(Photo courtesy Katarina Aikens) Members of the Washington County 4-H Mock Legislature at the Utah Capitol in 2025. The author, Jenna Perdue, is the first one on left on the front row.
LA VERKIN — Last March, I attended a 4-H Mock Legislature at the Utah State Capitol. I remember sitting in the House Chamber listening to everyone around me talk about the bill we were about to vote on. Someone said there was no way they were going to vote for adding yet another required history class.
At first, I kind of understood. I love history, but even I could appreciate the appeal of having a free period. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wasn’t just deciding whether I personally wanted another history class. I was deciding what I believed would actually benefit people my age in the long run. I was nervous about possibly disagreeing with everyone else, but I knew that if I was going to have a vote, I needed to use it for what I believed was right rather than what was popular or convenient.
Although that vote wasn’t going to change the laws of Utah, it changed the way I viewed voting.
(Photo courtesy Katarina Aikens) Members of the Washington County 4-H Mock Legislature at the Utah Capitol in 2025. The author, Jenna Perdue, is the first one on left on the front row.
4-H Mock Legislature gives teens the opportunity to experience the legislative process firsthand. I learned that participating in government is one way that I can serve my community and my country. To me, this is part of the American dream: having the freedom to use my voice while also having the responsibility to use it for something bigger than myself.
Through 4-H, school leadership, and other opportunities in my community, I have learned that most of the time service means giving up my time or listening to someone whose opinion is different from mine so we can work together. But I’ve seen service bring people together and make my community stronger, and that makes it worth it. Recently, there was a flood in my area and a lot of people were affected. So many people came to help because they know that service and support create unity.
The more I learn about service, the more I realize that it is not just about helping people in the present. Sometimes, service means making things better for people who come after you. Utah’s history is full of women who did exactly that.
(Utah State Historical Society Photo) Women Suffrage speech State Capitol 1915
According to Utah Women’s History, in 1870, the Woman Suffrage Bill was passed, allowing women over the age of 21 in the Utah Territory to vote and making Utah one of the first territories in the United States to grant women the right to vote. However, 17 years later, the Edmunds-Tucker Act revoked voting rights for Utah women because of the ongoing controversy surrounding polygamy, then practiced by some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In 1890, LDS Church President Wilford Woodruff announced the end of the practice of polygamy, and Utah moved closer to becoming a state. In 1896, when Utah finally became a state, women regained the right to vote and were granted the right to hold office by Utah’s Constitution. Yet women across the nation still had to wait until 1920, when the 19th Amendment was ratified, for voting rights to be protected nationally regardless of gender.
(Photo courtesy of the Church History Library) Emmeline B. Wells traveled to Washington, D.C., in January 1879 to attend the annual convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association. In her diary entry of Jan. 14, Wells noted, “This morn. went to Photo-gallery had pictures taken.” The photograph was taken at the Charles M. Bell studio in Washington.
Women such as Emmeline B. Wells, Sarah Granger Kimball, and Emily S. Richards refused to let their voices disappear. They continued to advocate for women’s rights by organizing, providing funding, serving in leadership positions, starting petitions, and speaking at women’s rights conventions, even after they themselves were able to vote. Their perseverance reminds me that having a voice means little if I am too scared to use it.
Both Mock Legislature and Utah’s history have taught me that voting is important. Utah’s history helped me realize how hard women fought to have the right to vote, and the Mock Legislature helped me learn the legislative process and the importance of truly knowing what I am voting for. I know that as I am courageous, I will change the world, one step at a time, just like the women who have shaped Utah’s future.
Note to readers • This contest was produced by The Salt Lake Tribune, Spy Hop and Amplify Utah. It was supported through a grant from the American Journalism Project.