By Danielle Stockton
About the author:
Danielle Stockton is a recent graduate of the Madeira School, where she was the co-editor-in-chief of both the school newspaper and the literary and arts magazine. She will be a freshman at Brigham Young University intending to double major in Political Science and English.
All too often, Mormon women are viewed as being housewives, their domain centered on raising children. Moreover, this perspective is reinforced by the fact that most Mormon men are strongly encouraged to go on missions to spread the Gospel, giving them a unique opportunity to both broaden their spiritual horizons and to discover a different part of the world. In actuality, with even a cursory glance at Mormon women’s lives, it is apparent that Mormon women are far from restricted in terms of their lifestyle. Reading about numerous Mormon women in Mormon Women: Portraits and Conversations and other separate publications emphasized my view that Mormon women are able to have a wide variety of different careers. Whether she is a poet, author, doctor, Utah Supreme Court chief justice, humanitarian, or historian, a Mormon woman can enjoy diverse professions in which she can spread Gospel principles in a wide variety of ways. However, these capable women do not neglect their familial responsibilities. Instead, they choose a healthy balance between their home and work obligations and use the Holy Ghost to guide them in the right direction. Although they have different interests, personalities, and nationalities, as Governor Olene Walker pointed out in Mormon Women: Portraits and Conversations, these women share “a common thread of service and faith” (xiii). More importantly, Mormon women use this faith as a foundation for their own lives and as a way to enrich the lives of their children as well as touch the lives of others.
To find out more about how Jim Kimball and Kent Miles capture some of the lives of Mormon women, please read their collection: Kimball, James N., and Kent Miles. Mormon Women: Portraits & Conversations. Salt Lake City: Handcart Books, 2009.
Also, please visit the following websites related to this book:
http://www.kentmiles.com
http://www.handcartbooks.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101103385311&ref=mf
http://twitter.com/MormonWomenBook
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Mormon Women: Historical Firsts
By Dr. Mark W. Cannon
About the Author:
Mark W. Cannon served as Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice of the United States, Warren E. Burger, for 13 years. He also served as Staff Director of the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution; Director, Institute of Public Administration, New York; Chairman, BYU Department of Political Science. He obtained his Ph.D. at Harvard University in Political Economy and Government.
Many people are unaware that among the fruits of Mormonism, are that Mormon women have historically been leaders in civic activity and achieved many political firsts in America. Some of these are summarized in the following paragraph from an article I wrote on Civic Duties in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:
“Latter-day Saint women were involved in public life long before women in other parts of the United States. They have always voted in Church congregations. The University of Deseret, founded in Salt Lake City in 1850, was the first coeducational university west of the Mississippi. H. H. Bancroft's History of Utah reported that women voted in the provisional government before territorial status in 1850 (p. 272, San Francisco, 1890). The first documented women voters in modern times were in Salt Lake City on February 14, 1870. Mary W. Chamberlain was elected mayor of Kanab, Utah, with an all-female town board, in 1912 (undoubtedly the first all-female municipal council in the United States.) The first woman state senator elected in the United States (Dr. Mattie Hughes Paul Cannon, 1896) and the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate who was neither the wife nor the daughter of a politician (Paula Hawkins, Florida, 1980) were Latter-day Saints.”
Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Macmillan, 1992, pages 285-6. Paragraph on women is on p. 285. Link: http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Civic.Duties
About the Author:
Mark W. Cannon served as Administrative Assistant to the Chief Justice of the United States, Warren E. Burger, for 13 years. He also served as Staff Director of the Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution; Director, Institute of Public Administration, New York; Chairman, BYU Department of Political Science. He obtained his Ph.D. at Harvard University in Political Economy and Government.
Many people are unaware that among the fruits of Mormonism, are that Mormon women have historically been leaders in civic activity and achieved many political firsts in America. Some of these are summarized in the following paragraph from an article I wrote on Civic Duties in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:
“Latter-day Saint women were involved in public life long before women in other parts of the United States. They have always voted in Church congregations. The University of Deseret, founded in Salt Lake City in 1850, was the first coeducational university west of the Mississippi. H. H. Bancroft's History of Utah reported that women voted in the provisional government before territorial status in 1850 (p. 272, San Francisco, 1890). The first documented women voters in modern times were in Salt Lake City on February 14, 1870. Mary W. Chamberlain was elected mayor of Kanab, Utah, with an all-female town board, in 1912 (undoubtedly the first all-female municipal council in the United States.) The first woman state senator elected in the United States (Dr. Mattie Hughes Paul Cannon, 1896) and the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate who was neither the wife nor the daughter of a politician (Paula Hawkins, Florida, 1980) were Latter-day Saints.”
Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Macmillan, 1992, pages 285-6. Paragraph on women is on p. 285. Link: http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Civic.Duties
Monday, August 10, 2009
Mormon Women: From Junior Miss to Harvard Scholar
By Danielle Stockton
About the author:
Danielle Stockton is a recent graduate of the Madeira School, where she was the co-editor-in-chief of both the school newspaper and the literary and arts magazine. She will be a freshman at Brigham Young University intending to double major in Political Science and English.
After reading about the astounding Lindsey Brinton in an article by Arthur Raymond published in the Deseret News in June 2008, I felt galvanized to emulate this young woman. Although her accomplishments are noteworthy in themselves, Brinton’s stellar personality outshines them all. It is clear from her attitude about her accomplishments that she not only professes to be a part of, but also really lives and practices the LDS faith.
Any winner of a prestigious award can be potentially subject to pride and vanity. However, after being crowned the 2008 American Junior Miss, Brinton was far from this quandary. Instead of basking in the glory and fame of the upcoming media tour, Brinton was attracted to a different aspect of her title. As Raymond’s article about her elaborates about, the Junior Miss not only receives a large amount of scholarship money, but also can lead groups that encourage positive thinking and goals. Above all the aspects of winning the Junior Miss crown, Brinton was most looking forward to using the opportunity to serve others and get messages across through media appearances. The level of wisdom and generosity at such a young age is truly amazing.
Currently, Brinton is focusing on her intellectual skills by following in her sister’s footsteps and attending Harvard University. Like her sister, Brinton won the title of American Junior Miss, but she is a memorable person in her own right. Whatever career she decides to pursue, Brinton will always carry with her the invaluable knowledge that service to the Lord and others should be the highest priority in her profession. Being a young Mormon woman myself, I believe Brinton’s attitude is definitely something to internalize.
To read Arthur Raymond’s article in the Deseret News about Lindsey Brinton, please follow this link:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700239113/Utahn-wins-America-Junior-Miss-crown.html
About the author:
Danielle Stockton is a recent graduate of the Madeira School, where she was the co-editor-in-chief of both the school newspaper and the literary and arts magazine. She will be a freshman at Brigham Young University intending to double major in Political Science and English.
After reading about the astounding Lindsey Brinton in an article by Arthur Raymond published in the Deseret News in June 2008, I felt galvanized to emulate this young woman. Although her accomplishments are noteworthy in themselves, Brinton’s stellar personality outshines them all. It is clear from her attitude about her accomplishments that she not only professes to be a part of, but also really lives and practices the LDS faith.
Any winner of a prestigious award can be potentially subject to pride and vanity. However, after being crowned the 2008 American Junior Miss, Brinton was far from this quandary. Instead of basking in the glory and fame of the upcoming media tour, Brinton was attracted to a different aspect of her title. As Raymond’s article about her elaborates about, the Junior Miss not only receives a large amount of scholarship money, but also can lead groups that encourage positive thinking and goals. Above all the aspects of winning the Junior Miss crown, Brinton was most looking forward to using the opportunity to serve others and get messages across through media appearances. The level of wisdom and generosity at such a young age is truly amazing.
Currently, Brinton is focusing on her intellectual skills by following in her sister’s footsteps and attending Harvard University. Like her sister, Brinton won the title of American Junior Miss, but she is a memorable person in her own right. Whatever career she decides to pursue, Brinton will always carry with her the invaluable knowledge that service to the Lord and others should be the highest priority in her profession. Being a young Mormon woman myself, I believe Brinton’s attitude is definitely something to internalize.
To read Arthur Raymond’s article in the Deseret News about Lindsey Brinton, please follow this link:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700239113/Utahn-wins-America-Junior-Miss-crown.html
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Mormon Women: Christine Durham
By Danielle Stockton
About the author:
Danielle Stockton is a recent graduate of the Madeira School, where she was the co-editor-in-chief of both the school newspaper and the literary and arts magazine. She will be a freshman at Brigham Young University intending to double major in Political Science and English.
To be a Chief Justice in the Utah Supreme Court, it is necessary to have numerous exceptional qualities, including intelligence, confidence, determination, and a sense of fairness. Christine Durham delivers on all counts. Reading about her journey in the book Mormon Women: Portraits and Conversations deeply affected me because along with her LDS faith, this capable woman followed her passion and was able to best fulfill the Gospel by becoming an agent of governmental change.
Even in Durham’s early years, her life was filled with unique experiences. When Durham watched her family become increasing ensconced in the LDS faith, she saw that they received both personal and spiritual benefits. More specifically, although her family came from a less prosperous background, her father had always worked hard in life; however, being in the LDS church “gave him a core to his life and enabled him to make sense out of it”(189). As a result, Durham’s father became a Treasury attaché at the Paris Embassy. This move positively affected everyone in the family because due to learning French, Durham observed that “we were asked to do a lot of things. My father served in the mission and district presidencies. My mother did everything. She ran Primary and Relief Society for a while.” (189)
Part of what first drew Durham’s family to the LDS church was the emphasis on education and doing one’s personal best to fulfill the principles of the Gospel. Durham capitalized on this aspect of the LDS doctrine by choosing to attend the intellectually rigorous Wellesley College. During her time at Wellesley, Durham had the opportunity to become “quite active in the Cambridge Ward, which at that time was the only LDS congregation in the Boston area.” (190) Moreover, Durham also gained invaluably as a result of the Wellesley experience because she states “I came out of Wellesley with a strong sense of myself as someone who had an obligation to contribute and the ability to contribute. By my last year at Wellesley I had focused on a legal education as one way to do that.” (192)
Moreover, Durham attributes much of her professional success to her loving family life. Even when she first met her husband George, Durham realized how rare and wonderful it was that George not only appreciated her personality and spirituality, but also her intelligence. As a result of this connection, the pair was able to have a loving, supportive relationship that fostered a healthy family life, which included compromising as needed. For example, when Durham had the opportunity to teach a summer course at Duke University, she describes the experience as “very demanding, and George decided to take the summer off to care for our two little girls full-time.” (194) Durham also made sacrifices to support her husband George. For instance, Durham decided “to transfer all of my credits and finish law school at Duke” (193) when George was admitted to Duke Medical School. These experiences caused the couple to be empathetic of each other’s situations, which is a trait that is encouraged in LDS relationships and that I seek to emulate eventually.
Above all, Durham’s solid faith in the LDS religion greatly enriched all parts of her life. One particular instance of the influence of Durham’s LDS faith that inspired me was that Durham felt the intense urge to fight for attention for her child with Down syndrome when at the time, certain programs for special needs were not offered. Ultimately, it is evident to me that Christine Durham would not be the same person without her LDS faith.
To find out more about how Jim Kimball and Kent Miles capture some of the lives of Mormon women, please read their collection: Kimball, James N., and Kent Miles. Mormon Women: Portraits & Conversations. Salt Lake City: Handcart Books, 2009.
Also, please visit the following websites related to this book:
http://www.kentmiles.com
http://www.handcartbooks.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101103385311&ref=mf
http://twitter.com/MormonWomenBook
About the author:
Danielle Stockton is a recent graduate of the Madeira School, where she was the co-editor-in-chief of both the school newspaper and the literary and arts magazine. She will be a freshman at Brigham Young University intending to double major in Political Science and English.
To be a Chief Justice in the Utah Supreme Court, it is necessary to have numerous exceptional qualities, including intelligence, confidence, determination, and a sense of fairness. Christine Durham delivers on all counts. Reading about her journey in the book Mormon Women: Portraits and Conversations deeply affected me because along with her LDS faith, this capable woman followed her passion and was able to best fulfill the Gospel by becoming an agent of governmental change.
Even in Durham’s early years, her life was filled with unique experiences. When Durham watched her family become increasing ensconced in the LDS faith, she saw that they received both personal and spiritual benefits. More specifically, although her family came from a less prosperous background, her father had always worked hard in life; however, being in the LDS church “gave him a core to his life and enabled him to make sense out of it”(189). As a result, Durham’s father became a Treasury attaché at the Paris Embassy. This move positively affected everyone in the family because due to learning French, Durham observed that “we were asked to do a lot of things. My father served in the mission and district presidencies. My mother did everything. She ran Primary and Relief Society for a while.” (189)
Part of what first drew Durham’s family to the LDS church was the emphasis on education and doing one’s personal best to fulfill the principles of the Gospel. Durham capitalized on this aspect of the LDS doctrine by choosing to attend the intellectually rigorous Wellesley College. During her time at Wellesley, Durham had the opportunity to become “quite active in the Cambridge Ward, which at that time was the only LDS congregation in the Boston area.” (190) Moreover, Durham also gained invaluably as a result of the Wellesley experience because she states “I came out of Wellesley with a strong sense of myself as someone who had an obligation to contribute and the ability to contribute. By my last year at Wellesley I had focused on a legal education as one way to do that.” (192)
Moreover, Durham attributes much of her professional success to her loving family life. Even when she first met her husband George, Durham realized how rare and wonderful it was that George not only appreciated her personality and spirituality, but also her intelligence. As a result of this connection, the pair was able to have a loving, supportive relationship that fostered a healthy family life, which included compromising as needed. For example, when Durham had the opportunity to teach a summer course at Duke University, she describes the experience as “very demanding, and George decided to take the summer off to care for our two little girls full-time.” (194) Durham also made sacrifices to support her husband George. For instance, Durham decided “to transfer all of my credits and finish law school at Duke” (193) when George was admitted to Duke Medical School. These experiences caused the couple to be empathetic of each other’s situations, which is a trait that is encouraged in LDS relationships and that I seek to emulate eventually.
Above all, Durham’s solid faith in the LDS religion greatly enriched all parts of her life. One particular instance of the influence of Durham’s LDS faith that inspired me was that Durham felt the intense urge to fight for attention for her child with Down syndrome when at the time, certain programs for special needs were not offered. Ultimately, it is evident to me that Christine Durham would not be the same person without her LDS faith.
To find out more about how Jim Kimball and Kent Miles capture some of the lives of Mormon women, please read their collection: Kimball, James N., and Kent Miles. Mormon Women: Portraits & Conversations. Salt Lake City: Handcart Books, 2009.
Also, please visit the following websites related to this book:
http://www.kentmiles.com
http://www.handcartbooks.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101103385311&ref=mf
http://twitter.com/MormonWomenBook
Mormon Women: Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
By Danielle Stockton
About the author:
Danielle Stockton is a recent graduate of the Madeira School, where she was the co-editor-in-chief of both the school newspaper and the literary and arts magazine. She will be a freshman at Brigham Young University intending to double major in Political Science and English.
Although a diverse background and a keen sense of curiosity do not always produce fine historians, these traits have certainly played a key role in Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s career as a historian. When I read about her story published in Mormon Women: Portraits and Conversations, I was fascinated about how various familial and academic experiences have shaped Ulrich’s view on Mormonism and her ability to follow education. As a result, Ulrich found her own personal way to successfully follow her calling.
Ulrich’s own family history is unique, to say the least. Although the majority of her family came from Idaho, the background commonality stops at this fact. Ulrich’s mother was the only one active in the LDS faith on her side of the family. Conversely, even though Ulrich’s father was not even a member of the Mormon Church, the rest of his family was actively participating in the Mormon religion. Ulrich appreciates this dissimilarity within her family because it caused her to be “prepared to live in a world where not everybody was Mormon.” After garnering a national scholarship, Ulrich decided to break conventionality and expand her intellectual horizons. Instead of attending Ricks College, “renamed BYU-Idaho in 2001” (89), where most of her family and town chose to attain their college degree, Ulrich decided to go to the University of Utah. Just as she had anticipated, Ulrich was pleased with the amount of academic variety in the institution and personal differences among the students.
At the time Ulrich married her husband Gael, she did not plan or expect to further expand her academic career in the future. Thus, when she and Gael moved to Massachusetts, Ulrich decided to channel her intellectual energy into helping the Cambridge Ward Relief Society with various group projects, which included putting together a church pamphlet that got positive publicity from the Boston Globe and editing an issue of the Dialogue magazine. Nevertheless, although Ulrich found participating in this work to be rewarding, she felt that she was called to do something more. Ulrich encapsulates her sentiment in her statement “At some point you realize all your energy is not going to fit into that little package of teaching once a month in Relief Society” (93). As a result, when her husband was a faculty member in the University of New Hampshire, Ulrich decided to study history part-time there. In the period of twenty years, Ulrich not only attained an M.A. in English, but also a PhD in history. During this time of both learning and raising her children, Ulrich learned to balance her priorities. Together, Ulrich and Gael “figured out that Gael was perfectly capable of making breakfast and getting them out to school. That seems like such a simple thing now. We laugh about it, but it was hard” (97). This arrangement enabled Ulrich to have more time to write. In addition to Gael providing Ulrich with valuable time, he also taught the children the irreplaceable principle of independence. Ulrich’s children pitched in because “they had to. And they are just terrific people. They can do anything.” (98).
However, when she had three children in college at the same time, Ulrich decided to take an adjunct position in the University of New Hampshire and to write with her fellowship with the National Endowment for the Humanities. During this time, Ulrich wrote her first book, Good Wives: Images and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750. Shortly after this publication, Ulrich received her first full-time, paid position as part of the faculty in the University of New Hampshire and wrote her second book, A Midwife’s Tale, which won many awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the MacArthur Award. As Ulrich states, “I had almost every award that you could get for that one book, which is sort of bizarre” (99)
The way Ulrich has handled her successes is characteristic of one who embodies the principles of the LDS faith. She used the MacArthur Award in part to serve others instead of keeping it to herself. Specifically, she generously used the award money to employ students as research assistants. Moreover, Ulrich’s humble nature comes through in the way that although she is an exceptionally accomplished woman, she appreciates and genuinely values the work of a wide variety of women from all times in history. I share Ulrich’s view that “Women have always worked. I just can’t say that loud enough or long enough.” (102). Ultimately, Ulrich exemplifies the Mormon faith by integrating it into her studies. Currently, Ulrich is a 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. As Charles L. Cohen stated in the University of Utah’s 50th conference of the Omohundro Institute of Early American Culture, which was later published in the Mormon website “Today in the Bloggernacle” Ulrich’s recent research about Mormon history inexorably blends the line between “scholars of Mormons, and scholars who are Mormons” (http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/guest-post-charles-l-cohen-on-laurel-thatcher-ulrich/ ).
To find out more about how Jim Kimball and Kent Miles capture some of the lives of Mormon women, please read their collection: Kimball, James N., and Kent Miles. Mormon Women: Portraits & Conversations. Salt Lake City: Handcart Books, 2009.
Also, please visit the following websites related to this book:
http://www.kentmiles.com
http://www.handcartbooks.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101103385311&ref=mf
http://twitter.com/MormonWomenBook
About the author:
Danielle Stockton is a recent graduate of the Madeira School, where she was the co-editor-in-chief of both the school newspaper and the literary and arts magazine. She will be a freshman at Brigham Young University intending to double major in Political Science and English.
Although a diverse background and a keen sense of curiosity do not always produce fine historians, these traits have certainly played a key role in Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s career as a historian. When I read about her story published in Mormon Women: Portraits and Conversations, I was fascinated about how various familial and academic experiences have shaped Ulrich’s view on Mormonism and her ability to follow education. As a result, Ulrich found her own personal way to successfully follow her calling.
Ulrich’s own family history is unique, to say the least. Although the majority of her family came from Idaho, the background commonality stops at this fact. Ulrich’s mother was the only one active in the LDS faith on her side of the family. Conversely, even though Ulrich’s father was not even a member of the Mormon Church, the rest of his family was actively participating in the Mormon religion. Ulrich appreciates this dissimilarity within her family because it caused her to be “prepared to live in a world where not everybody was Mormon.” After garnering a national scholarship, Ulrich decided to break conventionality and expand her intellectual horizons. Instead of attending Ricks College, “renamed BYU-Idaho in 2001” (89), where most of her family and town chose to attain their college degree, Ulrich decided to go to the University of Utah. Just as she had anticipated, Ulrich was pleased with the amount of academic variety in the institution and personal differences among the students.
At the time Ulrich married her husband Gael, she did not plan or expect to further expand her academic career in the future. Thus, when she and Gael moved to Massachusetts, Ulrich decided to channel her intellectual energy into helping the Cambridge Ward Relief Society with various group projects, which included putting together a church pamphlet that got positive publicity from the Boston Globe and editing an issue of the Dialogue magazine. Nevertheless, although Ulrich found participating in this work to be rewarding, she felt that she was called to do something more. Ulrich encapsulates her sentiment in her statement “At some point you realize all your energy is not going to fit into that little package of teaching once a month in Relief Society” (93). As a result, when her husband was a faculty member in the University of New Hampshire, Ulrich decided to study history part-time there. In the period of twenty years, Ulrich not only attained an M.A. in English, but also a PhD in history. During this time of both learning and raising her children, Ulrich learned to balance her priorities. Together, Ulrich and Gael “figured out that Gael was perfectly capable of making breakfast and getting them out to school. That seems like such a simple thing now. We laugh about it, but it was hard” (97). This arrangement enabled Ulrich to have more time to write. In addition to Gael providing Ulrich with valuable time, he also taught the children the irreplaceable principle of independence. Ulrich’s children pitched in because “they had to. And they are just terrific people. They can do anything.” (98).
However, when she had three children in college at the same time, Ulrich decided to take an adjunct position in the University of New Hampshire and to write with her fellowship with the National Endowment for the Humanities. During this time, Ulrich wrote her first book, Good Wives: Images and Reality in the Lives of Women in Northern New England, 1650-1750. Shortly after this publication, Ulrich received her first full-time, paid position as part of the faculty in the University of New Hampshire and wrote her second book, A Midwife’s Tale, which won many awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the MacArthur Award. As Ulrich states, “I had almost every award that you could get for that one book, which is sort of bizarre” (99)
The way Ulrich has handled her successes is characteristic of one who embodies the principles of the LDS faith. She used the MacArthur Award in part to serve others instead of keeping it to herself. Specifically, she generously used the award money to employ students as research assistants. Moreover, Ulrich’s humble nature comes through in the way that although she is an exceptionally accomplished woman, she appreciates and genuinely values the work of a wide variety of women from all times in history. I share Ulrich’s view that “Women have always worked. I just can’t say that loud enough or long enough.” (102). Ultimately, Ulrich exemplifies the Mormon faith by integrating it into her studies. Currently, Ulrich is a 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. As Charles L. Cohen stated in the University of Utah’s 50th conference of the Omohundro Institute of Early American Culture, which was later published in the Mormon website “Today in the Bloggernacle” Ulrich’s recent research about Mormon history inexorably blends the line between “scholars of Mormons, and scholars who are Mormons” (http://www.juvenileinstructor.org/guest-post-charles-l-cohen-on-laurel-thatcher-ulrich/ ).
To find out more about how Jim Kimball and Kent Miles capture some of the lives of Mormon women, please read their collection: Kimball, James N., and Kent Miles. Mormon Women: Portraits & Conversations. Salt Lake City: Handcart Books, 2009.
Also, please visit the following websites related to this book:
http://www.kentmiles.com
http://www.handcartbooks.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=101103385311&ref=mf
http://twitter.com/MormonWomenBook
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