50 years ago
Details of a special memorial service to be conducted in each ward and branch of the Church on Sunday evening, June 25, 1944, in commemoration of the centennial of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were announced in the May 27, 1944, issue of the Church News.
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, then of the Council of the Twelve, chaired a committee that had planned the memorial service program.
The program outline included the singing of several hymns, including "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet"; "Praise to the Man"; "Joseph Smith's First Prayer"; "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief"; and "O Give Me Back My Prophet Dear." Titles of the addresses included "The Prophet's First Vision," to be given by an Aaronic Priesthood holder; "Joseph Smith the Prophet"; and the reading of Doctrine and Covenants Section 135.
Quote from the past
"I have felt to rejoice exceedingly in what I saw of brother Joseph, for in his public and private career he carried with him the Spirit of the Almighty, and he manifested a greatness of soul which I had never seen in any other man." - Elder Wilford Woodruff, in an address given Jan. 10, 1858, in the Tabernacle on Temple Square.
