As I continue reading the Women\u2019s Exponent, I am happy to see so many similarities.\u00a0 Women are the same from generation to generation.\u00a0 We have the same concerns and the same interests.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve mentioned before about the Retrenchment Association that was organized out of the Relief Society.\u00a0 It was originally meant to inspire the women to forego fancy meals and dress.\u00a0 It branched out into helping to stay focused on the spiritual potential of women; scripture study as well as good education, being more resolved to slough off the world and its influences, and be more self-sufficient and self-contained.<\/p>\n
The Senior Retrenchment Association was organized before the Junior (or Young Women\u2019s) Retrenchment Association.\u00a0 And it was under the direction of the Senior Retrenchment that the Senior and Junior Retrenchment groups were organized in all the surrounding wards.\u00a0 Letters sent to the Women\u2019s Exponent, reporting local accomplishments, were published and shared with other organizations, and it\u2019s clear the women all looked forward to hearing from one another and their various doings.<\/p>\n
Mary Isabella Horne was the president of the Senior Retrenchment Association.\u00a0 She would travel to various wards organizing them into ward Retrenchment groups, calling presidencies and checking up on their progress.\u00a0 Clearly, this was a labor of love.\u00a0 While serving in this position, she also served as her ward and stake\u2019s Relief Society President.\u00a0 When the first Relief Society General Board was organized, she was called as the first Treasurer, all the while maintaining her position as president of the Senior Retrenchment Association, for nearly 30 years.\u00a0 Emmeline Wells described Isabella as a General Among Women.\u00a0 She was a much loved leader and organizer.<\/p>\n
I ran across a few letters of interest where wards were reporting their progress.\u00a0 It seems the reports are of both the Senior and Junior groups.\u00a0 Perhaps they worked together in their goals.<\/p>\n
One report from Plain City, Weber County, Utah, in 1876, writes:\u00a0 \u201cWe had a Leap-year Ball on the 16th of March; the hall was beautifully decorated for the occasion.\u00a0 Dancing commenced at 2pm and closed at 10.\u00a0 We have had no round-dancing this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
They were big on ending the dances at 10pm. \u00a0The round-dancing caught my eye.\u00a0 I had to look it up on the Internet to discover exactly what it is.\u00a0 Round-dancing is pre-choreographed ballroom dancing, similar to square dancing, where a caller calls out the next steps in dances such as foxtrot, waltz, quickstep, etc.\u00a0 This type of dancing was apparently unfavorable to Brigham Young, who called a stop to it.<\/p>\n
In another letter, from Draper, it says, \u201cWe had been counseled to cease the round dances, but as they had become the favorite and almost universal dance, it appeared at first, as though it would be a hard matter to get the young to comply with the request.\u00a0 But after being organized the sisters immediately resolved to cease dancing them.\u00a0 The young men complied without the least resistance, so there is no more round dancing among us, and our parties are not held later than ten o\u2019clock.\u201d<\/p>\n
What I find fascinating here is that they all complied.\u00a0 This was a dance where the male holds the female.\u00a0 I\u2019m guessing that was just too personal for the time.\u00a0 It is apparent they all enjoyed this kind of dancing, and where dancing was not completely outlawed, not touching each other was the request.\u00a0 How would we react today?\u00a0 How have we reacted when the prophet speaks?<\/p>\n
I appreciate how at their meetings (and these groups met to discuss various topics every other week or so) they took minutes.\u00a0 The next time they met they would read the minutes of the previous week to see their progress.\u00a0 When they met in larger groups, each of the ward secretaries were asked to read the minutes and note their progress.\u00a0 This suggests their purpose was to DO, not hear.<\/p>\n
In another letter, the writer states, \u201cDear sisters, let us be guarded in our actions that we may always wield a good influence.\u00a0 Let us live our religion in every particular that we may have courage to do right, power to rebuke sickness and disease; and always have the Spirit of God to combat with our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As I continue reading the Women\u2019s Exponent, I am happy to see so many similarities.\u00a0 Women are the same from generation to generation.\u00a0 We have the same concerns and the same interests. I\u2019ve mentioned before about the Retrenchment Association that was organized out of the Relief Society.\u00a0 It was originally meant to inspire the women […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[91],"class_list":["post-388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-relief-societyyoung-women","tag-retrenchment"],"yoast_head":"\n