Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Centennial History topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House highlights centennial history, spotlights Martha Hughes Cannon
Summary
During the centennial session several members delivered historical vignettes, including tributes to Martha Hughes Cannon that recalled her medical career, suffrage work and early public-health legislation and noted ongoing fundraising for a planned statue.
Members used allotted historical-spot time to mark the state centennial with local history and a longer tribute to Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon.
Representative Atkinson described West Jordan’s founding and local landmarks such as Gardner’s Mill, noting the city’s early role in territorial-era welfare and infrastructure as part of the centennial observance.
A member speaking on behalf of the minority leader delivered an extended vignette about Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon. The remarks recounted Cannon’s education and medical training, her pioneering public-health and labor-related bills (including measures to improve shop workers’ conditions, an act for compulsory education of deaf, blind and otherwise disabled children, and steps toward creating a state board of health), and her active role in the women’s suffrage movement. The speaker noted the state department of health building bears Cannon’s name, that a resolution from the 1995 legislature and the governor support a statue, and that fundraising is ongoing with hopes to install an eight-foot statue in the Capitol Rotunda during centennial events. The speaker also referenced a commemorative observance designated for Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon.
Why it mattered: the tributes connected present legislative work to the state’s history and highlighted an ongoing commemorative project tied to the centennial. Fundraising and placement of a statue are matters for private fundraising and future appropriation decisions; the floor remarks recorded support but did not appropriate funds during the session.
The House then continued routine business and adjourned until 10:00 a.m. the next day.
