Since the founding of the Relief Society 150 years ago, each period of time has made different demands on Latter-day Saint women. They faced the rigors of pioneer life and traveled West, fought for the right to vote, expanded relief efforts during World War I, the Depression and World War II, and then faced changes due to rapid Church growth.
But the purpose and structure of Relief Society has remained constant, according to two LDS historians, Jill Mulvay Derr and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher. Both women are noted authors and have spent years researching the history of the Relief Society and Mormon women."The further we've researched the more we've found continuity of theme, purpose and intent, rather than change," remarked Sister Beecher, an English professor and research historian at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Church History at BYU.
"Reading the Nauvoo Relief Society minutes makes me feel at home today. There is just as much interest now in those basic principles as there was then of having the presence of the Spirit, the responsibility to save souls and caring for the needy - a sense of charity in all its finest senses."
The beginning of Relief Society came about when Sarah Kimball and her seamstress, Margaret Cook, combined their efforts to make clothing for the men working on the Nauvoo Temple in the spring of 1842. They decided to invite a few women to join with them in the sewing project and to form a ladies' society.
Eliza R. Snow agreed to write a constitution and bylaws for the society and presented them to Joseph Smith. He praised them as the best he had ever seen. "But," he said, "[the Lord] has something better for [the sistersT than a written constitution" and invited the sisters to meet with him the following Thursday "and I will organize the sisters under the priesthood after a pattern of the priesthood." He further said, "The Church was never perfectly organized until the women were thus organized."
The Relief Society was then officially organized March 17, 1842, by Joseph Smith. He declared that the object of the female Relief Society of Nauvoo was to help "in looking to the wants of the poor - searching after objects of charity, and in administering to their wants." He also admonished the sisters to save souls.
Sister Derr, also a research historian at the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute, added: "One of the things that Joseph Smith was clear about in speaking to the sisters in Nauvoo was that Relief Society was an essential part of the Church organization. He articulated a vision in which women were partners with the priesthood. One of the continuing themes we see through history is working out that partnership."
On April 28, 1842, at the sixth meeting of the Relief Society, Joseph Smith said: "This society is to get instruction through the order which God has established - through the medium of those appointed to lead - and I now turn the key to you in the name of God, and this Society shall rejoice, and knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time - this is the beginning of better days to this Society."
Sister Derr explained: "After years of experience in Relief Society work, many women felt that in turning the key, Joseph had opened a whole new era for women not only in the Church but also in the society at large."
Sister Beecher added: "Doctrinally, with the introduction of the [templeT endowment to women, Joseph gave the sisters a place of equality that they had not had in traditional Christianity before. With the introduction of the endowment, they perceived themselves as daughters of God just as men were sons of God, and there was an equally yoking of man and woman."
The Relief Society organization grew to 1,300 members by 1844, but was disbanded following the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and persecution of the saints. The society was reorganized in about 1855 much the same way it was organized in 1842, Sister Beecher explained.
"In both cases it was a grassroots movement among women that preceded the organization. In the beginning, they saw a need to provide clothing for men working on the Nauvoo Temple. When they came West, they perceived a need to make clothing for the Indians."
Brigham Young soon gave the sisters an official directive to reorganize the Relief Society, she said.
Sister Derr added: "Different eras have made different demands, but the purpose and structure of Relief Society have essentially not changed. Instead, the particular activities or responses for a given time have been molded and modified for that particular period."
In 1876, for example, Relief Society women began to store wheat in case of famine, she related. They built their own granaries and tried to keep up with changing technology, using steel instead of wood or stone to line the granaries.
They soon saw uses for the grain, sending a train car to California for victims of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. During World War I they sold all the grain to the government, later using the interest from the funds to meet health care needs.
Relief Society sisters also saw a need for better obstetrical care and women were set apart to act as nurses and midwives in the late 1800s, Sister Derr explained. As the need grew, the Relief Society set up its own hospital, the Deseret Hospital in Salt Lake City, in 1882. A Relief Society nursing school was also established in Salt Lake City. The school was discontinued as nursing changed from volunteer work to professional work and required more exacting training.
Through the efforts of the Relief Society, Utah women became the first to vote in a major election in 1870, Sister Beecher added.
"Throughout the history of the Church, women have been learning political skills as they looked beyond their own homes to extend their influence in the community. From 1830, women had participated in the common consent vote in the Church. By the time they encountered the suffrage movement in the 1870s, they were ready for it."
From 1910 to 1920, the Relief Society organization began to stretch and grow due to rapid Church growth, Sister Beecher explained. "Many of the projects the Relief Society had been doing, such as wheat, were phased out.
"As a new generation came up, younger members felt a need to push forward with new programs. The motto `Charity Never Faileth' and the sego lily were adopted as symbols of Relief Society in 1913, and the board published standardized lessons for the first time in 1914.
In the past 50 years, changes have occurred along with Church growth. In May 1971 all LDS women, 18 and older, were to be enrolled as members of Relief Society. The first general women's meeting was held in 1978.
In recent years Relief Society leaders have emphasized the importance of meeting the needs of members throughout the world and building a unified, worldwide sisterhood. Today there are 3.1 million Relief Society sisters living in 135 countries.
Sister Beecher concluded: "As we have looked at things that have changed and things that haven't changed, charity remains constant and is the most essential and as the scriptures say, `endureth forever.' " (Moroni 7:46-47.) - Sheridan R. Sheffield
