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"In The Toils" Or "Onward For Zion": Images Of The Mormon Woman, 1852-1890, Gail Farr Casterline

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this thesis is to identify and discuss various popular images of the Mormon women of Utah between 1852 and 1890, the period during which the Latter-day Saints openly practiced plural marriage. The phrase "in the toils" refers to the basic image present in the minds of many Americans--that the women of the church were an oppressed, unhappy, enslaved group of individuals. This image, expressed in different ways, is found in many published writings of the period examined.

After demonstrating the presence of this "in the toils" image, this study then attempts to analyze and evaluate its significance. …