Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Lds Women And The Teton Dam Disaster Of 1976, Emily Willis

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

June 5, 1976, started like any other spring day in southeastern Idaho. After the cold winter, most of the residents of the numerous farming towns that lie throughout the Upper Snake River Valley found the beautiful Saturday ideal for farm work, gardening, or spring cleaning. About twenty miles northeast of Rexburg, the largest town in the area, the Teton Dam neared completion. A Bureau of Reclamation project, the dam promised to stop the annual flooding that so often decimated portions of farmers' fields along the Teton River. Around 11 o'clock that morning, however, came a terrifying report: the Teton Dam …

Bending The Arc Of Politics Toward Zion Voices From Mormon Women For Ethical Government, Jennifer Walker Thomas, Emma Petty Addams

BYU Studies Quarterly

At the conclusion of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1956, Martin Luther King Jr. paraphrased the words of Theodore Parker to situate small battles for justice within a larger movement toward God’s ideal

world. Parker, a Boston abolitionist, beautifully described the ache of discipleship that results when spirits reach for worlds they cannot quite see: “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience.

And from what I …

Diary Of An Afghan Woman Collection - September 2021

TSOS Interview Gallery

Four women share with us their daily lives in Afghanistan. Join them as they express their love for the country, the people, and each other; and as they share with you their deepest fears and most intimate moments.

They refuse to be silenced as they journey through this new, uncharted chapter in Afghanistan's history.

We at TSOS are honored to provide a platform for their voices to be heard. We will post entries as we receive them. For safety purposes, names have been changed and only avatars (designed with input from each woman) will be used.

ZOYA

Zoya is a …

The Early Development Of Latter-Day Saint Women’S History An Interview With Jill Mulvay Derr, Cherry Bushman Silver

BYU Studies Quarterly

This piece is half of an interview conducted by Cherry B. Silver on August 8, 2019, in the BYU Studies offices. The second half of the interview was published in BYU Studies Quarterly 59, no. 3. Many thanks to Laurel Barlow for transcribing the recording.

Modina, Modina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Modina fled Myanmar after experiencing and witnessing extreme violence, including the destruction of her village and the violent murder of her uncle by soldiers. She arrived in Bangladesh by boat after paying smugglers a large sum.

Rohima, Rohima, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Rohima was brutally raped and tortured by soldiers during an attack. After witnessing other women receive the same treatment, she fled Myanmar for Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Once there, she got married while pregnant as a result of the rape.

Shobika, Shobika, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Shobika escaped Myanmar amid widespread chaos. After being separated from her husband and experiencing the kidnap of her two children, she was raped by soldiers and became pregnant. Her husband now rejects this child.

“Among The Finest And Truest Off Earth's Noble Women”: Evaluating The Public Roles Of Mormon Women After The Manifesto, Natalie Larsen

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Using Women’S Voices In Teaching History And Doctrine, Jennifer Reeder

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In early July 1830, shortly following her baptism, Emma Smith received a revelation through her husband, Joseph Smith, about her position and responsibilities in the new Church of Christ. In the revelation (now known as section 25 of the Doctrine and Covenants), the Lord described Emma as an “elect lady” and charged her to “expound scriptures and exhort the church according as it shall be given thee by my spirit.” The responsibilities were weighty: the 1828 American Webster dictionary defines exhort as “to encourage, to embolden, to cheer, to advise, to excite or to give strength, spirit, or courage.” Likewise, …

Pioneer Women Of Arizona, Hannah Charlesworth

BYU Studies Quarterly

Pioneer Women of Arizona, by Roberta Flake Clayton, Catherine H. Ellis, and David F. Boone, 2d ed. (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017)

Wise Or Foolish: Women In Mormon Biblical Narrative Art, Jennifer Champoux

BYU Studies Quarterly

Visual imagery is an inescapable element of religion. Even those groups that generally avoid figural imagery, such as those in Judaism and Islam, have visual objects with religious significance.1 In fact, as David Morgan, professor of religious studies and art history at Duke University, has argued, it is often the religions that avoid figurative imagery that end up with the richest material culture.2 To some extent, this is true for Mormonism. Although Mormons believe art can beautify a space, visual art is not tied to actual ritual practice. Chapels, for example, where the sacrament ordinance is performed, are built with …

A House Full Of Females: Plural Marriage And Women's Rights In Early Mormonism, 1835-1870, Lowell C. Bennion

BYU Studies Quarterly

Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017.

Women And Mormonism: Historical And Contemporary Perspectives, Alison Palmer

BYU Studies Quarterly

Kate Holbrook and Matthew Bowman, eds., Women and Mormonism: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2016)

Layla, Layla, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Layla left Ethiopia 10 years ago to look for work opportunities. She left behind a father and three brothers. She went to Syria on a three-year work contract. She worked in a house and learned Arabic. She then went to Turkey by boat and then went on to Greece for 5 years. She worked and learned the Greek language. When she became pregnant she had to stop working. She travelled to Serbia to Macedonia to Austria all on foot. Then the Red Cross moved Layla and her daughter to Giessen, Germany where a roommate periodically beat her baby. Seeking safety …

Helping Female Students Rise To Their Spiritual Privileges, Barbara Morgan Gardner

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

Recently, I asked my class of fifty Doctrine and Covenants students if they felt confident with their knowledge of the doctrines, principles, and practices associated with the priesthood. Apparently all did! I was so happy at that moment thinking that we would save several hours of class time on the topic. In the silence of my office following class, however, I began to wonder how it was that they knew everything about the priesthood when I myself, and even Church leaders, were struggling to understand and explain some of the fundamentals. During the next class, therefore, I had them answer …

The First Fifty Years Of Relief Society, Karen Lynn Davidson

BYU Studies Quarterly

Jill Mulvay Derr, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society.

Salt Lake City: Church Historian's Press, 2016.

Women And Early Twentieth-Century Lds Missiology, Louisa Greear, Michael Mackay

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As a research assistant for Dr. Michael MacKay and Dr. Gregory Wilkinson, I transcribed journals from missionaries in the Frist Japan Mission. As I transcribed these journals, a particular person really jumped out at me: Edna Harker Thomas. Sister Thomas was not only the wife of the mission president, Elbert Thomas (later a United States Senator), she was also a college educated woman who was involved in the goings on of the mission. Through researching about her life, I was able to gain a greater understanding of her role and the role of women in general in early twentieth-century missiology.

A Faded Legacy: Amy Brown Lyman And Mormon Women's Activism, 1872-1959, Lisa Olsen Tait

BYU Studies Quarterly

Dave Hall. A Faded Legacy: Amy Brown Lyman and Mormon Women's Activism, 1872-1959.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah, 2015.

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

Mormon Women In Memoir, Angela Hallstrom, Jacqueline S. Thursby, Rosalyn Collings Eves, Amy A. Easton-Flake, Amy Isaksen Cartwright

BYU Studies Quarterly

Heaven Is Here: An Incredible Story of Hope, Triumph, and Everyday Joy, by Stephanie Nielson (New York: Hyperion, 2012)

My Story, by Elizabeth Smart with Christopher Stewart (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2013)

Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor, by Jana Riess (Brewster, Mass: Paraclete Press, 2011)

The Place of Knowing: A Spiritual Autobiography, by Emma Lou Warner Thayne (Bloomington, Ind.: iUniverse, 2011)

The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an American Faith, by Joanna Brooks (New York: Free Press/Simon and Schuster, 2012)

Global Mom: Eight Countries, Sixteen Addresses, …

Helen Andelin And The Fascinating Womanhood Movement, Mary Jane Woodger

BYU Studies Quarterly

Julie Debra Neuffer. Helen Andelin and the Fascinating Womanhood Movement.

Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2014.

Maude Adams And The Mormons, J. Michael Hunter

Faculty Publications

Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1872. Her mother, Annie Adams, was the daughter of first generation Mormons who trekked across the plains and an actress at the Salt Lake Theatre. Maude Adams began her acting career at the age of five in some of her mother’s plays. She continued to act into her adult years, achieving her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 1905 Broadway production. She became the highest-paid performer of her day. Discussed here is Adams’s career and her relationship with her Mormon relatives …

"As A Bird Sings": Hannah Tapfield King, Poetess And Pioneer, Leonard Reed

BYU Studies Quarterly

Hannah Tapfield King (1807-1886), converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1850 in Cambridge, England, and emigrated with her family to Utah. She was a prolific and popular writer of poetry, essays, and educational pieces for Utah's newspapers, and she had a reputation as a woman of refinement. From her autobiography one can see her complete devotion to the Church. She and her family sacrificed a comfortable middle class life in England running the family farm, and they suffered considerably in Utah's desert. Her husband, Thomas King, eventually joined the Church but was never active or …

Pedestals And Podiums: Utah Women, Religious Authority, And Equal Rights. By Martha Sonntag Bradley, Andrea G. Radke-Moss

BYU Studies Quarterly

Martha Sonntag Bradley. Pedestals and Podiums: Utah Women, Religious Authority, and Equal Rights. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 2005

The Rhetoric Of The Frontier And The Frontier Of Rhetoric, Carly Kay Paul

Theses and Dissertations

The definition of rhetoric has recently been expanded to include elements of experience, particularly the experiences that landscape provides. One landscape that has rhetorical significance is the American frontier, both in Colonial times and in the nineteenth century. The frontier had a rhetorical impact on women, in particular, giving them freedom to change their roles and achieve economic, political, and social success. Because of the tremendous significance of the frontier in women's lives, a new definition of frontiers emphasizes conditions such as opportunity for change, a dangerous and uncertain atmosphere, a freedom of thought and action, and an ability to …

“Give Up All And Follow Your Lord”: Testimony And Exhortation In Early Mormon Women's Letters, 1831–1839, Janiece Johnson

BYU Studies Quarterly

Women composed a significant portion of the early converts who would follow Joseph Smith over hundreds of miles and through the fires of persecution. Lucy Mack Smith, Rebecca Williams, Phebe Peck, and Melissa Dodge represent well the dedication and testimony of such early Latter-day Saint women. Despite separation from loved ones and the dangers and difficulties they would face as Church members, religion was the guiding factor in their lives. These women testified of the value of their experiences and exhorted others to "give up all and follow your Lord" regardless of the trials that were required of them.

Faith, Femininity, And The Frontier: The Life Of Martha Jane Knowlton Coray, Amy Reynolds Billings

Theses and Dissertations

Through examining the life of Martha Jane Knowlton Coray, a nineteenth-century Mormon woman, this thesis establishes an analytical framework for studying the lives of Mormon women in territorial Utah. Their faith, femininity, and the frontier form the boundaries in which their lives are studied. Their faith was primarily defined by the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, such as a belief in a restored gospel and priesthood, temples, and polygamy. These unique beliefs also fostered an identity as a chosen people and contributed to hostile feelings from their neighbors. Persecution followed and the Latter-day Saint community …

"Woman Arise!": Political Work In The Writings Of Lu Dalton, Sheree Maxwell Bench

Theses and Dissertations

In 1872, Mormon plural wife, educator, and suffragist Lucinda Lee Dalton began writing fiery political essays and insightful poetry for the Woman's Exponent from her small community in southern Utah. Through her writings Dalton endeavors to shape the opinions of Exponent readers by working within public discourse toward the goal of equality for women. At times both optimistic and troubled, she uses the rhetorical strategies of humor, irony, reason, identification, and persuasion to educate men and women on disparities and to encourage women to participate actively in their own emancipation. She often engages in a dialogical process with other writers …

"And Well She Can Persuade": The Power And Presence Of Women In The Book Of Mormon, Wendy Hamilton Christian

Theses and Dissertations

This work is the first of its kind on women in the Book of Mormon. It (1) is an exhaustive treatment of the book's female characters, (2) analyzes how women function in the text, and (3) delineates the text's female-inclusive language. This thesis contains a complete list and discussion of the identifiable women in the Book of Mormon (Chapter 1); provides a compilation and treatment of the book's gender-inclusive language—comprising over 200 words and more than 5,000 references to them—and its bearing on the doctrines and depictions of women in the narrative (Chapter 2); and illustrates the significant influence individual …

Addressing Mormon Female Communities: Working Towards A Woman's Capacity, Alyssa Snow Larson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis project explores the discourse in Mormon culture addressing Mormon female communities. The discussion is sociological rather than theological and examines the functional characteristics of discourse found in the tradition regarding women. It sets out to review a paradox in the discourse addressing Mormon women that has been documented over time. I examine how this paradox in Mormon discourse establishes and limits women's roles; to do so, I use personal examples and the experience provided by thirteen women whom I interviewed.

The thesis is divided into three main discussions: Community, Discursive Action and Cooperation. My methodology involves a theoretical …