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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 12 Collections and/or Records:

Alice Louise Reynolds diaries and notes, 1894-1938

 Series
Identifier: MSS 120 Series 1
Scope and Contents

Contains diaries, lecture notes, correspondence, and autobiographical materials produced by Reynolds. Includes information on her teaching and travels. Materials dated between 1894 and 1938.

Dates: 1894-1938

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

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

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

Alice Louise Reynolds papers

 Collection — Box 4: [Barcode: 31197231038735]
Identifier: MSS 120
Scope and Contents

Material contains Reynolds's handwritten correspondence from 1912 to 1937; diaries from 1924 to 1925, 1934, and 1937; lecture notes on English literature and European history from 1894; and autobiographical and miscellaneous notes from 1935 to 1938. The materials document the various aspects of Reynolds's career and life. The diaries were kept largely when Reynolds was travelling in Europe and the Middle East.

Dates: 1894-1938

Women's Research Institute correspondence, approximately 1978-1997

 Series — Carton 1: Series 1 [Barcode: 31197225547220]
Identifier: MSS 3312 Series 1
Scope and Contents

Contains correspondence related to the Women's Research Institute. Materials date from approximately 1978 to 1997.

Dates: approximately 1978-1997

Women's Research Institute files on Relief Society, approximately 1978-1997

 Series — Carton 5: Series 5; Series 6; Series 7; Series 8 [Barcode: 31197225547261], Folder: 10-13
Identifier: MSS 3312 Series 6
Scope and Contents

Contains subject files regarding the history and administration of the Relief Society. Materials date from between approximately 1978 and 1997.

Dates: approximately 1978-1997