In 1897, the leaders of the Church faced the dilemma of maintaining contact with a growing membership of the Church. Within three years, 40 stakes would be organized and membership would reach 236,316.
President Wilford Woodruff was concerned that the then-present means of communication were insufficient.After months of planning, President Woodruff, in addition to President Joseph F. Smith of the First Presidency, Elder Heber J. Grant of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Brigham H. Roberts of the First Council of the Seventy, as well as other executives of the MIA, organized a new publication called the Improvement Era.
It began publication 100 years ago as an organ of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association in November 1897 with the aim of "uplifting . . . the youth of Zion."
The Improvement Era became a major tool in linking the membership of the Church with its leaders, and a forerunner of the present-day Ensign. It grew in circulation from approximately 2,000 in 1897 to 270,000 in 1970 when the publication ceased with the December issue.
Starting in 1971, Church leaders reshaped the role of Church publications by combining the material contained in the Improvement Era, Instructor, Relief Society Magazine and the Children's Friend into just three magazines, namely, the Ensign for adults, The New Era for youth and the Friend for children. Also, the Church began publishing the International Magazine in 1967. It contains articles from other Church magazines as well as local news. The magazine is now approved in 31 languages.
President Joseph F. Smith served as the first senior editor of the Improvement Era while a counselor to President Woodruff, and then to President Lorenzo Snow in the First Presidency. When President Smith became president of the Church, it was decided that the president of the Church should be the senior editor of the Era.
According to Doyle L. Green, who served for more than 22 years as managing editor of the Improvement Era and subsequently the editor of the Ensign, the first issue of the Era in November 1897 was "by mere human understanding . . . an inopportune time to begin a new publication."
These were challenging times for the Church, which, like the United States, was in a rather severe financial condition, not having fully recovered from the financial panic of 1893.
"But any time is the right time to light a beacon of righteousness if you have men who are directed by the Spirit of the Lord," explained Brother Green.
But getting started during those times was a major problem, wrote Brother Green in an article published in the November 1970 issue of the Era.
He told how representatives of the magazine traveled throughout the Intermountain Area, sometimes by horseback or wagon, seeking support for the new publication.
"Elder Heber J. Grant pressed his family into service," explained Brother Green. "He had a number of lovely daughters. Each night after dinner was over and the dishes had been taken from the tables and washed, typewriters were brought out and the daughters improved their typing skills by writing letters for their father, who pleaded with the young men of the Church to support this new venture.
"Elder Grant disliked the idea of blotting his signature, so by bedtime hundreds of letters were often on the floor and the beds, waiting for the ink to dry."
In 1897, Era management made an application at the Salt Lake City post office for a second-class mailing permit for a 2,000-circulation publication.
The request for such a large circulation caught the attention of postal officials in Washington, D.C., who asked for verification of the circulation, since most first-time publications had a distribution of a few hundred only.
Through the years, circulation of Church magazines continued to double, then double again, and again, until the average monthly circulation of the magazines today tallies 714,000 Ensign, 231,000 New Era, 247,000 Friend, and 210,000 International Magazine subscriptions.
Design and appearance have changed a great deal through the years. Once using a small format with black and white photos, the Church magazines are now printed on the finest presses with cutting-edge printing technology.
The magazines remain focused on increasing faith through the publication of inspiring messages from Church leaders, with plans to continue evolving to reflect the personality of a growing and dynamic Church.
