Edmunds–Tucker Act

One of the provisions of the Edmunds–Tucker Act in 1887 was the repeal of women's suffrage and thus the women’s vote becomes disenfranchised until Utah earns statehood in 1896.

Utah Agricultural College Founded

Founding of Utah Agricultural College (UAC), the land-grant college in the Utah territory.

First Matron of UAC

Kathinka “Kinnie” Caine named as the first matron of UAC overseeing student residence.

Areas of Learning Expand

Girls enrolled in the Domestic Arts Course study the liberal arts and sciences, but also add such practical classes as sewing, dietetics, designing, cooking, canning, fruits, fancy work, household management, and dairy practice. And they are “encouraged to acquire French” as it is the “diplomatic language of Europe and that of fashionable circles,” while its terms are “more used in the domestic affairs of women.”

First UAC Commencement

The first eight students receive business degrees, making USU home to the oldest continuously operating business school in the West.

Passing of Cazier Act

The act funded an Agriculture Experiment Station with a small appropriation granted for a farmer’s institute in each county on an annual basis. This plants the seed for what eventually becomes the Extension division charged with “carrying the college to the people.”

Blue Adopted as School Color

Blue is adopted as the official school color, and is used by the first women’s basketball team, predating the men’s team by three years.

First ACU Intercollegiate Women's Basketball Game

The ACU women’s teams plays its first intercollegiate basketball game against a team from Brigham Young College in downtown Logan.

World's Fair in St. Louis

The Agricultural College wins a gold medal for its research exhibits at the World’s Fair in St. Louis.

ACU Lecture Train

“Lecture train” features whistle-stop teaching in Utah and Idaho with exhibits from the Experiment Station.

Extension Department

Extension Department established for the “purpose of bringing together the various agencies of the institution.”

Anna Nibley Elected as VP

Miss Anna Nibley is elected as Vice President of the student body.

Sarah Huntsman Directs An American Citizen

The theatrical offering, An American Citizen, is directed by Miss Sarah Huntsman and produced in the Thatcher Opera House. In the succeeding years, she directs many plays including Milestone and The Admirable Critchon.

Sigma Theta Phi

Sigma Theta Phi, the first Greek letter women’s organization at UAC, is founded.

Cedar City Normal School

Branch agricultural college established at Cedar City Normal School. In 2019, there are 33 campuses and centers across Utah that provide access to higher education by delivering a wide range of relevant high-quality courses, degree programs, and research opportunities that combine instructional excellence with innovative technologies.

Suffrage Parade

A suffrage parade held in Washington, D.C., the day before the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson in 1913 receives national attention when spectators in the largely male crowd attack the marchers. Although more than 100 women are hospitalized for injuries, the women refuse to give up and complete the march. Historians credit the 1913 parade for inspiring a new wave of interest in the Women's Suffrage Movement, especially among a new generation of activists.

Utah Cooperative Extension Service Founded

Utah Cooperative Extension Service is founded, bringing research-based knowledge to people, especially farmers, around the state.

Women Students in a Demo about Pneumatic Pumps

First International Students

The first international students enroll for classes as the UAC. The institution has since strived to make USU a warm, welcoming, and diverse community of global citizens.

First Woman's Advisor

The first “Woman’s Advisor,” Hazel Love Dunford, is hired in what is dubbed an “innovative move” by UAC administration.

Home Economics Education

Home economics education is funded and implemented to train teachers for public schools.

Mothercraft

UAC is one of the first colleges in the United States to offer a class devoted to “mothercraft,” a study of the anatomy and physiology of the reproductive system, preparation for motherhood, and the physical care of mother and child from the prenatal period to the end of the first year of the child's life.

Utah Votes to Ratify 19th Amendment

The Utah State Legislature votes to ratify the 19th Amendment, consistent with its long history of supporting women's voting rights.

19th Amendment Ratified

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution is finally ratified, enfranchising all American women and declaring for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Caption Below: National Woman's Party activists watch Alice Paul sew a star onto the NWP Ratification Flag, representing another state's ratification of the 19th Amendment.

Milking Competition

Woman Seated on the"A"

Tent City on the Quad

Tent City on the Quad welcomes homemakers and farmers every summer for educational enrichment.

Mildred Younker Directs School Hot-Lunch Program

Mildred Younker directs the Works Progress Administration-funded school hot-lunch program.

First Dean of School of Home Economics

Jessie Whitacre becomes the first Dean of the School of Home Economics.

First UAC Master's Degree Awarded to a Woman

Ethelyn Oliver Greaves receives the first master’s degree given to a woman at UAC.

National Summer School Established

National Summer School established, featuring distinguished scholars, resulting in Logan being termed “the Athens of the West.”

Department of Rural Sociology Founded

Department of Rural Sociology is founded to study rural home conditions and community life.

First Kindergarten Class Established in Cache Valley

Edith Bowen, experienced teacher and supervisor of the Logan City Schools, establishes the first kindergarten class in Cache Valley as part of the Whittier Elementary School. Due to low funding, supplies were purchased through fundraising and community donations, and Emma Eccles Jones, renowned early childhood education pioneer, taught the class without pay for three years. The highly successful program became a statewide model for future kindergarten programs.

Home Management House

The Home Management House (currently the Family Life Center) offers hands-on application of classroom theory.

Teacher Training School Established

The newly-launched School of Education establishes a teacher training school in honor of Edith Bowen’s contributions to education and her dedication to the training of quality educators.

UAC Becomes Utah State Agricultural College

Utah Agricultural College becomes the Utah State Agricultural College.

Women in Food Preparation Class

National Economy Act

The National Economy Act prohibits women who are married from employment if the husband has a job during the Great Depression.

The Dames Originates

The Dames, wives of students club, originates.

Women's Residence Hall Construction

A residence hall for women is constructed.

NYC Public Librarian Anne Carroll Moore Delivers Children’s Lit Workshop

Anne Carroll Moore of the New York City Public Library delivers a workshop on children’s literature during the university’s 50th anniversary celebration; the library in the Edith Bowen Lab School would later be named in her honor.

First Woman Joins Civil Engineer Club

Miss A. Kearl is the first woman in the Civil Engineer Club.

The Buzzer Publishes Women in Slacks

The Buzzer, the campus yearbook, shows women wearing slacks, a practice that is revoked and not allowed again until the 1960s.

Research Foundation Established

Research Foundation established and Graduate School founded.

The Spurs Chapter Established

A chapter of The Spurs, a national service organization for sophomore women, is established. Prior to being admitted to the national organization, the Spurs was a local "pep" club called the Score Club. The Spurs and their male counterpart club on campus, the Intercollegiate Knights, hold an annual ball in which they choose a "Knight of Nights" and a "Spur of the Moment" to reign as the ball's royalty.

USAC Becomes USU

Utah State Agricultural College becomes Utah State University

Native Americans in Utah Awarded the Vote

After centuries of struggle, Native Americans in Utah are awarded the vote. Even with the lawful right to vote in every state, Native Americans suffered from the same mechanisms and strategies, such as poll taxes, literacy tests, fraud, and intimidation that kept African Americans from exercising that right.

First Woman Natural Resources Graduate

The first woman to graduate from the College of Natural Resources, Carolyn deRoos, receives a degree in game management in fisheries and wildlife.

New Labs Founded

The Space Dynamics Laboratory and the Utah Water Research Laboratory are founded.

USU Honors Program Founded

Honors students research and create, study abroad, complete internships, take classes that solve real-world problems, design high-impact service projects, and participate in co-curricular events while living at heart of USU's intellectual community.

Woman in Drafting Class

Continuing Education Center established at Uintah Basin

USU’s outreach programs have transformed the lives of unaccountable individuals through higher education. The statewide system has brought new dynamism and opportunity to rural communities providing educational opportunity to the rural residents of Utah who live far away from Logan and other university/college sites.

First Woman Engineering Graduate

The first woman graduates from the College of Engineering, Adonna Watkins Drake, in Mechanical Engineering, and also is the first to graduate with a master’s two years later.

Woman Creating Television Program

Curfews on Women’s Dorms Suspended

Rally for ERA

Women on campus rally for ERA with Bella Abzug as the speaker.

Women Earn $0.58 on the Dollar

Nationally, for every dollar a man earns, on average, a woman is paid 58 cents. Based on the 2019 rate of progress, it will take 202 years for this gap to close, according to the World Economic Forum.

USU Status of Women Committee Forms

The USU Status of Women Committee forms with Carolyn Steel as chair. The group helps write an Affirmative Action Plan and is instrumental in the hiring of the first woman counselor in the Counseling Center, Marilynne Glatfelter.

Mary Washington Named Inaugural Director of Utah State University Press

Mary “Melle” Washington is named inaugural director of Utah State University Press, a position she holds through 1979. Utah State University Press achieves distinction as a publisher of Mormon history, Native American studies, nature and environment, western history, folklore, and composition studies. Washington also taught in the university's English department for several years and served as President of the Western Literature Association in 1978. She was followed in the director role by Linda Speth (1979-1993), Michael Spooner (1993-2017), and Racheal Levay (2017-present).

USU Affirmative Action Plan

The University’s Affirmative Action Plan is inaugurated with Judith M. Gappa as the coordinator of the new office.

Special Leave Policy Instituted

USU institutes a special leave policy for women faculty to complete a Ph.D. Those using this opportunity include Bonita Wyse, who takes the first leave, and later became Dean of Family Life. Other women taking sabbatical leaves include Jane Lott McCullough, who later became head of the Department Head of Home Economics and Consumer Education; and Patricia Gardner, who became the first woman Department Head of the English Department.

First Chair of Women's Studies

The first chair of Women’s Studies, the academic program, is Lynne Goodhart, a professor of French. She is followed a year later by Alison Thorne.

Undergraduate Research Program

The Undergraduate Research Program begins after consultation with MIT’s Margaret MacVicar.

Women in Science and Engineering

Women in Science and Engineering (later Society of Women Engineers), a student club, is formed.

Marsha Torr wins Research Award

Marsha Torr of the Space Dynamics Lab is the first woman to win USU’s D. Wynne Thorne Career Research Award. (To date, five women have been honored: Noelle Cockett, 2002; Christine Hult, 2004; JoAnn Tschanz, 2017; and Joyce Kinkead, 2018.)

Poet Maya Angelou presents at Convocations

Angelou is an American poet, singer, memorist, and civil rights activist, whose career will span more than 50 years.

Women and Gender Research Institute Forms

The Women and Gender Research Institute (WGRI) forms to encourage research on all subjects by women and on gender-related topics. Directors Pamela Riley and E. Helen Berry are appointed two years later.

Student Showcase Established

Student Showcase established to feature undergraduate researchers, scholars, and artists. Known as Utah’s longest-running celebration of undergraduate research, the Student Showcase is an on-campus opportunity for undergraduates to share their research and creative projects.

National Women's History Celebration

The Women’s Center sponsors the first annual National Women’s History Celebration in March.

Honoring Women Over 65 Achievement Award

The Women’s Center inaugurates the “Honoring Women over 65 Achievement Award” to recognize Cache Valley women.

Innovation Campus Established

Research and Technology Park (now Innovation Campus) established. Innovation Campus provides an environment with facilities, services, and technology, as well as programs and expertise, that stimulate and support the growth of research and technology-based enterprise.

A Herstory of Deans of Women

The Women’s Center produces the video “In Loco Parentis: A Herstory of Deans of Women at Utah State University.”

Council for Gender Programs is Founded

Council for Gender Programs is founded, affiliating the Women and Gender Research Institute, the Women’s Studies Program, and the Women’s Center.

Theta Nu Xi Established

The multicultural sorority, Theta Nu Xi, is established. Theta Nu Xi’s goal is to provide a place for women who think alike. The sorority’s values are the pillars of sisterhood, scholarship, leadership, service and multiculturalism.

Sappho Becomes a Student Organization

Sappho is recognized as a USU student organization.

First Woman Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

Liz Grobsmith is first woman named as Dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

First Woman Dean of the College of Agriculture

Noelle Cockett becomes the first woman Dean of the College of Agriculture.

Gender Equity Study

USU President Kermit L. Hall commissions a gender equity study resulting in a baseline against which all salaries can be measured. By doing so, the benchmark study helps the university take constructive steps to close the gap.

Celestial Bybee is Elected Student Body President

Celestial Bybee is elected Student Body President.

USU Receives $3 Million NSF Advance Grant

USU receives a $3 million NSF ADVANCE Grant to improve recruitment and retention of women faculty in science and engineering, led by faculty members Ronda Callister, Christine Hailey, Kim Sullivan, Christine Hult, and Robert Schmidt.

Maria Norton and JoAnn Tschanz Study Alzheimer's Disease

Maria Norton and JoAnn Tschanz (D. Wynne Thorne Career Researcher, 2017) study the epidemiology of Alzheimer’s disease in a Cache Valley family-based cohort.

Center for Women and Gender Programs Expanded

The Center for Women and Gender programs gets expanded space in the Taggart Student Center, bringing together the affiliated programs.

Abigail Jensen Wins Student Fulbright Award

Abigail Jensen wins a Student Fulbright award for advanced study in Mexico City.

University Undergraduate Research Fellows Program Established

University Undergraduate Research Fellows Program is established, attracting top students to engage in research and scholarly inquiry from their first year.

First Woman Director of the USU Honors Program

Christie L. Fox appointed the first woman Director of the USU Honors program. Her research focuses on Irish folklore and literature. Fox previously served as Program Coordinator for Honors.

Alum Julie Robinson Becomes Chief Scientist for the International Space Station

Alum Julie Robinson becomes Chief Scientist for the International Space Station as NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Robinson has an interdisciplinary background in the physical and biological sciences. Her professional experience has included research activities in a variety of fields, including virology, analytical chemistry, genetics, statistics, field biology, and remote sensing. She earned bachelor’s in Chemistry and a bachelor’s in Biology from USU in 1989.

Michele Welch Research Results in Utah Women’s Walk at Thanksgiving Point

Michele Welch completes her master’s thesis in American studies, focusing on a variety of significant women in Utah’s present and past. Her work is later cemented into concrete at the Utah Women’s Walk at Thanksgiving Point. Additions continue to be made thanks to courses at Utah Valley University as students contribute biographies that currently number more than 100.

Sustainability Council Forms

The Sustainability Council forms to support the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment signed by USU President Stan L. Albrecht. Jordy Guth becomes the first female Sustainability Council Chair in 2013. Alexi Lamm, the university’s first sustainability coordinator, is named chair in 2016.

College of Eastern Utah Joins Utah State University

The College of Eastern Utah joins Utah State University, becoming USU Eastern.

Center for Women and Gender Founded

The Center for Women and Gender merges three gender programs under one house: the Women and Gender Research Institute, providing research and travel support for USU faculty; Women and Gender Studies, offering a major and a minor; and the Women’s Center, providing support and outreach to USU students. Ann Austin is named founding Director.

Student Sustainability Office Created

The Student Sustainability Office is created as a result of the Blue Goes Green fee passed by students. Kate Stephens is named director.

USU Women in Aviation Student Club Forms

USU Women in Aviation student club forms and is open for all aviation enthusiasts. The club provides programs that include local speakers and tours of aviation facilities and landmarks, community outreach efforts to encourage young people to pursue aviation careers, and regional scholarship opportunities.

150th Anniversary of Utah Suffrage

55th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Statue to be Installed in National Statuary Hall

Statue of Utah’s Dr. Martha Hughes Cannon, known as the first female senator in the United States (1896), will be installed in National Statuary Hall in U.S. Congress.

100th Anniversary of 19th Amendment