH CLARK

HISTORICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, BETTER DAYS 2020

Martha “Mattie” Hughes Cannon blazed trails for women as a skilled physician, ardent suffragist, progressive public health reformer, and most notably, the first female state senator in the United States.

Born in Wales, young Mattie immigrated with her family to Utah Territory to join the Latter-day Saints. Deeply impacted by the deaths of her baby sister and father, bright and independent Mattie aspired to be a medical doctor at a time when women rarely even went to college. While pursuing her chemistry degree at the University of Deseret (now the University of Utah), she worked as a typesetter at the Woman’s Exponent, where she became immersed in the women’s rights movement, mentored by Emmeline B. Wells. Mattie earned her medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1881 and a degree in pharmaceuticals at the University of Pennsylvania in 1882, where she was the only female student in her program. She displayed exceptional public speaking skills and simultaneously earned a degree from the National School of Elocution and Oratory in Philadelphia.

Back home in Salt Lake City, Mattie set up a private medical practice and became the resident physician at the woman-run Deseret Hospital. In 1884 she married prominent LDS church leader Angus M. Cannon, becoming his fourth, polygamous wife.

As a leader in the Utah Women’s Suffrage Association, Mattie testified to United States congressional committees on Utah women’s suffrage work and was a featured speaker at the Women’s Congress of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 as well as the 1898 Seneca Falls 50th celebration in Washington D.C. She strongly advocated for women’s rights based on equality, arguing that “one of the principal reasons why women should vote—is that all men and women are created free and equal.”

When Utah gained statehood in 1896 and the women of Utah regained the franchise, Mattie ran as a Democrat in an at-large election for one of five senate positions in the new state’s first legislature. Her husband, as well as Mattie’s friend and mentor Emmeline B. Wells, were also on the ballot as Republican candidates. Mattie’s victory garnered national attention not only because she was the first woman elected to a state senate but also because she ran against and defeated her own husband. She served one, four-year term with the otherwise all-male Utah Senate in the Salt Lake City and County Building.

For more information on Martha, please visit our partners, Better Days 2020, at: https://www.utahwomenshistory.org/bios/marthahughescannon/

Better Days 2020 is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to popularizing Utah women’s history in creative and communal ways. We believe that by exploring the legacy of our past, we make Utah a better place for women in the future. To learn more visit: https://www.betterdays2020.com/