Martha Maria "Mattie" Hughes Cannon (July 1, 1857 – July 10, 1932) was a
Utah State Senator, physician, Utah women's rights advocate,
suffragist
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
, polygamous wife, and a
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
-born immigrant to the United States. Her family immigrated to the United States as converts to
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) and traveled West to settle in
Utah territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...
with other Saints. She started working at the age of fourteen. At sixteen she enrolled in the
University of Deseret
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
, now called the University of Utah, receiving a Bachelors in Chemistry. From there she attended the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
and received her MD. She became the fourth of six wives in a
polygamous marriage
Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women.
Incidence
Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...
to
Angus M. Cannon
Angus Munn Cannon (May 17, 1834 – June 7, 1915) was an early Latter Day Saint leader and Mormon pioneer.
Early life
Cannon was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. His Manx parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint ...
, a prominent Latter-day Saint leader during the anti-polygamy crusade. Cannon exiled herself to
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
so she wouldn't have to testify against her husband. Upon returning to Utah, Cannon worked as a doctor and fought for women's rights. She helped put
women enfranchisement into
Utah's constitution when it was granted statehood in 1896. On November 3, 1896 Cannon became the first female State Senator elected in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, defeating her own husband, who was also on the ballot. Martha Hughes Cannon was the author of Utah sanitation laws and was a founder and member of Utah's first State Board of Health.
Biography
Early life
Martha Maria Hughes Cannon was born near
Llandudno
Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...
,
Caernarfonshire
, HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon
, Map=
, Image= Flag
, Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd)
, year_start=
, Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
on July 1, 1857, the daughter of Peter Hughes and Elizabeth Evans. She was known by the nickname "Mattie".
The Hughes family were converts to
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 ...
and emigrated to the United States with their two daughters, Mary Elizabeth and Martha Maria. They embarked from
Liverpool, England
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
on March 30, 1860, on the ship Underwriter and arrived in New York City, New York on May 1, 1860. Peter was very sick at the time and Elizabeth gave birth to their third child, Annie Lloyd. They stayed in New York to earn money to travel the plains to Utah territory.
Erastus Snow
Erastus Snow (November 9, 1818 – May 27, 1888) was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1849 until his death. Snow was also a leading figure in Mormon colonizati ...
, a Mormon leader, invited the family to join a pioneer company funded by the LDS Church for the less fortunate. The family accepted the invitation and traveled by train to Florence, Nebraska, and left with The Joseph Horne Company on July 11, 1861. Shortly before the family's arrival in the Salt Lake Valley, on September 3, 1861, Martha's sister Annie Lloyd Hughes died and was buried in an unmarked grave. She was 21 months old. The Joseph Horne company arrived in the Salt Lake valley on September 13, 1861. Three days after they arrived in Salt Lake City, on September 17, 1861, Peter Hughes died. Elizabeth Hughes was left a widow with two young daughters at the age of 28.
Thirteen months later, Elizabeth married
James Patten Paul, a widower with four sons, thereafter giving birth to the later Latter-day Saints university professor and newspaper editor
Joshua Hughes Paul. After Elizabeth's marriage to James P. Paul, Martha, at different times in her life, went by the surnames of both Paul and Hughes. Later in life, Paul encouraged Martha to follow her dream of becoming a medical doctor.
Education and career
![Martha M Hughes Cannon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Martha_M_Hughes_Cannon.jpg)
At age fourteen, Hughes taught school for a year, but quit when she had trouble controlling her larger male students.
Brigham Young
Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...
asked Hughes to learn
typesetting
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random Ho ...
and she worked as an apprentice for Hyrum Perry. Hughes first worked as a typesetter for the ''
Deseret News
The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...
''. Later she worked as a typesetter for the ''
Women's Exponent'', a women's newspaper in Salt Lake City published by
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 affiliated with the
Mormon
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
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 ...
. While working at the ''Women's Exponent'', Hughes met
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
Eliza Snow
Eliza Roxcy Snow (January 21, 1804 – December 5, 1887) was one of the most celebrated Latter Day Saint women of the nineteenth century. A renowned poet, she chronicled history, celebrated nature and relationships, and expounded scripture an ...
. These two women were her mentors and encouraged Hughes in her aspiration to become a doctor.
In an October 1873
General Conference address, Brigham Young encouraged women, specifically, to enter the medical field and become doctors. The same year, at age sixteen, Martha Hughes enrolled in the
University of Deseret
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
as a pre-med major, working as a typesetter during the day while taking night classes.
She graduated from the University of Deseret in 1878 with a degree in chemistry.
On August 13, 1878, Hughes was one of four women
set apart for medical studies and practice by the LDS Church. President
John Taylor and his counselor
George Q. Cannon
George Quayle Cannon (January 11, 1827 – April 12, 1901) was an early member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), and served in the First Presidency under four successive pr ...
set them apart. The other three women were
Romania B. Pratt,
Ellis R. Shipp, and Maggie Shipp. Pratt and Ellis Shipp had already received their medical degrees while Maggie Shipp and Hughes were heading out to earn theirs.
Ellis R. Shipp and Maggie Shipp were plural wives of Milford Shipp. Maggie had been watching Ellis's children in the Utah Territory while Ellis earned her MD. Now as Hughes was heading to the University of Michigan for her MD, Maggie was taking her turn to become a doctor as well.
Hughes started at the University of Michigan in the autumn of 1878. With limited funds, she spent her first year working in the student dormitories. During Hughes' second year she worked as a secretary for another student,
Bethenia Owens-Adair.
She graduated July 1, 1880, on her 23rd birthday.
She briefly practiced medicine in
Algonac, Michigan
Algonac is a city in St. Clair County, Michigan, St. Clair County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,110 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census.
Algonac is located at the southern end of the St. Clair River, just before it ...
. In 1881, she moved to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to take post-graduate courses at the Auxiliary Medical Department of the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
. Hughes was the only women out of 75 students. Additionally, Hughes took night classes to learn more about pharmaceuticals and enrolled at the
National School of Elocution and Oratory. In 1882, she earned a Bachelors of Science from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree in Oratory (B.O.) at the National School of Elocution and Oratory. At 25 Martha Hughes had earned four degrees.
Hughes returned to
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 ...
,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
and opened a private practice in a new wing of her old home built by her step-father. Soon after, she was called by LDS Church leaders to become the resident physician for the newly founded
Deseret Hospital Deseret may refer to:
Places
* Deseret, Utah, an unincorporated community
** Fort Deseret
* Deseret Ranches, Florida, US
* State of Deseret, a provisional US state, 1849-1851
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Deseret'' (film), a 1995 experiment ...
in 1882.
As the Deseret Hospital's paid physician, Hughes set up training classes for nurses and lectures on
obstetrics
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...
.
Plural marriage and exile
While working at the Deseret Hospital, Martha met a
Mormon polygamist,
Angus Munn Cannon, who was the superintendent of the new hospital and a local official of the
LDS Church
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 ...
. Mormon polygamy was a hot topic in Utah Territory. To the Mormons polygamy was sacred but to the rest of the United States it was offensive. In 1882 the
Edmunds Act
The Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882,U.S.History.com is a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882 by President Chester A. Arthur, declaring polygamy a felony in federal territories. The act ...
was passed by Congress making polygamy a felony punishable by a $500 fine and five years in prison. When Martha married in the Mormon temple to Angus on October 6, 1884, becoming the fourth of his six plural wives, the marriage was kept secret as it was a religious ceremony rather than a legally binding contract. Martha Cannon's mother knew nothing of the ceremony. Still, rumors of her marriage to Angus brought pressure to the Deseret Hospital. Martha Hughes Cannon was called to testify before the court, but Cannon eluded federal officers. Angus was also called to testify and after a court hearing, was sent to jail. Cannon joined the Mormon "underground" seeking to avoid providing federal marshals with proof of her
plural marriage
Polygamy (called plural marriage by Latter-day Saints in the 19th century or the Principle by modern fundamentalist practitioners of polygamy) was practiced by leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) for more tha ...
to Angus. She also feared being forced to provide testimony against others, based on information gathered through her
obstetrical
Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surg ...
practice.
Cannon found that she was pregnant after Angus was sent to jail. She had her first child, Elizabeth Rachel, while in hiding and with Angus still in captivity. Evading warrants in 1886, she decided to visit her mother's relatives in Europe and chose to exile herself from Utah territory.
Only a few days before her departure, Angus married his fifth wife, Maria Bennion, who was six months younger than Martha. Cannon and her baby, Elizabeth, traveled to New York and then to Europe. Cannon first stayed with her uncle in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. However, Elizabeth grew sick and Cannon, fearing for her daughter's life, moved to
Wolverton
Wolverton is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, England. It is located at the northern edge of Milton Keynes, beside the West Coast Main Line, the Grand Union Canal and the river Great Ouse. It is the administrative seat of Wolverton and Gre ...
near
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...
to stay with other relatives. During Cannon's self-exile, her letters to Angus show increasing jealousy and resentment of his new wife. Cannon wrote to Angus about Elizabeth's improving health also adding, "perhaps at this very moment you are basking in the smiles of your young Maria."
In 1887 Angus married Johanna Danielson, while Cannon was exiled in Europe, unable to return to Utah for fear of having to testify.
Later that year Angus's son, Lewis, traveled to England while waiting for a passport for Switzerland to proselytize. Cannon met him and together they toured
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. However, Cannon was increasingly homesick, and in December 1887 left
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on the SS Arizona bound for New York.
To her surprise, Angus met Cannon and Elizabeth as they arrived.
Recently published correspondence between Cannon and her husband during this period provides a window into 19th-century
polygamous life in Utah and also on "the underground" just prior to the practice's abolition. It was a time when many polygamous families went into hiding to avoid legal pressures which threatened to sever polygamous families.
As a suffragist
![Suffragists meet at 1895 Rocky Mountain convention](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Suffragists_meet_at_1895_Rocky_Mountain_convention.jpg)
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 ...
was passed while Cannon was in exile. In an effort to limit Mormon religious leadership in government, the act disenfranchised women of the Utah territory who had been voting in elections since 1870. The women of Utah territory had previously enjoyed voting rights, and they began to rally together to fight for suffrage. After Cannon returned she became a leader in the Utah Women's Suffrage Association, giving speeches in Utah and traveling to suffrage conferences with
Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to s ...
and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...
. At the
World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, Martha Hughes Cannon was featured as a speaker of the Women's Congress.
She then traveled to Washington D.C. to give a status report to a congressional committee on women's suffrage work in Utah.
In her fight for women suffrage, Cannon felt that education, freedom, and purpose were vitally important for mothers, stating:
She defended polygamy, believing wives in a polygamous marriage may in fact have more freedom than a monogamous marriage stating that if a husband had more than one wife, that wife had freedom in the weeks her husband was away visiting his other wives. In February 1927, three decades after becoming the first women state senator of the United States, Cannon attended the 30th annual convention of the
American Woman Suffrage Association in Washington D.C.
Political career
![Utah State Senate in 1897](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Utah_State_Senate_in_1897.jpg)
After 1888, Cannon resumed her Salt Lake medical practice and taught nursing courses through a school established at Deseret Hospital.
By 1896, a suffrage clause in the new state constitution had restored the right to vote to Utah women. In a heavily publicized election, Cannon was one of five Democrats running as "at large" candidates for state senator from Salt Lake County. Suffrage activist
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 Cannon's husband Angus were among the Republicans running for the office. The five candidates with the largest quantity of votes were elected.
On November 3, 1896, Martha Hughes Cannon became the first woman elected as a state senator in the United States with 10,288 votes while her husband only received 8,054 votes. The couple reported that no relationship issues were produced from the election. Cannon introduced three bills in her first month in state senate. In consequence of her bill, an ''Act Providing for Compulsory Education of Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Citizens'', Governor
Heber Wells appointed Cannon to the board of directors for the school for the Deaf and Dumb. During her second term as State Senator, she drafted a bill for the building of a hospital at the Deaf and Dumb school. Her second bill was an ''Act to Protect the Health of Women and Girl Employees''. The bill protected women and girls by requiring employers to give female employees something to rest on when they weren't serving customers. At the time nothing was provided and many female employees were left exhausted. Her last bill from her first month in office was an ''Act Creating a State Board of Health and Defining its Duties''.
Cannon also sponsored the State's first pure food law.
She fought against lobbyists trying to abolish the State Board of Public Examiners. The board was in charge of certifying the qualifications of doctors and midwives, preventing impersonators from potentially hurting patients. As a doctor, Cannon took personal interest in fighting against the lobbyists attempting to terminate an association that protected physicians. In 1898 at the invitation of officials of the
National American Woman's Suffrage Association
The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...
, two years after becoming the country's first woman state senator, Cannon spoke at the Seneca Falls 50th year celebration in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
Cannon also testified before the
U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary of the positive effects of women's franchise in Utah. Twenty-two years later, women's suffrage was added as the
19th amendment to the
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
.
During the second half of her term in Utah's state senate, Cannon set up a commission that provided for regulations regarding contagious disease. She was appointed to the Board of Health by Governor Heber Wells, staying in the position until December 31, 1903. Cannon attempted to prohibit children not vaccinated from attending school in case of a disease outbreak. The Board of Health sent out vaccines; however, the ''Deseret News'' spread information that vaccines weren't safe. LDS Church leaders were divided on the subject. One apostle,
Brigham Young Jr.
Brigham Young Jr. (December 18, 1836 – April 11, 1903) served as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1899 until his death. His tenure was interrupted for one w ...
was very vocal in his opinions, writing in the ''Deseret News'' about the evils of vaccinations.
The influence of the ''Deseret News'' and Mormon religious leaders limited how many people were willing to be vaccinated. Disease grew rampant in the state of Utah, and the smallpox epidemic of 1898–1899 closed an entire town in
Sanpete County. The epidemic Cannon tried to prevent began to spread through the state. To mitigate the effects of disease, Cannon eliminated communal cups attached to water fountains in Salt Lake valley.
Cannon's third child was born at the close of her term and subsequently she did not run again for office. At the end of her term, Deseret News wrote, "In political conventions, her wit, rapid thinking, and knowledge made her capable of holding her own and of representing her sex most favorably."
Cannon lost only one bill: an ''Act Providing for the Teaching in the Public Schools of the Effects of Alcoholic Drinks and Narcotics on the Human System''
Last years, death, and legacy
After leaving the legislature, Cannon still served as a member of the Utah Board of Health and as a member of the board of the Utah State School for the Deaf and Dumb. In 1902 she became a member of the psychology section of the Medico-Legacy Society of New York. The society's main focus was tuberculosis.
In 1904 Cannon moved to California with her children for health reasons and became the vice president of the National Congress of Tuberculosis. She also worked at the Selwyn Emmett Graves Memorial Dispensary.
After her husband's death in 1915, Cannon settled near her son in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
where he built Cannon her own home. She died in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
on July 10, 1932. Cannon's body was laid to rest at the Salt Lake City Cemetery next to her husband.
In 1986 the new Utah Department of Health building was dedicated and named the Martha Hughes Cannon health building in Salt Lake City. An eight-foot-high bronze statue of Martha Hughes Cannon by Laura Lee Stay Bradshaw, dedicated in 1996, was housed in the Utah Capitol rotunda. Her grandson, Robert J. Cannon, spoke at the dedication. After the Utah Capitol re-dedication in 2008, the bronze statue of Cannon was moved to the foyer of the Utah State Senate building on Utah Capitol Hill.
There is also a bronze plaque honoring the "author of Utah sanitation laws" on a boulder next to a drinking fountain on the northeast corner of 200 West and South Temple.
Since 1990, Utah officials have lobbied the
U.S. Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...
for a
stamp in Cannon's honor.
In 2011 a group of students at Brigham Young University created a stage play and later a film about five strong females of faith, which included Martha Hughes Cannon. In October 2015 legislators formed the Martha Hughes Cannon caucus in an effort to encourage more women in Utah to participate in government.
KUED
KUED (channel 7), branded on-air as PBS Utah, is a PBS member television station in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The station is owned by the University of Utah, and has studios at the Eccles Broadcast Center on Wasatch Dr ...
produced an hour-long documentary on Martha Hughes Cannon's life. The Utah State Legislature voted in 2018 to send a statue of Martha Hughes Cannon to the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall in 2020, replacing the extant statue of inventor
Philo Farnsworth
Philo Taylor Farnsworth (August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971) was an American inventor and television pioneer. He made many crucial contributions to the early development of all-electronic television. He is best known for his 1927 invention of t ...
.
In popular culture
In 2020, ''Her Quiet Revolution'', a historical fiction novel about Cannon's life and work by American author
Marianne Monson, appeared in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of US women’s suffrage.
See also
*
Cannon Family
The Cannon family is a prominent U.S. political family in the states of Utah, Nevada and Idaho which descends from the 19th century marriage of George Cannon and Ann Quayle before their emigration from Peel, Isle of Man. The family's most notabl ...
*
Women's suffrage in Utah
Footnotes
Further reading
* Constance L. Lieber and John Sillito (eds.), "Letters from Exile: The Correspondence of Martha Hughes Cannon and Angus M. Cannon, 1886–1888." Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books, 1993.
* Patricia Lyn Scott and Linda Thatcher (eds.), ''Women in Utah History: Paradigm or Paradox?'' Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 2005.
* Dr. Martha: The Life of a Pioneer Physician, Politician, and Polygamist by Mari Graña, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2015,
External links
Information on Cannon's statueat the Utah Capitol rotunda.
''Martha Hughes Cannon Documentary''produced by
KUED
KUED (channel 7), branded on-air as PBS Utah, is a PBS member television station in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The station is owned by the University of Utah, and has studios at the Eccles Broadcast Center on Wasatch Dr ...
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Democratic Party Utah state senators
Welsh emigrants to the United States
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