In 2016 the Church Historian’s Press published a long-awaited collection of nineteenth-century LDS women’s documents—an institutional history of the Relief Society from 1842 to 1892. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society is a resource to scholars and general readers, placing women with men at the forefront of the Church. But its physical heft and scholarly composition can easily intimidate a general reader. This study guide is a starting point for readers to better understand these essential documents and have conversations about what they mean for us today. Highlighting some of the more outstanding teachings and insights from the book, this guide will help you connect with your Relief Society sisters of the past and apply their wisdom and knowledge to your daily life.
Jennifer Reeder is the nineteenth-century women’s history specialist at the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She holds a PhD in American history from George Mason University.
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Janiece Johnson is a transplanted Bay Area, California, native who loves history, design, art, good food, and traveling. She has master's degrees in American religious history and theology from Brigham Young University and Vanderbilt's Divinity School, respectively. After working as a historian in the LDS Church History Department for several years, she returned to school to complete doctoral work at the University of Leicester in England. Janiece has published work in women's and religious history—specializing in Mormon history and the Mountain Meadows Massacre. She is the general editor of the Mountain Meadows Massacre Legal Papers (University of Oklahoma Press, 2017). she is currently a visiting professor in religious education at Brigham Young University-Idaho.
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