With the disbanding of the Joseph Fielding Smith Institute on September 1, 2005, many have asked what would become of the Women’s History Initiative. We are happy to report that the Initiative still exists in a somewhat scaled-down form. Team members Jill Mulvay Derr, Connie Lamb, Cherry Silver, and Sheree Bench continue to meet to strategize and coordinate research projects that focus on Mormon women. Historian Carol Cornwall Madsen has moved to an advisory role as she completes the second installment of her biography on Emmeline B. Wells, which focuses on Wells’s private life.
The Mormon Women’s History Initiative office is now located in 1835 Harold B. Lee Library. You will find Cherry Silver and Sheree Bench there on most Mondays as they continue their work on the Emmeline Wells diaries.
|
The year 2004 was a remarkable year for the Women’s History Initiative of the Joseph
Fielding Smith Institute for LDS History. The Women’s History Initiative team coordinated several
events focusing on Mormon women, including an exhibition, a lecture series, a dramatic production,
and a scholarly seminar. The year was capped off with the inauguration of a Mormon women’s history
class at BYU, which was team-taught by Jill Mulvay Derr and Sheree Maxwell Bench.
Our Mission | Publications | WH Class | Announcements | Related Websites | Contact Us
The Mormon Women’s History Initiative promotes the research and publication of Latter-day Saint women’s history and documents,
encouraging scholarship in a variety of disciplines to expand our understanding of Mormon women.
The Initiative Team conducts original research, supports new scholars, and sponsors lectures, seminars, and a course in Mormon women's history.
|
Discoveries Broadcast and DVD
Discoveries, a dramatic interpretation of poetry by Mormon women set to the original music of Harriet Petherick Bushman, has been captured on film at the LDS Motion Picture Studio by director Thomas Lefler. The film premiere was held in the HBLL auditorium on April 20, 2005. Discoveries aired on BYU-Television in May and KBYU in July. Check BYUTV and KBYU listings for future broadcast dates. DVDs of Discoveries may be purchased online at Creative Works.
|
|
Publications forthcoming
A proceedings volume from the March 2004 seminar, “New Scholarship on Latter-day Saint Women in
the Twentieth Century,” compiled by editors Carol Cornwall Madsen and Cherry B. Silver will
be available in November 2005. Papers address topics such as Amy Brown Lyman, Belle Spafford,
Sister Missionaries, Woman Suffrage, and Mormon Women during the Progressive Era and World War II. Watch for its release at BYU Studies.
Historian Carol Cornwall Madsen’s new biography, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells will be published in early 2006. The
book will be featured in a forthcoming lecture by Madsen. Check this site later for details.
|
Mormon Women’s History, 1830-1980
Historians Jill Mulvay Derr and Sheree Maxwell Bench will teach another section of Mormon Women’s
History, 1830–1980 at BYU fall 2006. The course is cross-listed as Hist 390R and WS 390R.
Announcements
Donate to Mormon Women's History
The Mormon Women’s History Initiative Team is currently seeking outside funding to continue their historical research on Mormon women. If you would like to assist this effort with a financial contribution, please contact Sheree Bench at sheree_bench@byu.edu.
|
Woman’s Exponent Online
A database called the Gerritsen Collection has digitized many nineteenth-century women’s
publications, including Woman’s Exponent and Young Woman’s Journal.
While it does not have every issue, it has a good representation and it is searchable. It is
available through the Harold B. Lee Library website under the Women’s Studies page. Once you access this page, scroll down to “Other Resources” and click on the link to the Gerritsen’s Women’s History Online. This database is available on campus at BYU-Provo or from off campus with a Route Y ID. |
 |
Explore Our Bibliography
Search topics on our new Bibliography of Mormon Women’s History database. We have taken listings under the subject heading
“women” from Studies in Mormon History, 1830–1997: an Indexed Bibliography
and added recently published items. This bibliography is fully searchable.
|
Related Websites
BYU Studies - http://byustudies.byu.edu
Mormon Studies - http://mormonstudies.byu.edu
National Women’s History Museum - http://www.nwhm.org/home/home.html
Relief Society Magazine Index - http://web.lib.byu.edu/rsmag/
Segullah Literary Journal - http://www.segullah.org/
Women’s Manuscripts Collections - http://sc.lib.byu.edu/collections/womens.html
Women’s Research Institute - http://wri.byu.edu/
Women’s Studies - http://hbllmedia.lib.byu.edu/subs/subject.pl?s_id=50
Contact
Information
Mormon Women’s History Initiative
Research Office: 1835 HBLL Brigham Young University
Mailing Address: 121 KMB Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
(801) 422-2829
ldswomen-history@byu.edu
|
