This Miners Day, Barry Hanover marched in the parade with the League of Women Voters. Hanover first became involved with the league because of his wife, Allison, but before he marched on Monday, his family had a long history of advocating for the rights of women to vote.
“Since it was the League of Women Voters, I couldn’t wait to get (to the parade) because of this tie with my family,” Hanover said.
Hanover is from Tennessee and moved to Utah in the ’70s. His great uncle, Joseph Hanover, was a representative in the Tennessee House of Representatives when the state voted to ratify the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote in the United States.
In 1920, Tennessee was the last state to vote on the amendment. Joseph Hanover, or Uncle Joe, as Barry calls him, led the fight on the House floor.
Hanover knew his uncle well, he said.
Uncle Joe was a Jewish immigrant from Poland who came to the United States as a young child. When Joseph was young, he often asked “why mother can’t vote,” the family said.
“That was a question he repeated,” Barry said. “He understood it, but he didn’t like it. He didn’t think it was right, even as a young boy. They never had a very good answer for him because there wasn’t a very good answer.”
When it came time for the House to vote on the amendment, the League of Women Voters, the same group Hanover marched with in the parade, asked Joseph to fight on their behalf. The amendment passed, with much effort, largely credited to Joseph’s work in the House of Representatives.
“It’s a great heritage to be tied to that,” Hanover said. “I can’t think of anything better.”
During the suffrage movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s, the League of Women Voters and those in support of giving women the votes could be seen wearing yellow roses and white dresses. The League of Women Voters wore the same outfits this Miners Day.
At the parade, Hanover could be seen running back and forth asking people if they were registered to vote and handing out voter registration cards. Hanover said he specifically wanted to make sure the younger people and women in the crowd had the information.
“My wife and I try to do our part largely by encouraging young people to get involved,” Hanover said. “I tell young people, ‘Whether you know it or not, I’m voting for you. I’m voting for your future.’”
As Hanover ran around handing out voter registration cards made by his wife, he was inspired by the crowd, he said.
“Most of the people that I asked, and it was mostly young people, and especially women, when I asked them if they were registered to vote, they said, ‘Of course,’” Hanover said. “‘Yes’ is good, but ‘of course’ is great.”