I love finding these articles that give you a snapshot of what it was like “way back when”. Enjoy this article from the Relief Society Magazine in Mar 1939.

“According to one of our great modern thinkers, we Americans have experienced “seven adventures in pioneering”: first, for spiritual freedom—the right to worship God as conscience dictates; second, for political freedom—the right to have a voice in the government under which we live; third, for educational freedom—a public school system with education for everyone; fourth, for racial freedom—the emancipation of the Negro and the forbidding of any type of racial enslavement; fifth, for freedom in the control of the forces of nature and industrial organization; sixth, for freedom from sex inequality—the granting of suffrage to women; seventh, still in process of pioneering, that the whole world may sometime be really free, and men and women everywhere live the life of free individuals.

Women have been closely identified with all of these adventures and have played a noble part in their development. The most significant social adventure of the past century, in its various stages of advancement, is the woman’s movement, which reached its culmination in the sixth stage of “pioneering”. Relief Society is an excellent example of this.

It will soon be one hundred years since eighteen women, constituting the charter members, were organized into the Relief Society. Much has been written of this unique society of women and the spirit which was back of its organization—the uplifting of all humanity. Its record is one of splendid achievement, where women have sought to educate themselves and to organize for cooperative effort that opportunities for advancement might be provided, that childhood might be safer, that economic conditions might be improved, that justice and right might prevail, that happiness for all might be increased.

The Relief Society, like the Church itself, is world-wide in its scope and has been recognized by the great organizations of women as a very important unit in the great woman’s movement of the world. As a charter member of the National Council of Women, the Organization participated in the International Congress of Women held in Chicago in 1893 and again in 1933. President Louise Y. Robison, who is one of the members of the Board of directors of the National Council of Women, was one of the Chairmen of the Congress held in 1933, presiding at the session devoted to the subject, “Women in a Changing World,” when Mrs. Emily Newell Blair, Associate Editor of Good Housekeeping, was the speaker.

In June, 1934, President Robison was appointed as a delegate to the International Council of Women, which met in Paris. She not only represented Relief Society but went also as a delegate from the women of the United States, and served on some of the most important committees, notably that on “Equal Moral Standards”. Counselor Amy Brown Lyman represented Relief Society at the International Congress in Yugoslavia in 1937, and again at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1938.

The Organization has sent its board members and officers to attend the National Conference of Social Work in its yearly meetings, where great social and moral questions are discussed. These contacts with the foremost organizations of the world are of immense value, giving opportunity to extend our work and broaden our vision of its scope.

Our seven General Presidents of Relief Society have all been women of destiny, especially fitted for the place and the time of their leadership, and each one has done everything possible to strengthen the Society and extend its usefulness.

Under President Louise Y. Robison many things of interest and importance have been accomplished. When the State board of Public Welfare was created in Utah, President Robison was appointed as the only woman member of that board, and has given valuable service in that capacity. She is also a member of the General Committee on Church Welfare, pledging, as she always does, whole-hearted support to this worthy plan.

The educational program has been made uniform and given to the whole world. This constitutes a distinct bond of interest and sympathy. The lesson material is chosen with a view to presenting that which will be of the greatest interest and value to the largest number of women, and the material lends itself to adjustment to the tastes and needs of the different groups in all lands. As libraries are so essential to any educational movement, the preservation and accumulation of books for use in the wards has been urged.

The marvelous development of the Singing Mothers groups is a beautiful expression of the talent of Relief Society women and their desire for culture and self-expression.

The Mormon Handicraft department and the opportunities here offered provide another outlet for creative work in Relief Society.

Health, employment, social service, spiritual welfare, education in every form, better homes, wiser parenthood, and other ideals consistent with Latter-day Saint standards, are the goals for which Relief Society is striving.”
May I add my personal opinion to the article. We women are “women of destiny” and must always strive to speak up to be heard in the name of righteousness, as our organization has always done. Let’s strive for righteous homes, reach out to our communities through service, and set a good example to the world. The Lord is depending on us.

Article written by Julia A. F. Lund, General Secretary to Relief Society, “Relief Society, A Significant Woman’s Movement”, RS Mag, Mar 1939.