Short Notice | General Board of the Relief Society, History of the Relief Society, 1842–1966

This is a public relations picture book presenting a collection of photographs from the Improvement Era and The Relief Society Magazine, with portraits of Relief Society Presidents, past and present, and one or two interesting old prints. There are pages of respectable elderly ladies posing for portraits or engaged in handwork. Indeed, the text emphasizes handwork, although all of the early leaders were also involved in countless strenuous public causes, from the suffragette movement to the Red Cross. One wonders if all that activity was made possible by the division of labor inherent in polygamy, but, of course, polygamy is not mentioned. 

One is impressed by the seeming autonomy enjoyed by the early Relief Society, whose members manufactured silk, maintained stores, educated nurses and doctors, ran hospitals, and built imposing edifices of the mind as well as those used for public meetings. Some may have helped to build these physical structures with their own hands. We are told they were able to repair wagon wheels and buggy tongues. (What would Fascinating Woman say to that?) Sometimes one longs for the good old days when women joined with their men in some of the more exciting aspects of the world’s work! 

This book is not a scholarly history, since it does not draw upon any original sources, but it does point up the need for a more searching account, one that would bring to life those indomitable Eliza R. Snow’s and pioneer women of her calibre. 

The Relief Society has a long history of good works, showing an independence and courage that cannot be duplicated, or even approached, by the women of other churches. Its organization—strong, capable and far-reaching—could be mobilized over night for the needs of our burgeoning society (it certainly needs “relief). Not only could we “care for our own,” but we could reach into communities all over the world, aiding the sick and dying, seeking answers to problems posed by urban development, poverty, education, and the search for peace. Something more is needed than quilting and fashioning paper flowers. It is hoped that in accord with its imposing history, the Relief Society may now turn toward the challenging enterprises of today’s world. 

History of the Relief Society, 1842-1966. Salt Lake City: Published by the General Board of the Relief Society, 1966. 140 pp., $4.00.