Relief Society (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
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 9 Collections and/or Records:
Emmeline B. Wells ledger book, 1892-1895
Ledger book used by Emmeline B. Wells to record membership in the Utah Suffrage Association between December 23, 1892 and May 20, 1895 (pages 6-18); and a verbatim handwritten copy of the minutes of the Female Relief Society in Nauvoo, Illinois, taken from the original record created from March 17, 1842 to March 16, 1844.
Female Relief Society record book
Female Relief Society record book
Minute book of the Female Relief Society in Salt Lake City, Utah, which outlines the activities, resolutions and meetings of the society. The record was kept by Louisa R. Taylor, the society's secretary, and includes entries for meetings from January 9-June 13, 1854.
Joseph Field Smith Institute administrative records, 1984-2005
Contains corporate minutes, reports, schedules, agendas, photographs, letters, memoranda, suget forms, programs and clippings concerning the administrative files of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History. These administrative files deal with faculty reports, symposiums, lectures, grants, and projects of the various programs and researches of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History, 1984-2005.
Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History records
Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History records on Women History Initiative Team, 1977-2008
Robert Orr papers
Handwritten poems, minutes of a meeting of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a biography of Zina D. H. Young, a wife of the second president of the Church, Brigham Young. The poems were written at the death of Brigham Young in 1877. The Relief Society minutes relate to a meeting held in the 64th District school house on 7 Nov. 1893 in an unknown location.
Mary A. Porter family papers
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.
Relief Society record book
Includes meeting minutes and financial entries. The record chronicles the Relief Society of the West Joran Ward, 1868-1877; North Jordan Ward, 1877-1892; and Taylorsville Ward (renamed from North Jordan Ward), 1892-1897. Includes a typed transcript, prepared by BYU Special Collections and Manuscripts, of the record book.