Emily Sophia Tanner Richards (May 13, 1850 – August 19, 1929) was a key figure in the founding of the Utah Woman's Suffrage Association.

Early life and marriage

Emily Sophia Tanner was born in the

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Cottonwood settlement to Rachel and Nathan Tanner and was the granddaughter of

John Tanner (Mormon) John Tanner (August 15, 1778 – April 13, 1850) was a leading figure in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a chief financial backer of the Kirtland Temple. Tanner was a native of Rhode Island. He moved to New York when fairly y ...

. At age six, She moved to

Salt Lake Valley Salt Lake Valley is a valley in Salt Lake County in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Utah. It contains Salt Lake City and many of its suburbs, notably Murray, Sandy, South Jordan, West Jordan, and West Valley City; its total po ...

to attend school. At age eighteen, Emily Tanner married an old schoolmate,

Franklin S. Richards Franklin Snyder Richards (June 20, 1849 – September 4, 1934) was the general counsel for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the late-19th and early-20th century. He was closely connected with the defense against cha ...

, who later became the leading attorney for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). The next year the young couple moved to Ogden to stay with the Richards family. Emily Richards raised five children. In 1882, Emily and Franklin Richards along with their children moved to Washington, D.C. so that Franklin Richards could lobby the U.S. Congress for Utah statehood.

Women's suffrage work

While in D.C. Richards met many national suffrage leaders. In 1886, Richards along with Josephine R. West,

Emmeline B. Wells Emmeline Blanche Woodward Harris Whitney Wells (February 29, 1828 – April 25, 1921) was an American journalist, editor, poet, women's rights advocate, and diarist. She served as the fifth Relief Society General President of the Church of Jesus ...

, and Ellen B. Ferguson presented a memorial of the women of Utah to president

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

to reduce anti-Mormon sentiment. The

Edmunds–Tucker Act The Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 was an Act of Congress that focused on restricting some practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). An amendment to the earlier Edmunds Act, it was passed in response to the dispute ...

disenfranchised Utah women the following year. In 1888, Emily Richards asked permission from

leadership to form a Utah chapter of the

National Women's Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement spl ...

. The Church of Jesus Christ endorsed her proposition and the association was officially organized on January 10, 1889. Richards became a state organizer serving under Margaret N. Caine who was the president of the Utah association. Richards continued to establish many local suffragette associations across Utah and these local associations played a major role in granting voting rights to women in the 1895 Utah Constitution. As a leading suffragist in Utah, Richards was invited to the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. She spoke at the

World's Congress of Representative Women The World's Congress of Representative Women was a week-long convention for the voicing of women's concerns, held within The Woman's Building (Chicago), The Woman's Building of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago, May 1893). At 81 meetings, ...

on May 19, 1893 with a speech entitled ''The Legal and Political Status of Woman in Utah''. Her speech was so well received that it was included in the official publication of the World's Congress of Representative Women. At the World's Columbian Exposition Richards also spoke at the Women's Branch of the World's Parliament of Religions. No male representatives of the LDS church were allowed admission yet Richards was invited to speak. Her success at the World's Columbian Exposition led her to represent Utah women in others fairs: San Francisco (1894), Atlanta (1895), and Omaha (1898). In 1896, she was an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention for Utah. In 1920, Richards was also involved in the organization of the Utah chapter of the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

Involvement with the LDS church

At the time many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints practiced polygamy, but the Richards stayed monogamous. Richards became a spokesperson representing Utah and its women by speaking on behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was the public face of the LDS church while the religious organization transitioned "from plural marriage toward monogamy and assimilation." In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Richards served as a member of the

Relief Society The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 18 ...

General Board.

Publications

*''The legal and political status of Woman in Utah'', 1894. *''The Republican catechism, criticised and amended for the benefit of the women of Utah to whom it is respectfully presented'', 1896.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Emily Sophia Tanner 1850 births 1929 deaths American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints People of Utah Territory Relief Society people American suffragists Mormon feminists Utah Democrats Tanner family Women in Utah politics 19th-century American women politicians 19th-century American politicians Utah suffrage Activists from Utah Harold B. Lee Library-related 20th century articles