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The Relief Society and President Spencer W. Kimball's Administration Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2013-07-02 The Relief Society and President Spencer W. Kimball's Administration Carrie L. Taylor Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History of Christianity Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Taylor, Carrie L., "The Relief Society and President Spencer W. Kimball's Administration" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 3795. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3795 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. The Relief Society and President Spencer W. Kimball’s Administration Carrie Taylor Anguiano A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Mary Jane Woodger, Chair Lloyd D. Newell Kenneth L. Alford Religious Education Brigham Young University July 2013 Copyright © 2013 Carrie Taylor Anguiano All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT The Relief Society and President Spencer W. Kimball’s Administration Carrie Taylor Anguiano Department of Religious Education, BYU Master of Arts This thesis explores the relationship between ideology generated by advocates of the Women’s Liberation Movement and President Kimball’s purposes of using Relief Society to strengthen Latter-day Saint (LDS) women. Navigating women through the societal attack on womanhood, President Kimball, and other general Church leaders during his administration (1973-1985), taught LDS women of their privilege and duty to the organization and the importance of generating strength through a sisterhood focused on service. Relief Society programs, procedures, and curriculum were evaluated, adjusted, and reinforced to deepen women’s commitment to divinely established roles, to enhance women’s doctrinal confidence, and expand the influence of women’s leadership. The purpose of this thesis is to show how Relief Society strengthened LDS women’s commitment to family and influenced increased cooperative efforts in defending families through Relief Society and priesthood organizations. Keywords: Relief Society, Spencer W. Kimball, Barbara B. Smith, Women’s Liberation Movement, Equal Rights Amendment, Womanhood, Marriage, Motherhood, Nauvoo Monuments ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express gratitude to the Religious Education program and BYU professors who led me to this thesis subject. Researching and writing of this topic has instructed and healed my own journey as a woman. I express gratitude to Ray Huntington for his guidance and understanding as I have worked my way through the thesis process. I express gratitude to my Chair, Mary Jane Woodger, and committee members, Lloyd Newell and Ken Alford. They provided prompt, objective, and guiding feedback to improve the quality of this thesis. I am grateful for their wisdom, experience, and skills in academic writing that essentially molded the final product. I express gratitude to Elaine L. Jack, Barbara W. Winder, Beverly Campbell, and Shirley W. Thomas. Each of these women donated one-on-one interview time regarding their experiences of serving in general Relief Society positions during President Kimball’s administration. I express gratitude to my parents, Norman and Debbie Taylor, who never gave up on me. I express gratitude to my siblings and close friends who listened to my ideas and gave me perspective. I express deep gratitude to my husband, David Anguiano, for keeping the vision alive, inspiring me with new ways of thinking, and providing me the time to complete my thesis. I express gratitude to God, who gave me the courage to continue and the inspiration to finish. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE ................................................................................................... 1 RATIONALE ......................................................................................................................... 2 PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP ................................................................................................... 3 SOURCES ............................................................................................................................. 5 METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................................. 6 STRUCTURE OF STUDY ....................................................................................................... 6 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 2: THE INFLUENCE OF THE WOMEN’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT.... 10 THE WOMEN’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT ....................................................................... 10 THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT .................................................................................. 13 RELIEF SOCIETY AND ERA .............................................................................................. 14 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 3: THE ROLE OF RELIEF SOCIETY ............................................................... 26 A DUTY ............................................................................................................................. 27 SISTERHOOD ..................................................................................................................... 30 STRENGTHENED DOCTRINALLY....................................................................................... 34 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER 4: CHANGES IN RELIEF SOCIETY ................................................................. 44 CURRICULUM CHANGES................................................................................................... 44 CHANGES IN EMPHASIS .................................................................................................... 51 PROCEDURAL CHANGES ................................................................................................... 54 CHANGES IN CHURCH COUNCILS AND W ELFARE ........................................................... 58 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... 64 CHAPTER 5: DEFINING WOMANHOOD ............................................................................ 66 THE NAUVOO MONUMENTS ............................................................................................. 67 iv W OMANHOOD ................................................................................................................... 75 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... 81 CHAPTER 6: ROLE OF WOMEN AS WIVES ...................................................................... 82 MARRIAGE ........................................................................................................................ 83 FULL PARTNERSHIP .......................................................................................................... 87 SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER 7: ROLE OF WOMEN AS MOTHERS ............................................................... 91 ATTACK ON MOTHERHOOD ............................................................................................. 91 PROTECTING MOTHERHOOD ........................................................................................... 94 REAFFIRMING MOTHERHOOD ....................................................................................... 100 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 105 CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 106 OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................... 106 SUMMARY OF CONTRIBUTIONS ...................................................................................... 108 FUTURE RESEARCH ........................................................................................................ 109 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 111 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 114 v Chapter 1: Introduction On December 30, 1973, Spencer W. Kimball succeeded Harold B. Lee as president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The following day, President Kimball stated in a press conference that his intention for the Church was to move forward and further emphasize the programs President Lee had begun. More specifically, he declared, “We are especially interested in the family and the home and hope to encourage and increase,
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