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Woman's Exponent

February 15, 2024

The Woman's Exponent was a semi-official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that began in 1872. It published articles advocating for women's suffrage and plural marriage, in addition to poetry and other writings. Lula Greene Richards and Emmeline B. Wells were its editors until 1914, when the Exponent was dissolved. It was "the first long-lived feminist periodical in the western United States."[1] While it had no direct successor, the Relief Society did launch its own magazine, the Relief Society Magazine, in 1915.

Woman's Exponent (1872 to 1914)
September 15, 1880 issue
TypePeriodical
EditorLouisa Lula Greene (1872–1877)
Emmeline B. Wells (1877–1914)
Associate editorAnnie Wells Cannon
(1905-1914)
Founded1872
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publication1914
HeadquartersSalt Lake City

A new publication, independent of the church but partially inspired by the earlier magazine, was launched by a women's group in Massachusetts in 1974, entitled Exponent II, and continues to the present day, along with a program of annual retreats, and latterly a semi-autonomous blog site, The Exponent.

Goals and approach edit

The Woman's Exponent (A Utah Ladies' Journal) was a periodical published from 1872 until 1914 in Salt Lake City with the stated aims of defending and inculcating right principles, and sharing useful knowledge, and to "discuss every subject interesting and valuable to women."[2] Its goals have been summarized by later commentators as uplifting and strengthening women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)[3] and educating those not of the faith about the women of the Church. The prospectus of The Woman's Exponent cited grievances with the portrayal of Utah women in the press as a reason for the paper's creation, asserting: "Who are so well able to speak for the women of Utah as the women of Utah themselves? 'It is better to represent ourselves than to be misrepresented by others!'"[4]

Though not an official LDS Church publication, the Exponent was owned, operated and edited by LDS Church members in a private capacity. The periodical was closely tied to the Church's women's organizations, the Female Relief Societies, unified as the Relief Society.[5] It was approved by the General Authorities of the Church,[5] and often published news of Church events and essays relating to doctrine,[6] but was editorially independent.[5]

Throughout the time of its publication, the newspaper, as it was generally described, covered many topics[5] and featured conflicting points of view.[7] It was a strong voice in support of woman's suffrage. It also actively supported plural marriage, which was a religious practice of the Church at the time. Home, family, and the overall role of women were also frequent topics.[8] The Exponent both expressed that the "woman's sphere" in the home was a noble construct of society and encouraged women to expand beyond it; education for women was often urged to the audience.[6] Lucinda Lee Dalton, an early Mormon feminist, was a frequent contributor.[9] The Exponent also published excerpts from Elizabeth Cady Stanton's The Woman's Bible and passages on the Mormon doctrine of Heavenly Mother.[10] In addition to these religious, social, and political topics, the Exponent included poems and stories, tidbits of humor or wisdom, and current news.[11] Recipes and other housekeeping tips and notes on dress were also published.[6] To promote a more financially-independent Utah, the Exponent "constantly exhorted women to consume only locally made products."[12] Reports from meetings of Relief Society bodies and other auxiliary organizations, such as young women’s and primary groups, were often included.[13] Though it was a private publication, women of the Relief Society were actively encouraged to subscribe, as well as contribute to the paper.[14]

Format and circulation edit

The newspaper was generally issued semi-monthly at first[6] and later monthly, on quarto paper in three columns.[5] Each edition was eight pages long.[4] The Exponent was described as "well filled with reading matter."[15] Its circulation was estimated by the Pacific States Newspaper Directory to be 4,000 in 1888, and its readership likely exceeded that number; the Exponent was used in women's meetings and exchanged with papers outside of Utah.[16] It was credited with considerable influence in Utah, and was quoted in other journals.[5] The back page of the newspaper was reserved for advertisements, which included ads from the President of the Church encouraging women to open their own bank accounts. Other ads were for clothing, silkworms, and classes in midwifery.[17]

History edit

The editor of the Salt Lake Herald, Edward L. Sloan, originally intended to create a woman's column in the Herald itself. When the staff refused to support his idea, and having heard of the idea of a journal for women circulating in the Relief Society,[5] Sloan decided to start the Exponent as a separate publication.[16] He recruited Louisa Lula Greene as editor, and she accepted the position after she secured the approval of her great uncle,[18] Brigham Young, the president of the LDS Church,[6] who assigned it to her as a mission.[5] Greene moved to Salt Lake City in April 1872, and originally worked from a room in the house of another great uncle, but later moved to a purpose-built office with living quarters.[2] The first issue was published on June 1, 1872.[19]

 
Emmeline B. Wells, second editor of the Woman's Exponent

Emmeline B. Wells, who would later become general president of the Relief Society, joined Greene as co-editor in the 1 December 1875 issue. They are both listed as editors on page 100 of vol. 4 no. 13;[20] The two worked together to edit the magazine until Greene decided to take some time for her family in July 1877. She is last listed as editor on page 28 of vol. 6 no. 4;[21] Wells was later joined by her daughter, Annie Wells Cannon, as associate editor, in June 1905. Her name first appears on page 4 of vol. 34 no. 1.[22] Both continued to serve as the publication's editors until it folded.[23]

The periodical faced increasing financial pressures from the late 1800s or early 1900s, and Wells unsuccessfully lobbied the Relief Society General Board to adopt the newspaper as its official publication. The paper was forced to close in February 1914.[24][5] That month, The Salt Lake Tribune recorded that the Exponent was "to give way to what is hoped to be a larger and more modern [publication], but as yet nothing has been done."[25] The Relief Society Magazine, a separate magazine and an official publication of the LDS Church, began in January 1915.[5]

Exponent II edit

See also: Exponent II

Described by its production team as a "spiritual descendant" of the Woman's Exponent, a new independent publication, Exponent II, was launched by a women's group in the Cambridge area of Massachusetts in 1974. A quarterly periodical, it is now the longest-running independent publication for Latter-day Saint women.[26]

See also edit

References edit

Sources edit

  • Bennion, Sherilyn C. (1981). "Lula Greene Richards: Utah's First Woman Editor". BYU Studies. 21: 1–14.
  • Bennion, Sherilyn Cox. (1993), "Sisters under the Skin: Utah's Mormon and Non-Mormon Women and Their Publications", BYU Studies, 33 (1): 111–130
  • Bennion, Sherilyn Cox (Summer 1976), "The Woman's Exponent: Forty-two Years of Speaking for Women", Utah Historical Quarterly, 44 (3): 222–239, doi:10.2307/45059692, JSTOR 45059692, S2CID 254448048
  • Bushman, Claudia L. (1978). "A Wider Sisterhood". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 11 (1): 96–99. JSTOR 45224639.
  • Kohler, Susan Whitaker (2016). "Discovering the Woman's Exponent". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 49 (2): 153–156. doi:10.5406/dialjmormthou.49.2.0153. JSTOR 10.5406/dialjmormthou.49.2.0153. S2CID 217971109.
  • Madsen, Carol Cornwall (2006). An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870-1920. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University. ISBN 9780842526159.
  • Maughan, Mary Ann Weston, ed. (1872). "Prospectus of Woman's Exponent A Utah Ladies Journal" – via Utah State University Digital Exhibits.
  • Petersen, Boyd Jay (2014). ""Redeemed from the Curse Placed upon Her": Dialogic Discourse on Eve in the Woman's Exponent". Journal of Mormon History. University of Illinois Press. 40 (1): 135–174. doi:10.2307/24243874. JSTOR 24243874. S2CID 142174980.
  • Richards, L. Greene; Wells, Emmeline B. (1875). "The Woman's Exponent 1875-12-01 vol. 4 no. 13". Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  • Richards, L. Greene; Wells, Emmeline B. (1877). "The Woman's Exponent 1877-07-15 vol. 6 no. 4". Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  • Thomas, Shirley W. (1992), "Woman's Exponent", in Ludlow, Daniel H. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan Publishing, p. 477, ISBN 0-02-879602-0, OCLC 24502140
  • Wallis, Eileen V. (2003). "The Women's Cooperative Movement in Utah, 1869-1915". Utah Historical Quarterly. University of Illinois Press. 71 (4): 315–331. doi:10.2307/45062808. JSTOR 45062808. S2CID 254436638.
  • Watson, Martha (1991). "The Woman's Exponent, 1872-1914: Champion for The Rights of the Women of Zion, and the Rights of the Women of All Nations". A Voice of Their Own: The Woman Suffrage Press, 1840-1910. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press. pp. 165–182. ISBN 9780817305260.
  • Wells, Emmeline B. (1905). "The Woman's Exponent 1905-06 vol. 34 no. 1". Retrieved September 10, 2018.

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ Bushman 1978, p. 96.
  2. ^ a b "Woman's Exponent. A Utah Ladies' Journal, June 1 1872". The First Fifty Years of Relief Society. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church Historian's Press. p. 3.21. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  3. ^ Bennion 1976, p. 226.
  4. ^ a b Maughan 1872.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thomas, Shirley W. "Woman's Exponent". Encyclopedia of Mormonism. Brigham Young University. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e Bennion 1976, pp. 224, 237.
  7. ^ Petersen 2014, p. 173-174.
  8. ^ Bennion 1976, p. 239.
  9. ^ Bench, Sheree (2002). "Woman Arise!": Political Work in the Writings of Lu Dalton (M.A.). Brigham Young University. OCLC 52790774. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  10. ^ Petersen 2014, p. 140-141.
  11. ^ Bennion 1976, pp. 229–230.
  12. ^ Wallis 2003, p. 316.
  13. ^ Bennion 1993, pp. 111–130.
  14. ^ Bennion 1976, p. 224.
  15. ^ "Woman's Exponent". Salt Lake Herald-Republican. June 7, 1872. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  16. ^ a b Watson 1991, p. 166-167.
  17. ^ Allen, Christie (July 20, 2021). "Curious about Utah's frontier women? Browse BYU's new database of women's newspaper ads". Y News. Brigham Young University. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  18. ^ Bennion 1981, p. 2.
  19. ^ Kohler 2016, p. 154.
  20. ^ Richards & Wells 1875.
  21. ^ Richards & Wells 1877.
  22. ^ Wells 1905.
  23. ^ "Suffrage and Relief Society". history.churchofjesuschrist.org. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  24. ^ Madsen 2006.
  25. ^ "Woman's Exponent Out of Existence". The Salt Lake Tribune. February 26, 1914. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  26. ^ Brooks, Joanna; Steenblik, Rachel Hunt; Wheelwright, Hannah (2015). Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 40. ISBN 9780190248055.

External links edit

  • Woman's Exponent (PDF scans) courtesy of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.
  • Woman's Exponent Digital Exhibit, University of Utah and Brigham Young University
  • Database of advertisements in the Women's Exponent
  • The Exponent Blogsite
  • Searchable transcript of Woman's Exponent

February 15, 2024
woman, exponent, semi, official, publication, church, jesus, christ, latter, saints, that, began, 1872, published, articles, advocating, women, suffrage, plural, marriage, addition, poetry, other, writings, lula, greene, richards, emmeline, wells, were, editor. The Woman s Exponent was a semi official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints that began in 1872 It published articles advocating for women s suffrage and plural marriage in addition to poetry and other writings Lula Greene Richards and Emmeline B Wells were its editors until 1914 when the Exponent was dissolved It was the first long lived feminist periodical in the western United States 1 While it had no direct successor the Relief Society did launch its own magazine the Relief Society Magazine in 1915 Woman s Exponent 1872 to 1914 September 15 1880 issueTypePeriodicalEditorLouisa Lula Greene 1872 1877 Emmeline B Wells 1877 1914 Associate editorAnnie Wells Cannon 1905 1914 Founded1872LanguageEnglishCeased publication1914HeadquartersSalt Lake CityA new publication independent of the church but partially inspired by the earlier magazine was launched by a women s group in Massachusetts in 1974 entitled Exponent II and continues to the present day along with a program of annual retreats and latterly a semi autonomous blog site The Exponent Contents 1 Goals and approach 2 Format and circulation 3 History 4 Exponent II 5 See also 6 References 6 1 Sources 6 2 Footnotes 7 External linksGoals and approach editThe Woman s Exponent A Utah Ladies Journal was a periodical published from 1872 until 1914 in Salt Lake City with the stated aims of defending and inculcating right principles and sharing useful knowledge and to discuss every subject interesting and valuable to women 2 Its goals have been summarized by later commentators as uplifting and strengthening women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS Church 3 and educating those not of the faith about the women of the Church The prospectus of The Woman s Exponent cited grievances with the portrayal of Utah women in the press as a reason for the paper s creation asserting Who are so well able to speak for the women of Utah as the women of Utah themselves It is better to represent ourselves than to be misrepresented by others 4 Though not an official LDS Church publication the Exponent was owned operated and edited by LDS Church members in a private capacity The periodical was closely tied to the Church s women s organizations the Female Relief Societies unified as the Relief Society 5 It was approved by the General Authorities of the Church 5 and often published news of Church events and essays relating to doctrine 6 but was editorially independent 5 Throughout the time of its publication the newspaper as it was generally described covered many topics 5 and featured conflicting points of view 7 It was a strong voice in support of woman s suffrage It also actively supported plural marriage which was a religious practice of the Church at the time Home family and the overall role of women were also frequent topics 8 The Exponent both expressed that the woman s sphere in the home was a noble construct of society and encouraged women to expand beyond it education for women was often urged to the audience 6 Lucinda Lee Dalton an early Mormon feminist was a frequent contributor 9 The Exponent also published excerpts from Elizabeth Cady Stanton s The Woman s Bible and passages on the Mormon doctrine of Heavenly Mother 10 In addition to these religious social and political topics the Exponent included poems and stories tidbits of humor or wisdom and current news 11 Recipes and other housekeeping tips and notes on dress were also published 6 To promote a more financially independent Utah the Exponent constantly exhorted women to consume only locally made products 12 Reports from meetings of Relief Society bodies and other auxiliary organizations such as young women s and primary groups were often included 13 Though it was a private publication women of the Relief Society were actively encouraged to subscribe as well as contribute to the paper 14 Format and circulation editThe newspaper was generally issued semi monthly at first 6 and later monthly on quarto paper in three columns 5 Each edition was eight pages long 4 The Exponent was described as well filled with reading matter 15 Its circulation was estimated by the Pacific States Newspaper Directory to be 4 000 in 1888 and its readership likely exceeded that number the Exponent was used in women s meetings and exchanged with papers outside of Utah 16 It was credited with considerable influence in Utah and was quoted in other journals 5 The back page of the newspaper was reserved for advertisements which included ads from the President of the Church encouraging women to open their own bank accounts Other ads were for clothing silkworms and classes in midwifery 17 History editThe editor of the Salt Lake Herald Edward L Sloan originally intended to create a woman s column in the Herald itself When the staff refused to support his idea and having heard of the idea of a journal for women circulating in the Relief Society 5 Sloan decided to start the Exponent as a separate publication 16 He recruited Louisa Lula Greene as editor and she accepted the position after she secured the approval of her great uncle 18 Brigham Young the president of the LDS Church 6 who assigned it to her as a mission 5 Greene moved to Salt Lake City in April 1872 and originally worked from a room in the house of another great uncle but later moved to a purpose built office with living quarters 2 The first issue was published on June 1 1872 19 nbsp Emmeline B Wells second editor of the Woman s ExponentEmmeline B Wells who would later become general president of the Relief Society joined Greene as co editor in the 1 December 1875 issue They are both listed as editors on page 100 of vol 4 no 13 20 The two worked together to edit the magazine until Greene decided to take some time for her family in July 1877 She is last listed as editor on page 28 of vol 6 no 4 21 Wells was later joined by her daughter Annie Wells Cannon as associate editor in June 1905 Her name first appears on page 4 of vol 34 no 1 22 Both continued to serve as the publication s editors until it folded 23 The periodical faced increasing financial pressures from the late 1800s or early 1900s and Wells unsuccessfully lobbied the Relief Society General Board to adopt the newspaper as its official publication The paper was forced to close in February 1914 24 5 That month The Salt Lake Tribune recorded that the Exponent was to give way to what is hoped to be a larger and more modern publication but as yet nothing has been done 25 The Relief Society Magazine a separate magazine and an official publication of the LDS Church began in January 1915 5 Exponent II editSee also Exponent II Described by its production team as a spiritual descendant of the Woman s Exponent a new independent publication Exponent II was launched by a women s group in the Cambridge area of Massachusetts in 1974 A quarterly periodical it is now the longest running independent publication for Latter day Saint women 26 See also edit nbsp Latter day Saints portalList of Latter Day Saint periodicalsReferences editSources edit Bennion Sherilyn C 1981 Lula Greene Richards Utah s First Woman Editor BYU Studies 21 1 14 Bennion Sherilyn Cox 1993 Sisters under the Skin Utah s Mormon and Non Mormon Women and Their Publications BYU Studies 33 1 111 130 Bennion Sherilyn Cox Summer 1976 The Woman s Exponent Forty two Years of Speaking for Women Utah Historical Quarterly 44 3 222 239 doi 10 2307 45059692 JSTOR 45059692 S2CID 254448048 Bushman Claudia L 1978 A Wider Sisterhood Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought 11 1 96 99 JSTOR 45224639 Kohler Susan Whitaker 2016 Discovering the Woman s Exponent Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought 49 2 153 156 doi 10 5406 dialjmormthou 49 2 0153 JSTOR 10 5406 dialjmormthou 49 2 0153 S2CID 217971109 Madsen Carol Cornwall 2006 An Advocate for Women The Public Life of Emmeline B Wells 1870 1920 Provo Utah Brigham Young University ISBN 9780842526159 Maughan Mary Ann Weston ed 1872 Prospectus of Woman s Exponent A Utah Ladies Journal via Utah State University Digital Exhibits Petersen Boyd Jay 2014 Redeemed from the Curse Placed upon Her Dialogic Discourse on Eve in the Woman s Exponent Journal of Mormon History University of Illinois Press 40 1 135 174 doi 10 2307 24243874 JSTOR 24243874 S2CID 142174980 Richards L Greene Wells Emmeline B 1875 The Woman s Exponent 1875 12 01 vol 4 no 13 Retrieved September 10 2018 Richards L Greene Wells Emmeline B 1877 The Woman s Exponent 1877 07 15 vol 6 no 4 Retrieved September 10 2018 Thomas Shirley W 1992 Woman s Exponent in Ludlow Daniel H ed Encyclopedia of Mormonism New York Macmillan Publishing p 477 ISBN 0 02 879602 0 OCLC 24502140 Wallis Eileen V 2003 The Women s Cooperative Movement in Utah 1869 1915 Utah Historical Quarterly University of Illinois Press 71 4 315 331 doi 10 2307 45062808 JSTOR 45062808 S2CID 254436638 Watson Martha 1991 The Woman s Exponent 1872 1914 Champion for The Rights of the Women of Zion and the Rights of the Women of All Nations A Voice of Their Own The Woman Suffrage Press 1840 1910 Tuscaloosa University of Alabama Press pp 165 182 ISBN 9780817305260 Wells Emmeline B 1905 The Woman s Exponent 1905 06 vol 34 no 1 Retrieved September 10 2018 Footnotes edit Bushman 1978 p 96 a b Woman s Exponent A Utah Ladies Journal June 1 1872 The First Fifty Years of Relief Society Salt Lake City Utah The Church Historian s Press p 3 21 Retrieved May 4 2020 Bennion 1976 p 226 a b Maughan 1872 a b c d e f g h i j Thomas Shirley W Woman s Exponent Encyclopedia of Mormonism Brigham Young University Retrieved May 4 2020 a b c d e Bennion 1976 pp 224 237 Petersen 2014 p 173 174 Bennion 1976 p 239 Bench Sheree 2002 Woman Arise Political Work in the Writings of Lu Dalton M A Brigham Young University OCLC 52790774 Retrieved January 29 2016 Petersen 2014 p 140 141 Bennion 1976 pp 229 230 Wallis 2003 p 316 Bennion 1993 pp 111 130 Bennion 1976 p 224 Woman s Exponent Salt Lake Herald Republican June 7 1872 Retrieved August 20 2020 a b Watson 1991 p 166 167 Allen Christie July 20 2021 Curious about Utah s frontier women Browse BYU s new database of women s newspaper ads Y News Brigham Young University Retrieved July 22 2021 Bennion 1981 p 2 Kohler 2016 p 154 Richards amp Wells 1875 Richards amp Wells 1877 Wells 1905 Suffrage and Relief Society history churchofjesuschrist org Retrieved August 20 2020 Madsen 2006 Woman s Exponent Out of Existence The Salt Lake Tribune February 26 1914 Retrieved August 20 2020 Brooks Joanna Steenblik Rachel Hunt Wheelwright Hannah 2015 Mormon Feminism Essential Writings 1st ed Oxford University Press p 40 ISBN 9780190248055 External links editWoman s Exponent PDF scans courtesy of the L Tom Perry Special Collections Harold B Lee Library Brigham Young University Woman s Exponent Digital Exhibit University of Utah and Brigham Young University Database of advertisements in the Women s Exponent Exponent Blog The Exponent Blogsite Searchable transcript of Woman s Exponent Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Woman 27s Exponent amp oldid 1196562796, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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