Excuse our technical difficulties this episode, Jessica grabbed the wrong headphones.

Episode 203 Katherine Kitterman and Tiffany Greene, both historical researchers, of Better Days 2020 joined us through Skype! We can now be called The New Utah Social Distancing Podcast. . . but hopefully not for too much longer.

The Better Days 2020 organization is a non-profit that was born out of a need to educate about the upcoming 100 year celebration of women’s suffrage and the first woman’s vote, which happened right here in Utah! *we talked about Martha Hughes Cannon and Seraph Young on our famous Utahn segment in February* The researchers at Better Days organization have worked for the last 3 years to compile a list of 50 women who changed and influenced Utah’s history in an incredible way. One of their purposes of compiling this information is to put curriculum into schools. They have trained over 2000 teachers and have over 100 schools that they have created a partnership with to focus on Utah history. We were shocked that some of the women that Katherine and Tiffany mentioned we had never even heard of.

We asked Katherine and Tiffany who the women in their campaign were that really caught their eye. Katherine said that Alice Kasai was one that impressed her. Alice was a Japanese American civil rights leader in Utah. She was the first woman president of the Japanese American Citizens League. Her husband was put in an interment camp for two and a half years, because of that she helped coordinate help for the families that were relocated to similar camps. Her commitment to community programs such as the ACLU, the PTA, the Utah United Nations, and many more are her legacy.

Tiffany’s favorite Utah woman are Helen Zeese Papanikolas and Elizabeth Taylor (no, not that Elizabeth Taylor). Helen was of Greek descent and after having dream of being a doctor, decided to pursue writing. Her article, The Greeks of Carbon County, helped shape the way historians wrote about Utah history. Katherine wrote, “she told history from the bottom up instead of top down.” Helen founded the Peoples of Utah Institute which Better Days 2020 wrote had the purpose of gathering and telling the stories of Utah ethnic minorities. Elizabeth Taylor was an early member of the Utah Press Association and the Western Negro Press Association along with her husband, William. Elizabeth also helped establish Utah’s first two black churches, which are still around. She also stood before the SLC City Council asking for equal rights to all American citizens regardless of color in restaurants, inns, and hotels. Interesting fact, Utah didn’t have segregation in schools but it did have “social policies” that prevented black access. We don’t want to give away these wonderful women’s full stories, you will have to visit UtahWomensHistory.org for that!

Another person that we want to mention that plays an incredible part in Better Days 2020 organization is Brooke Smart. All of the amazing art work on the website and educational materials is created by Brooke. Here are the pieces of art for each of the women that Katherine and Tiffany mentioned.

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In hopes that things will be on the upswing come the end of summer, Better Days 2020 has a new memorial that will be dedicated in August to honor the 1st woman to vote. This will be just south of the capitol. Their Utah Heritage campaign is also ongoing. You can also check out their calendar here. Please follow them on social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and visit their website for some incredible stories!

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Music By: Folk Hogan. Bootleggers Dance.