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Elizabeth Ann Whitney on Gathering with the Relief Society

[From the minutes of an 1843 Nauvoo Relief Society meeting:] Councillor [Elizabeth Ann] Whitney then rose, said she rejoiced that we could enjoy the pr[i]vilege of associating together to converse on things of th[e] Kingdom to comfort and edify each other while passing through this vale of tears. (Document 1.2, entry for July 15, 1843)

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About

This collection of original documents explores the fascinating and largely unknown history of the Relief Society in the nineteenth century. The story begins with the founding of the Nauvoo Female Relief Society in 1842, and the complete and unabridged minutes of that organization are reproduced for the first time in print.

The large majority of the print volume covers the even lesser-known period after the Relief Society was reestablished in territorial Utah and began to spread to areas as remote as Hawaii and England. 

This website features the entire contents of The First Fifty Years of Relief Society, including all the documents, the editorial matter, and the photographs. The website also includes videos, a chronology, and two thousand brief biographies (fully sourced) of individuals who appear in the documents.

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