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This article presents data on the history of women at the University of Utah from 1850 to 1915 in an effort to put into perspective the meaning behind the inclusion of women at the beginning of the institution at a time when that was still relatively uncommon nationwide. Information is drawn from an in-depth review of all primary resources in the Records Center and Archives of the University of Utah. Other relevant collections and manuscripts at the University of Utah and the Historical Department, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, were also consulted. The findings lead to the conclusion that the inclusion of women had a pragmatic economic base, did not give them equal access to University resources, increasingly reinforced prevalent social expectations by educating them for roles as wives, mothers and teachers and was not rooted in a basic commitment to equal education for men and women.