Skip to main content
Intellect

The role of women in early LDS Church history topic of Lee Library lecture Feb. 8

The Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University will host guest speaker Jill Mulvay Derr in the Joseph Smith Exhibit Lecture Series Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 3 p.m. in the library auditorium on the first floor.

Admission is free and the public is welcome.

Derr, who has researched the history of Mormon and Utah women for more than 30 years, will discuss the important role women played in the early period of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Joseph Smith's family, friends and followers included devoted women who bore witness of his prophetic calling and lent him their full support in the unfolding restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ and the establishment of Zion,” says Derr.

The exhibition contains manuscripts from women who played important roles in the prophet’s life, including e a family memoir by Lucy Mack Smith, a hymnal compiled by Emma Smith and Emmeline B. Wells’ records of minutes taken from the first Relief Society meetings held in Nauvoo.

Derr is the division director for LDS Church History Research and Development in the Family and Church History Department. She helped edit a collection of writings entitled “Women’s Voices: An Untold History of the Latter-day Saints, 1830-1900” and co-authored the book “Women of Covenant: The Story of Relief Society.”

Prior to her current position, she served as associate professor of Church history at BYU.

The Joseph Smith Exhibit Lecture Series accompanies the current exhibit, “Remembering Joseph Smith Jr., 1806-2006,” a commemoration of the prophet now on display in L. Tom Perry Special Collections through April.

For more information about the exhibition and the lecture series, visit www.library.byu.edu or contact David Whittaker at (801) 422-7774.

Writer: Brian Rust

Related Articles

data-content-type="article"

Forum: Utah and the Constitution: a new national narrative

September 26, 2023
Knowing America’s national story is the only way to preserve liberty, taught Akhil Reed Amar, Yale’s Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, at Tuesday’s Constitution Day forum.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

Yelp certified: BYU-led research discovering ways to keep fake online reviews offline

September 26, 2023
A new study led by a BYU business professor offers strategic measures that businesses can take (and that consumers should be aware of) to instill a greater sense of trust in online review platforms and combat misinformation.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
data-content-type="article"

BYU educators, Native American tribal leaders team up to enrich Utah elementary arts programs

September 14, 2023
The BYU ARTS Partnership, part of the David O. McKay School of Education, began 16 years ago to increase the quality and quantity of arts education through dance, drama, music and visual art in elementary schools. The NACI is one of its four initiatives.
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment= overrideCardHideSection=false overrideCardHideByline=false overrideCardHideDescription=false overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=