Elizabeth Kane | |
|---|---|
 Kane in Salt Lake City, c. 1872 | |
| Born | Elizabeth Dennistoun Wood May 12, 1836 Liverpool, England |
| Died | May 25, 1909 (aged 73) |
| Education | Female Medical College of Pennsylvania |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4, including Evan O'Neill Kane |
| Parent(s) | William Wood Harriet Amelia Kane |
Elizabeth Dennistoun Wood Kane (May 12, 1836 – May 25, 1909) was an American physician, writer, philanthropist, and women's rights activist. She was one of the first students to attend the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. Her writing supported the part her husband, Thomas Kane, played in the lobbying efforts that attempted to prevent the Poland Bill from persecuting members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who then practiced plural marriage.
She wrote two travel accounts, Twelve Mormon Homes Visited in Succession on a Journey through Utah to Arizona and A Gentile Account of Life in Utah's Dixie, published from her letters to home and her personal diaries that recounted the time that she spent in Utah with Thomas Kane associating with the Mormons. While the books may have influenced congressional debate about the Poland Bill, they more importantly represent a close first-person account of Mormons in the mid-late 1880s and reveal their lifestyles and opinions about polygamous practices.