In the Spring of 1842 Sarah Kimball and Margaret Cook decided to create a women's benevolent society to sew new and repair damaged clothing worn by workers building the Nauvoo Temple.  They asked Eliza Snow to write articles and bylaws.  In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner describes how the Relief Society was formed, and how Joseph Smith "ordained" its first Presidency and helped organize it after the pattern of the Priesthood.  After research and prayer, the Relief Society women voted on on issues. They were seen as bright and competent. This led to Utah in 1869 being the first place in the entire United States and its territories to give women the unfettered right to vote. Wyoming was next. Susan B. Anthony visited Utah years before she was successful in her suffrage efforts, to learn how Utah women had acquired such power.  From the efforts of Utah's Relief Society the right of women to vote spread around the world. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the "Susan B. Anthony" amendment giving all U.S. women the right to vote, passed in 1920, which was 51 years after Utah women had the right to vote. 

In the Spring of 1842 Sarah Kimball and Margaret Cook decided to create a women's benevolent society to sew new and repair damaged clothing worn by workers building the Nauvoo Temple.  They asked Eliza Snow to write articles and bylaws.  In this episode of Religion Today, host Martin Tanner describes how the Relief Society was formed, and how Joseph Smith "ordained" its first Presidency and helped organize it after the pattern of the Priesthood.  After research and prayer, the Relief Society women voted on on issues. They were seen as bright and competent. This led to Utah in 1869 being the first place in the entire United States and its territories to give women the unfettered right to vote. Wyoming was next. Susan B. Anthony visited Utah years before she was successful in her suffrage efforts, to learn how Utah women had acquired such power.  From the efforts of Utah's Relief Society the right of women to vote spread around the world. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the "Susan B. Anthony" amendment giving all U.S. women the right to vote, passed in 1920, which was 51 years after Utah women had the right to vote.

Issues of faith and spirituality that matter to LDS, Mormons, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Religion Today

Martin Tanner's Religion Today Show broadcast Sunday, July 17, 2022 on the Relief Society and its Influence of Women's Right to Vote in the U.S. and the World

Advertisement