Pioneer: 2011 Vol.58 No.4

To the women of the 19th century, . . . turning
the key to women unlocked their potential and
resulted in an “awakening” of women not only
to the spiritual blessings that awaited them
through the ordinances of the temple but also to
their own capabilities in assuming an essential part
in “the work of the world,” Wells believed. The
Relief Society would be a major conduit leading
toward achievement of women’s highest potential,
both temporal and spiritual. This conviction
provided the philosophical basis of Wells’s work
in behalf of women, culminating in her own
ascendancy to the general presidency of the Relief
Society in October 1910, the last link between the
Nauvoo and the Utah general presidencies.
1 “A Book of Records Containing the Proceedings of the
Female Relief Society of Nauvoo” (hereafter Nauvoo RS
Minutes), Church History Library (CHL), Salt Lake City.
Digital images in Selected Collections from the Archives of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2 vols. DVD
(Provo: BYU Press, [Dec. 2002], vol. 1, disc 19. All ward
and stake records cited herein are in the CHL.
2 Substantially edited excerpts from Snow’s minutes,
particularly Joseph Smith’s addresses to the Relief
Society, appeared in the Deseret News, Aug. 22, Sept. 5,
Oct. 3, and Dec. 19, 1855. The addresses for Mar. 17 and
30, April 28, May 26, June 9, and Aug. 31, I842, are in
Nauvoo Bell Tower & Relief Society Memorial, onTemple Square
“The Nauvoo Bell originally hung in the Temple that Church members built in Nauvoo, Illinois, in the 1840s. The
Saints removed the bell in 1846 when they were forced to leave Illinois because of persecution. Following instructions
from Brigham Young, the second company of pioneers carried the bell to the Salt Lake Valley. During
their journey they rang the bell to signal daybreak and departure and to warn that night sentries were on duty.
The bell is now rung hourly as a symbol of religious freedom
and is heard on KSL radio. The monument honors the Relief
Society . . . [and] was built with donations from Relief Society
members to mark the organization’s centennial.
“Here in the shadow of the temple, on this spot hallowed
by the tread of pioneer feet, the Relief Society-Women’s
Benevolent Organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints erects this monument. It stands as an
expression of appreciation for the wonderous opportunities
for soul growth that have come to womenkind since the time
one hundred years ago when in 1842 the Relief Society was
organized in Nauvoo, Illinois, by the Prophet Joseph Smith,
who said: ‘I now turn the key in your behalf in the name of
the Lord and this society shall rejoice, and knowledge and
intelligence shall flow down from this time henceforth. . . .
Let kindness charity and love crown your works.’
“It is with gratitude that this monument is dedicated to
the thousands of unsung Relief Society heroines who over a
period of one hundred years have stimulated intellectual development
and given compassionate service without thought
of honor or reward. These valiant women have nourished
the hungry, clothed the needy, nursed the sick, buoyed up
the discouraged and disconsolate, and tenderly prepared the
dead for burial.” Inscription on bas-reliefs by Avard Fairbanks,
prominent Utah sculptor.
Photo by Anna Lofgren
Pioneer 2011 ■
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