A Path Forward… Unveiled

August 23, 2020

On Thursday night, A Path Forward was unveiled. This is the name given to a permanent, beautiful sculpture dedicated to the full narrative of the suffrage story now on the grounds of the Council Hall in Salt Lake City. Artists Kelsey Harrison and Jason Manley have captured the simplicity of Seraph Young’s first American female vote - cast in the Council Hall in 1870 - and expanded it into a comprehensive tribute to the expansion of enfranchisement over the past 150 years.

For the past two days, I have been leading tours of the sculpture, explaining the symbolism and significance of each element. It has felt sacred to repeat the stories over and over again, to see the surprise in people’s eyes as they learned that the road to the 19th Amendment was long, but it was not even the end for many women as well as men. The question of “who is a citizen?” and what does that citizenship protect are alive and well even today, and especially today as we enter this election period. I hope I will always maintain the sense of awe in our democracy and the hope I have in its power that I felt the past two days.

For a thorough explanation of the memorial, visit UtahWomensHistory.org.