Relief Society Magazine was the official publication of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1915 to 1970. It succeeded the earlier and privately owned Woman's Exponent, which was begun in 1872. The magazine was an important publishing outlet for Utah women, and was run by women editors. The founding editor, Susa Young Gates, edited the magazine from 1915 to 1922. The December 1970 issue of the Relief Society Magazine was its last. The LDS Church discontinued the magazine as part of the implementation of the Priesthood Correlation Program. Thus, the magazine and several others within the church were replaced by the Ensign.
History
Relief Society Magazine started with the Relief Society Bulletin of 1914, starting the same year that Woman's Exponent stopped. The Bulletin was renamed Relief Society Magazine in 1915.
Though Woman's Exponent was incredibly popular with subscriptions exceeding 4,000, Susa Young Gates believed the Relief Society could reach even more people by changing the format of their distributions. At the turn of the twentieth century, magazines became the preferred means of distributing literature because they were more accessible to a wider audience. The magazine began as a black and white one dollar pocketbook but began printing in color in 1962.
After World War II, the Relief Society Magazine began publishing pro-motherhood and anti-work themes in its pages. This style, while influenced by the culture of the nation, also influence the domestic motherhood sentiment among women in The Church. However, not all subscribers were persuaded. Certain women working at the Manti Parachute Plant in Manti, Utah vocalized their belief that women could handle the workforce and domestic care.
Editors
Susa Young Gates (1915–22) (she was also editor of the Relief Society Bulletin) Clarissa Smith Williams (1923–28) Alice Louise Reynolds (1928–30) Mary Connelly Kimball (1930–37) Belle S. Spafford (1937–45) Marianne C. Sharp (1945–70)
Associate Editors
Alice Louise Reynolds (1923–28) Louise Y. Robison (1933–34) Marianne C. Sharp (1943–45) Vesta P. Crawford (1945–70)
Circulation
The Relief Society Magazine was distributed and printed from the Relief Society Office Building in Salt Lake City, Utah. Statistics come from "A History of the Relief Society Magazine."
Starting in 1966, the Relief Society began publishing a Spanish edition of the magazine to reach the ever-growing Hispanic population of The Church. This contributed to the massive increase in subscribers in the late 1960s.
Content
There was a wide variety of content available for the subscribers of the magazine, the curriculums and lessons, the "Notes from the Field," contests, the most famous of which was the Eliza R. Snow Poetry competition. After World War II the magazine shifted focus from political activities and global missionary work to sewing projects and charity organizations. Additionally, the magazine was the inspiration for many songs including "Our Magazine."
Relief Society Curriculums/Lessons
The magazine dispersed the monthly Relief Society Curriculums illustrating what each lesson was to be on. Lesson topics ranged from bible chapters for home reading to the importance of theatre and the arts to the role Jesus as savior. These lessons were to be taught be designated instructors during the weekly meetings of the Relief Society organization in the various congregations throughout the world. An instruction circular advised Relief Society stakes that wards should prioritize the official curricula, writing that they would be "mistaken" to "reject that which has been prepared by proper authority." Susa Young Gates initially wrote the monthly lessons for genealogy.
"Notes from the Field" Early on, the magazine was nearly as far reaching as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The most reliable way this happened was through the paid subscriptions of missionaries that were spread throughout the globe. The magazine began incorporating this diversified readership through a regular column titled "Notes from the Field", which described some of the experiences that missionaries around the world were having. This column spanned nearly two decades, lasting from the magazine's beginnings in 1915 until its last edition in 1934. Amy Brown Lyman (pictured) wrote and edited this column for the majority of its existence.