Mormon Sisters: Women In Early Utah

by Claudia Bushman

In the last twenty years, an increasing number of books on the history of Utah and Mormon women have appeared. The book that led the way for these varied studies came to be when a group of Boston-area women, connected with the periodical Exponent II (named in honour of its nineteenth century predecessor, The Woman's Exponent), got together to publish a collection of topical essays on Utah women's history titled Mormon Sisters. The book became a minor classic in Mormon women's studies and inspired several imitators. Mormon Sisters has been out of print for a number of years. Now back in print, this new edition adds new illustrations, an updated reading list, information on the subsequent careers of the contributors, and an introduction by prominent historian Anne Firor Scott, author of numerous books, including Southern Lady.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Religion, Womens, Lds, Christianity, Biography

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know that the first woman senator AND member of the house of representatives was from Utah and a Mormon? Well, it is true. Cool, huh?

I've learned so much from this book. It is absolutely astounding and makes me so incredibly proud to be a Mormon woman. I almost think this book should be required reading for LDS women. It addresses all the hard points of LDS doctrine and history and addresses them with straight forward and accurate facts. The authors don't try to give you their personal opinions but let the history tell the story. I especially enjoyed the chapters on Polygamy (because I have LOTS of unanswered questions about that), Midwifery and Mormon Feminists. Did I already say it... this book is incredible. It is one I need to get for my personal library.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy reading book with essays done by different women. It’s a lot of historical context to the Mormon church. enjoyed reading it

[Sadie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I consider myself a devout member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints a.k.a. Mormon, I have never been interested in the history of the church. This is a series of essays from different writers, on varying topics, all compiled into a book. I did find some of the essays interesting and I gained a greater respect for the women that helped build up Utah. I also found some of the essays fairly dry and hard to stay with. Probably my favorite was the essay/short biography of Susa Young Gates. She was an amazing woman and made me feel wimpy for dreading my pile of laundry I have to get through. I did enjoy the book enough to give it 3 stars. I think someone with the love of history or interested in the lives of women in the early church would enjoy it better than myself.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very informative series of essays regarding female members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in mainly 19th century Utah. Topics covered include "Mystics and Healers", 'Pioneer Midwives" , "Zion's Schoolmarms", "Plural wives" and many others. There are chapters on well-known LDS women such as Eliza R. Snow and Susa Young Gates as well as how LDS women got involved in the fight for Women's Suffrage. Well written and researched, this book is a must for anyone interested in a true picture of what life was like for early Latter-day Saint women.

[Jenalyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

These essays about "Women in Early Utah" were fascinating. I learned a lot and wonder about what contribution I am making to my world. I would have given this 5* but some of the essays were a little dry and hard to stay focused on.

[tiffany greene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading List at the end of this book (including a 1997 updated reading list as well ) shows the development of LDS Women’s studies over the last decades of 20th century.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It read quickly. Mormon Sisters is a collection of essays about LDS women in early Utah. This is not fiction or an opinion piece. The authors do a really good job of just stating the facts and suggesting simple analysis. Some of the essays were more interesting and focused than others, but all of them were good. For the most part, it was a really fascinating read.
These ladies were ambitious and independent, (Eliza R. Snow sounds kind of crazy and Susa Young Gates was super woman) and were great supporters for the feminist cause. Women in the Utah territory had the right to vote 50 years before anyone else.
There was quite a bit written on polygamy in the book. While the authors didn't take any stance on polygamy itself, they suggested that polygamy had a positive effect on the feminist cause as it required women to stand up for their beliefs against persecution, become more involved in politics, and act more independently of their shared-husbands on a daily basis. Interesting. Also, it talked about the aftermath when polygamy was ended and what happened to the abandoned women and children.

One part I really liked was learning about Dr. ELLIS Shipp -- one of the first female doctors in Utah.

Really fascinating. I would definitely recommend it.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of essays by Mormon women about early Mormon women. A somewhat mixed bag, but mostly pretty interesting.

In the days when American society was determined to rid itself of Mormonism, the principal casualties of the battle were the Mormon women the Church's opponents pretended to speak for. Reviled and mocked by the public and sometimes estranged from their husbands who were forced into hiding, many Mormon women suffered greatly in those times. These essays cover the lives of these women, from their polygamy to their political activity.

The polygamy essay was interesting in that it avoided the normative pitfalls of almost every discussion of the subject and focused on what the life of a polygamous woman was actually like. The essay also provides some informative statistics.

Also fascinating was the degree of independence, politically and socially, of Mormon frontier women. Rather than the slaves they are often painted as, Mormon women tended to be relatively autonomous for that day.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was originally published in 1976 and came from a discussion group of Mormon women's history (later it was republished with additional essays). Each author decided on a particular topic to research, study, and write up and was ultimately edited and compiled by Claudia Bushman. Each essay is easily read and digested and ranged somewhere between 15 and 23 pages (including the notes section of each chapter). The topics include women's healing, pioneer midwives, plural wives, feminists, political activists, mini-biographies of Eliza R. Snow and Susa Young Gates, earl Utah school teachers, and charity work carried out by Mormon women (largely via the Relief Society). The final chapter was a look at "Fictional Sisters" through Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's analysis of 20th century novels depicting 19th century Utah life. This was a most interesting parsing of storytelling and it is this portion of the book I'd like to highlight here.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is basically a bunch of different articles by different people. I found some more interesting than others. The "Victims in the Conflict" article really caught my attention, because it brought up interesting issues that I hadn't thought of before. My main question from the article is: Why, if polygamy was so important to our eternal salvation, did God only let it last less than 50 years? If God could defeat armies just for the children of Israel to have a plot of land then why wouldn't he have paved the way for the church to continue practicing polygamy? It doesn't make any sense to me that the practice would have been "restored" and then gone extinct so quickly. It almost seems like the whole thing was in error and God was letting it die naturally...wouldn't that be a nice reality... I really liked the last few paragraphs of the article which talked about how polygamy has become an embarrassment from our past and a skeleton in our closet...

[Sirpa Grierson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, first published in 1976, and edited by Claudia Bushman, came at a time when women in the faith were revitalized in their desire to know more about the roots of their heritage. Some chapters are fascinating, and there is plenty to offer a reader who enjoys history: photographs from the LDS Archives and times, as well as chapters about of midwives, healers, schoolmarms, LDS women in fiction, early political suffragettes, plural wives and more. One of my favorite chapters was about Susa Young Gates, the remarkable daughter of Brigham Young. Despite stereotypes to the contrary, the pioneer women of the early Church were accomplished, educated, and often more "liberated" than the women of their day. An insightful and worthwhile work.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, but liked the first half of the book better than the last. The book is a collection of essays by different people, so each 'chapter' reads a bit differently. The second half seemed more like a history text, which turned me off a bit, but the bulk of the books had lots of great information and an interesting perspective on the roles of women in early Mormonism.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I read an older edition of this book (I'd be really interested to get the 1997 edition since there were some things that I would have wanted more current information about), I found it to be a fantastic examination of the legacy of strong women I have inherited as a member of the Mormon church.

[Tatiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical research into the lives of early Mormon women doesn't sound interesting to me on the face of it, but Dr. Claudia Bushman is my hero! The stories of these women fill me with power and light.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The quality of the essays were very, very high - great research and writing. The essays didn't seem particularly related to each other (particularly the one on portrayals in these women in fiction), but they were still all high-quality.

[Andre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Former Columbia University History Professor Claudia Bushman is the wife of noted Mormon and US historian and scholar Richard Bushman. A noted historian on her own, this is a result of her in-depth research of early female leaders of the LDS Church.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great history of Mormon women in early Utah. Particularly enjoyed the chapters dealing with polygamy, midwives, and healers. This book made me want to pull myself up by my boot straps and quit whining.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Especially interesting were the chapters on midwivery, education/teaching, and polygamous marriages.

[Melissa Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

So funny and enlightening. These women were feminists and hard core Mormons that changed a lot for the better in Utah and the States. Loved it.

[Villate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting - lots of good historical facts, some well known, some not so well known. Utah Pioneer women were characters, that's for sure.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the earlier edition and really enjoyed learning about the everyday lives of my pioneer sisters.

[Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!