Skip to main content

Relief Society (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

 Organization

Corporate History

The Relief Society is the women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which was initially led by Emma Hale Smith in Nauvoo, IL in 1842. During the group's existance, it has been an organization dedicated to providing lessons, activities, and service opportunities for the women of the Church in both a ward and stake setting.

The Relief Society was established by various women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sarah M. Kimball's house in Nauvoo, IL in 1842. After giving their constitution to Joseph Smith, they set up various presidencies within their wards/stakes and selected Joseph Smith's wife Emma to serve as the overall president of the Society.

Between Joseph Smith's martyrdom in 1842 and 1866, the Society fell into disarray under Brigham Young's leadership of the Church. While he did allow various female-led societies to assist in the Church's exodus to Utah to assist in midwifrey (The Female Council of Health) and in developing bonds with the Native Americans, the general involvement of the Relief Society in the Church was weak.

From 1866 on, Brigham Young and later leaders of the Church made more of a concerted effort to make sure that the Relief Society would play a more predominant role in the Church. Not only did he call a new General President of the Society to lead the group (starting with Eliza Snow), but he permitted the Society to create magazines, be more actively involved in the ward, etc. Through the group's involvement of the Church, they contributed to the Church's welfare program, strengthen homes during times of war, and became Red Cross units in wartorn nations in World War I and World War II. They also worked to prevent the passage of the Equal Rights Ammendment, established the Women's Research Center at BYU, and so on.

Citation:
The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, via WWW, August 19, 2016 (Relief Society)

Found in 11 Collections and/or Records:

Mary Andrus papers

 Collection — Box 1: [Barcode: 31197231581312]
Identifier: MSS 1462
Scope and Contents

Collection contains an autobiography, certificates, family history, legal documents, letters, photographs, talks and tributes. Also includes material relating to the Latter-day Saint Church Spanish Fork, Utah 1st Ward Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association, 5th Ward Relief Society, Spanish Fork Public Library, the Icelandic Association, and Alma Archibald Andrus' journal (1909-1968).

Dates: 1902-1975

Castle Dale Ward record

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230313337]
Identifier: MSS SC 1583
Scope and Contents

Photocopies of the history of the Relief Society, Castle Dale Ward in the Emery Stake, Utah, 1882-1976. The history includes photocopies of photographs of presidents and officers of the organization, an 1894 Sunday School class, and a quilt made in 1976.

Dates: 1953-1976

Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History manuscripts on Social Services, 1949-1984

 Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UA 1214 Series 4
Scope and Contents

Contains oral histories and manuscripts for a book on the history of social services in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1949-1984.

Dates: 1949-1984

Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History records

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UA 1214
Scope and Contents Contains correspondence, newspaper articles, reports, manuscripts, oral histories, and other material concerning the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History, mostly from 1940-2005. Collection includes administrative files, history of the Primary and Relief Society organizations within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, social services and women in the church. The records concerning the Primary and Relief Society organizations document the beginning of those...
Dates: 1880-2005

Mendon Relief Society

 File — Folder 1: [Barcode: 31197230316454]
Identifier: MSS SC 2010
Scope and Contents

Handwritten history of the Mendon Relief Society from its organization in 1868 to 1963. Also included are a story titled "Deck of Cards" and handwritten biblical passages.

Dates: 1963

Oral history interview with Alice L. Wilkinson

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UA OH 47
Scope and Contents

Interview by Virginia Poulson with Alice Wilkinson concerning her background, family, college life and activities, church and community activities, travel, and the contributions of her husband in church, education and politics. Includes transcript and sound recording.

Dates: 1979

Oral history interview with Daniel Mandeville Keeler

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UA OH 68
Scope and Contents Interview by Bertrand Harrison with Daniel Keeler, coal miner and steel worker, concerning the work of his father, Joseph B. Keeler, at Brigham Young Academy and Brigham Young University, 1884-1920. Includes comments on the development of BYU, and particularily the construction of campus buildings, and comments about BYU presidents. Also tells of Keeler's experiences as a student at BYU, his family, and the work of his parents in the Utah Stake with the development of Aaronic Priesthood and...
Dates: 1981

Oral history interview with Marjorie M. Emery

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UA OH 169
Scope and Contents

Transcripts of oral history conducted as part of the Brigham Young University Archives Joint Oral History Project of the Brigham Young University Alumni Association Emeritus Club. Emery tells about attending Brigham Young University, her marriages to Wayne L. Reeve and Wesley F. Emery, her Relief Society callings, her missions to Ireland and to the Liberty Jail Visitors Center, and about living in Kansas and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Dates: 1992

Mary A. Porter family papers

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 6198
Scope and Contents

Collection contains minutes, notes, histories, genealogy, yearbooks, and other material related to the Porter and Ashby families. Includes documentation from Mary Ashby Porter's service in the Relief Society, as well as family papers. Materials date from between 1925 and 2005.

Dates: 1925-2002; 2005

Recording of Florence Jepperson Madsen 86th birthday tribute

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: UA OH 48
Scope and Contents

Proceedings of tribute to Florence Madsen. Includes guest appearances by friends, former classmates and students, and an adopted daughter. Also musical numbers, including renditions of three of Mrs. Madsen's compositions, and climaxed by remarks by the honoree. Includes transcript and sound recording.

Dates: 1972