March Events Will Honor Women

“A Tribute to Women: The Legacy—Remembered and Renewed” is the theme of this month’s series of events sponsored by the combined Primary, Relief Society, and Young Women organizations of the Church. The presentations, planned from March 15 through early April, will highlight the challenges and opportunities of womanhood.

In a joint statement announcing the Tribute to Women events, Primary President Dwan J. Young, Relief Society President Barbara B. Smith, and Young Women President Elaine A. Cannon described the planned activities. “Some of the presentations will be reminders from history of the role and scope of women’s influence in the past; some will deal with women of the present and with their contributions to many different aspects of life; and some will explore new opportunities and options. All will be grounded in the teachings of Jesus Christ and his message that we are all, men and women alike, God’s eternal creations. Our opportunities for growth are limitless. The responsibility for achieving growth is our own.”

Events scheduled will include the following.

Sacrament meeting. “A Legacy of Latter-day Saint Women—A Testimony of Jesus Christ” will be the theme of Churchwide sacrament services during March, preferably March 21. Congregations will honor and be addressed by a Primary girl, a young woman, and the Relief Society president.

General Women’s Program. A general meeting for all women of the Church twelve years of age and over will be held on Saturday, March 27, at 6:00 P.M. in the Salt Lake Tabernacle. The meeting will include choral presentations, filmed visual segments, messages from General Authorities, and responses from general presidents of the Primary, the Relief Society, and the Young Women. It will be broadcast live by a Utah television station and carried by satellite transmission to those stake centers in the United Sates that have receiving units in place by that date. Videotapes of the meeting will be provided (in English only) to each region of the Church so that all sisters will be able to participate in the meeting at their convenience.

Legacy Lectures. A series of invitational lectures will feature the perspectives of Latter-day Saint women who have excelled in their homes, in their communities, in academic studies, or in professional careers. Lectures will be presented daily from March 15 to March 19 in the Relief Society Building at 12:10, 4:30, and 7:00 P.M. Similar lecture series maybe presented in stakes and regions throughout the Church.

Relief Society open house. On March 17, the 140th birthday anniversary of the Relief Society, that organization’s general presidency and board will receive visitors in the Relief Society Building between 10:30 A.M. and 3:00 P.M. Lectures, demonstrations, prizewinning songs, and birthday cake will be shared with Latter-day Saint women and their friends. Descendants of former Relief Society presidents will also be honored on this occasion.

Legacy Concerts. Performances by Latter-day Saint women of outstanding artistic achievement will be given in five major cities. Concerts are scheduled for Salt Lake’s Symphony Hall, Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., the Oakland California Stake Center, and the Performing Arts Center of the University of Texas at Dallas. After the initial concerts, similar cultural evenings may be organized on a stake or regional basis.

A Legacy Fine Arts Exhibit will also be presented in Salt Lake City beginning March 17 and will feature the works of Latter-day Saint women artists who have achieved expertise in their chosen medium of art. The exhibit will be shown at the Salt Lake Arts Center on March 17 and in the Relief Society Building March 19 through April 5.

Women’s History Symposium. “Young Women of Mormondom” will be the subject of a women’s history symposium held on March 25 from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. at Brigham Young University.

In conjunction with its birthday anniversary, the Relief Society has announced completion of restoration work on the Sarah M. Kimball home in Nauvoo, Illinois. It was in this home that a group of women met on March 11, 1842, to organize a ladies’ society to further the work of the Church. The restoration will serve as a place where the story of the Relief Society may be told.

Left to right: Primary President Dwan J. Young, Relief Society President Barbara B. Smith, Young Women President Elaine A. Cannon. The three auxiliaries jointly sponsor “Tribute to Women.” (Photography by Eldon K. Linschoten.)