First to Vote School Toolkit

Let’s make 2020 a year to remember.

Not many Utahns know that Utah women were the first in America to vote under equal suffrage laws. 2020 is the year to change that.

Join Better Days 2020 in commemorating the 150th anniversary of that first female vote, the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which extended women’s voting rights across the country, and the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

Because of these anniversaries, this history will be a point of focus nationwide. This toolkit helps you and your students join the discussion in a meaningful way and use the history as a model for trailblazers today.

Become a First to Vote School today.

Historical Background

Utah was the first place a woman cast a legal ballot in the United States, and that’s worth celebrating! In the year 2020 Utah and the nation will be celebrating significant suffrage anniversaries. February 14th, 2020 will be the 150th Anniversary of Utahn Seraph Young casting that first legal ballot. August 26, 2020 is the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment being ratified.

How it works

We invite your school or classroom to join Better Days 2020 in our 2020 celebrations by committing to do the school or classroom activities listed below. When your school or classroom commits to complete these activities, Better Days 2020 will provide materials and support. See the school or classroom requirements below, as well as what Better Days 2020 commits to do in return. Download the formal agreement here.

Classroom-LEvel Engagement

• Teach a lesson from the Better Days 2020 curriculum about the Utah and national women’s suffrage movements

• Provide feedback to BD2020 education leaders through this form. (We’ll send you a t-shirt!)

• Select at least one project for your classroom from this list:

  • Read aloud a picture book about a suffragist and/or the women’s suffrage movement. To read about Utah suffragists, see Champions for Change: 25 Women Who Made History. For other book recommendations and their Utah connections, see our list of picture books.

  • Hang a poster of Utah women’s advocates in your classroom/school library or hand out Utah women’s suffrage bookmarks/pins. See our collection of downloadable images in our store or on our educational site.

  • Introduce Utah women’s history to your students through our videos.

  • Perform “Utah’s Suffrage Story,” a readers’ theater about Utah’s campaign for equal voting rights

  • Participate in the voting simulation activity

  • Virtual tour of downtown Salt Lake City via Google Tour

  • Share the Utah Women’s Advocates Trading Cards with students. Order more here.

  • Have your students create a trading card about a woman in your with these county-specific resources.

• Teach students in your classroom (especially 4th and 5th graders) the “First to Vote” song, to be sung on February 14, 2020 at the Utah State Capitol building. Song available November 1, 2019.

School-LEvel Engagement

• Recruit at least three teachers to teach a lesson from the Better Days 2020 curriculum about the Utah and national women’s suffrage movements within your school.

• Provide feedback to BD2020 education leaders through this form. (We’ll send your teachers t-shirts!)

• Select at least one project for your school from this list:

  • Chalk Art Display

  • Wall Decal

  • Voting Booth Exhibit

  • In-person downtown Salt Lake City Suffrage Walking Tour

  • Invite Utah Storytelling Guild storytellers representing Utah women

  • Host a suffrage parade

• Teach students in your school (especially 4th and 5th graders) the “First to Vote” song, to be sung on February 14, 2020 at the Utah State Capitol building.

• Plan a field trip on February 14, 2020 to the Utah State Capitol building

If your school is interested in joining the “First To Vote” school program, contact jen@betterdays2020.org.