Relief Society to Celebrate Birthday, Honor Women

The Relief Society will be one hundred and forty years old next month. In conjunction with that anniversary, the Relief Society General Presidency has announced a series of events designed to recognize and honor women of the Church.

“Latter-day Saint women are so outstanding that we want to make this a very special time of recognition for them,” said Barbara B. Smith, Relief Society general president. The Young Women and Primary organizations will also join in the celebration.

Theme for the celebration is “The Legacy … Remembered and Renewed,” and the events will culminate with a Churchwide meeting of women on Saturday, March 27.

On March 11, dedicatory services will be conducted at the restored Sarah M. Kimball home in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was in this home in early 1842 that Sarah Kimball offered to furnish funds and fabric if her seamstress would make shirts for brethren laboring to build the Nauvoo Temple. A number of other women supported the project, and it was suggested that a society be organized for that purpose. From these beginnings came the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo.

Other events scheduled in March include:

Singles fireside. A fireside for all single women in the Church will be conducted on Sunday, March 14. Its purpose will be to introduce a new program designed to help single sisters implement principles of the gospel in their lives.

Lecture series. Women of the Church are encouraged to submit papers focusing on their particular areas of expertise—religious, domestic, or professional. Selected papers will then be presented in the Relief Society Building during the week of March 15–19; these essays may later be published. Deadline for submission is February 15; send papers to Legacy Lectures, 76 North Main, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150. Length should not exceed twenty-five double-spaced typed pages.

Relief Society open house and 140th anniversary celebration. A general open house will be held on March 17 in the Relief Society Building in Salt Lake City between 10:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. Anniversary celebrations will also be held in each local unit throughout the Church on that day.

Cultural evening and displays. A concert featuring accomplished LDS women will be presented March 17 at Salt Lake City’s Symphony Hall. Similar presentations will be organized under the direction of local leadership throughout the Church. In conjunction with this event, displays of varied cultural arts will be exhibited through the week.

Sacrament services. The theme of sacrament meetings throughout the Church on March 21 will be the contributions of womanhood. Wards will honor women from their local areas during this meeting.

General women’s meeting, March 27. Featured at this meeting will be a multi-media presentation documenting the progress of Relief Society since its inception and honoring the role of women in the Church. Those in attendance will also see a videotape of the dedicatory services at the Sarah M. Kimball home and will receive counsel from the general presidents of Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary, and from General Authorities of the Church. The meeting will be broadcast by satellite to sisters throughout the English-speaking world.

March 17, 1842: Organization of the Relief Society. (Illustrated by Dale Kilbourn.)