Date of Award:
12-2023
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Master of Arts (MA)
Department:
History
Committee Chair(s)
Patrick Mason
Committee
Patrick Mason
Committee
Rebecca Andersen
Committee
Julia Gossard
Abstract
In 1868, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon church) re-organized their women's organization, the Relief Society. The secretaries of each local ward or congregation of the Relief Society in Utah kept a record of their meetings in their own minute books. These records have largely been neglected by scholars and much can be learned about nineteenth-century Latter-day Saint women through their pages. This thesis examines Relief Society minute books from Cedar City, Fillmore, Meadow, Holden, Spring Lake, Provo, Salt Lake City, and Millville, Utah, looking specifically at Latter-day Saint women's discourse, testimonies, and relationships with their male leaders. Ultimately, the minute books reveal that the Relief Society was where women learned what it meant to be a Latter-day Saint woman in Utah.
Checksum
6d0fa443c806ef6d81e3417e8cde9dcc
Recommended Citation
Ruell, McKall Erin, "From the Pen of the Secretary: Latter-Day Saint Women and Relief Society Minute Books, 1868–1889" (2023). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present. 35.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd2023/35
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