“A Larger Field of Action”: The <i>Woman's Exponent</i>, 1872–1914

During the nineteenth century, as women throughout the United States became more politically active, journalism emerged as a natural platform where women could initiate and organize reform efforts. Nineteenth-century American women fought for specific rights: suffrage, increased political and economic power (which included equal pay), divorce and parental rights, professionalization of the bar, balanced criminal punishment, and equal enforcement of laws.1 Through journalism and other forms of print media, women strengthened the fight for their rights. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a long history of printing and publishing, and Latter-day Saint women have been involved in those processes since the church's earliest days, filling positions as authors, transcribers, typesetters, editors, printers, journalists, and more. Latter-day Saint women supported the primary goals of women's rights activism and expanded their focus to include a defense for religious rights—specifically defending the practice of polygamy, arguably the most controversial of Latter-day Saint doctrines,2 and combating negative stereotypes of Latter-day Saint women in anti-Mormon media. The Woman's Exponent—a newspaper published by Latter-day Saint women from 1872 to 1914—ran an article in 1875 entitled “Female Journalism,” whose author argued, “Woman has hungered and thirsted for a larger field of action.”3 Newspapers became that field of action, and the Woman's Exponent functioned as an outlet for a marginalized group of women in the United States to participate in politics and the larger women's movement, contest pervasive anti-Mormon stereotypes, and contribute to print media history.Like many women in the United States during the nineteenth century, Latter-day Saint women in Utah Territory searched for ways to make their voices heard. Women throughout the country were fighting for rights they had long been denied. Amongst the female population in the United States, Latter-day Saint women had been particularly marginalized by the American public. Their religious doctrines, especially the practice of polygamy, placed Latter-day Saints outside of perceived “normal” social and religious conventions. Despite ongoing discrimination, propaganda, and political tensions with the United States government, Latter-day Saint women remained active participants in the suffrage movement, defended their religious rights (including plural marriage), and served their communities. It was evident by 1871 that the greater community of Latter-day Saint women required a platform where they could freely express their views and feelings on a variety of issues and topics.4 Latter-day Saint women were not the first in the United States to produce a newspaper, nor was the Woman's Exponent the first women's periodical published west of the Mississippi River.5 However, it was published for forty-two years, longer than most other women's periodicals. Like other women's newspapers of the day, it included social, creative, and political content. Unlike most other periodicals, it blended those elements with a strain of religiosity that helped the Woman's Exponent stand apart from other publications intended for female audiences. Its uniqueness also extended beyond the printed content. For instance, men had little involvement in the administration of the Woman's Exponent. It was truly, as its prospectus said, a periodical “owned by, controlled by and edited by Utah ladies.”6Edward L. Sloan, editor of the Salt Lake Herald, proposed the idea of a women's newspaper in 1871 and recommended Louisa Greene as editor.7 In 1872, after a good deal of consideration and with the support of Eliza R. Snow and Brigham Young, Greene became the first editor for the Woman's Exponent.8 After accepting the position of editor, Greene requested that Young (her granduncle and president of the church) “give [her] that work as a mission.”9 The first edition rolled off the presses on June 1, 1872.10 The Latter-day Saint church did not own the Woman's Exponent or formally sponsor it,11 yet having the support of church leadership gave the newspaper validity and credibility in Latter-day Saint communities. Regarding her position as a “mission” permitted Greene to cultivate a spiritual connection to, and purpose for, her work and the women she served. She worked as editor of the Woman's Exponent for about five years. In 1877, in a letter to Young, Greene requested that she be released from her mission as editor of the newspaper.12 She married Levi Richards four years prior and had recently become pregnant. Although she chose to step down as editor, it was not because of an existing precedent that mothers should not work. In fact, her letter revealed the opposite. She acknowledged that she could have continued to work and be a mother simultaneously. Instead, she explained that she viewed motherhood as “a higher and holier mission.”13 Neither did she need permission from Young to retire as editor, but in requesting his permission she showed her respect for his authority as her spiritual and community leader. She expressed her regret in her “own inability” to continue her “responsibilities in connection with the paper” and recommended that Emmeline B. Wells replace her as editor.14Over the course of the nineteenth century, hundreds of women in the United States worked as editors for periodicals, even more contributed original works for publication, and many were employed as journalists.15 Journalism is a hallmark of the nineteenth century,16 and women participated in the profession. One Woman's Exponent article declared, “Woman is pre-eminently fitted for the profession of journalism.”17 Journalism is more than simply reporting the news. It encompasses the entirety of periodical production and publication, including everything from business administration, editing, and reporting to print work, typesetting, and promoting circulation. Brigham Young encouraged women to participate in journalism and other forms of print media. They were instructed to collect rags for paper making, learn to set type, and take charge of writing textbooks for the schoolhouses.18 Women had the responsibility of furnishing homes and schools with what Susa Young Gates called “suitable, intelligent and truthful reading matter.”19 As the territorial governor and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Young did not prevent women from pursuing employment in print shops or journalism. He recognized the capability of women and laid the charge at their feet, asking, “Will you Relief Societies devote your time and talents and take hold of this business? We want you to commence forthwith.”20 To an extent, Young wanted the women to take ownership of the local Latter-day Saint print industry. Thus, participation in print media could be viewed as an extension of Latter-day Saint women's domestic duties. The women embraced the work and the responsibility.Although the idea of the Woman's Exponent was conceived of by a man, women had full control of the newspaper from its inception, and women were involved at every level of newspaper production for the Woman's Exponent.21 In 1893, the Woman's Exponent boasted, “Women type-setters were employed to do the work and the girls make up the paper as well, so that all our work is done by women except the press work.”22 By the mid-nineteenth century, it was not unusual for women in the United States to work as printers or typesetters. At that time, typesetting was seen as work girls could do,23 and female typesetters had a presence in the American West and in Latter-day Saint communities. Not all printing companies in the United States, however, liked the idea of hiring women. Some companies and newspaper firms believed women lacked the ability to spell and “could not read sloppy manuscripts.” In the midst of a wage strike, the New York World used those and other excuses as justification to fire their women typesetters. Despite evidence that women set type faster than men, the World replaced the women with unionized men.24 Clearly, in some places typesetting was viewed as “men's work,” but that was not the case in Latter-day Saint communities. In a talk given in 1867, Brigham Young stated, “I have been an advocate for our printing to be done by females.”25 Later, in 1873, he proclaimed, “But when you come to picking up type, and making a book of it, that belongs to the women.”26 In Utah Territory, nothing prevented women from working as a printer or typesetter.Typesetting for some women functioned as a stepping stone for better educational and professional opportunities. For example, Martha Hughes Cannon, renowned for her work in medicine and her career in politics, worked as a typesetter for both the Deseret News and the Woman's Exponent. She learned typesetting at the age of fifteen and worked as a typesetter and printer for five years. She saved the money she earned to go to medical school. Over the course of her education, Martha earned four advanced degrees. She later became a politician and in 1896 was the first woman elected as a state senator in the United States. She ran against and beat both her husband, Angus M. Cannon, and Emmeline B. Wells. Intriguingly, she was a plural wife and a mother of two children at the time of her election. Described as “an ardent advocate of women's rights,” Martha collaborated with Susan B. Anthony and other suffragists, and she even appeared before a congressional committee summarizing the political work of Utah's women.27 She also composed for the Woman's Exponent. In 1893, the paper Martha as “a not on the to her but is in of places and and in with She had come full Martha set type for about other and by were type for about and by a on Martha her and She that female to as or of an in Latter-day Saint Woman's Exponent requested to original for in the Greene and Wells both to women to so they had to do the writing The of Greene and Wells and a group of its and women were encouraged to to and read the In author Emmeline B. “Women should devote a of time to reading Woman's and become with the of the to and reading newspapers was women participated in journalism. a newspaper purpose and and it make a was by newspaper of the and many to editors their newspapers with newspapers and were with and anti-Mormon of Latter-day Saint women. During the nineteenth century, Latter-day Saints, especially the were and in most forms of of women from about and women than the of female Latter-day Saint and they the of the of the polygamy, and of anti-Mormon in it a that could be used to Latter-day of Latter-day Saints and anti-Mormon publications the women in At the women were as and by Some Latter-day Saint women as of a to the of Latter-day Saint leadership than the women. the other of the women were as and For instance, in during the time of the Utah printed in and Brigham Young the with an Brigham Young of women his Young the of a as a group of women and children of Young in a state of off the The women to as were with and other of The and of in a that the women were better for than domestic of Latter-day Saint women that and were from to the of placed Latter-day Saint women in a and position more for men than women. of women as a of were not to Latter-day Saint women but of and the in anti-Mormon and were that the women were and beyond their the Woman's Exponent worked to negative of and women. One Woman's Exponent author declared, “Women newspaper The newspaper should be the and and is in that need more in In an article by a She is mission to the and the field of journalism is a in to the Woman's Exponent was a for Latter-day Saint women to in on religious against and participate in Woman's Exponent was not the women's periodical published in Utah during this that political and religious The printed in Salt Lake from to was the of the by in and up of Saint women did not support the practice of plural At the supported women's suffrage in but their position For a time, an (including the that Utah women the Latter-day Saint women to the practice of for and had for this when women in Utah in it did not their position and to Latter-day Saints in an to the church and its practice of The became for all women in Utah when they learned that as supported the Latter-day Saint women's suffrage of the believed that Latter-day Saint women were by a to that many had been because of editor of the and The Women of of Latter-day Saint and full Latter-day Saint women the church and their on she as she believed in all the of the except for plural and were to and from every woman in the of to were of power to or for to years of and She believed that they in or remained in their for the of their the two and that full were most of all the women of She explained that this group was up of or women lacked The supported those of Latter-day Saint with stereotypes and by the greater of anti-Mormon throughout the Woman's Exponent the negative stereotypes by anti-Mormon media. Some of the of were women that women was of the ways to and negative media of Latter-day Saints and their They believed that to was as to Latter-day Saint women as For instance, in the Woman's Exponent an article entitled by She the female education, and suffrage, and she the that in American on the of educational the and that women have the for as The of she been to to be and be She “But our have the of and of the of their have this responsibility to and all the of and had a to have a but men had more and to their the women the educational as is it that so on the of when it has been that at the girls showed more and an of the as it has come up from of female have nothing to go to learn They have all before most of the girls that they have nothing to and the from want of that men were greater in a of purpose than women. The of did not prevent from pursuing educational or professional however, woman was to, as it, her and be to in it in and “Woman the and political that to She also declared, of women is not against a but against a of defended the of all women. In she against the anti-Mormon of the that Latter-day Saint women by extension Latter-day Saint lacked she women's to their political power and to the of suffrage was in the Woman's the became in because it was up in a on the During that the Utah women in the women's set of had been proposed all women in Utah In in to the of the proposed an committee by the president of the United States with a to suffrage in Utah for Saint and Latter-day Saint The edition of the Woman's in and edited by the to the called the of women in Utah The committee the proposed to the of women has on the of the to be by the since men the of the of the It women of Utah have is by the United States for that a should be on In of the of the Saint women in the expressed that they should their to in the to In the 1, edition of the Salt Lake Herald, it was stated, the of women to In that Saint women the and Despite on the and all the women in Utah Territory, of religious the to the the Woman's Exponent the of Latter-day Saint and Saint women in Utah The author of the in the edition of the Woman's Exponent the set of and declared, women have been of the is as as it be to men, at is not the and to to the and defending the position not be with the and by the women of Utah in the The the of the of Utah's women. In to Latter-day Saint the author stated, is beyond the that women what they want better than men or and as for suffrage and rights, they what they entitled to, and and their own The author to plural and women from not to the for they have to make and to and talk all they and be many Latter-day Saint women defended and fought for suffrage, they did so of their own and not at the of Latter-day Saint The Woman's Exponent a for Latter-day Saint women to negative and of and their and a for to participate in women's rights throughout the Woman's Exponent encouraged to support the women's rights their participation in journalism. As author the women of with other and their in the and they should to the paper and it by to its it a and to the position they as women of Women did and their did not go article in by an author explained that the Woman's Exponent and had American The article The it more power in our politics than all the newspapers in Utah and it not the political of women at but on its mission as the of the women of Utah it a women of to the of its author of the article recognized the of Utah's the of their female and the power the Woman's Exponent had in social reform efforts. the Woman's Exponent a where Latter-day Saint women could organize their work, their doctrines, and the women's rights before and after the of in Latter-day Saint women worked with their Saint in the fight for women in Utah were of the or the American Susan B. Anthony and the in and the in the fought for women's rights, but they on those rights should be and Latter-day Saint women should be the was to work with Latter-day Saint women. The did not support or However, it did support the of an to the of American women. a Latter-day Saint women were also of the United States be to By with Latter-day Saints, the was on the women had to than on the politics of that to The of the with including as Emmeline B. Wells. Despite in the two the Woman's Exponent printed and to both the and the For instance, at the and Women of of Their for printed in the edition of the Woman's of Latter-day Saint women worked with Saint women to fight for suffrage and also their religious plural in Emmeline B. Wells the article in she about the Wells had had the to and of work and In about the and working to their and to a The proposed for the American was printed in the edition of the Woman's The was formally by a in in During that time, the Woman's Exponent its as the for women's rights and suffrage in Their was in the 1, to the of the newspaper, read of the Women of and the of the Women of all ran when Utah women could The first of the the original of the an outlet for Latter-day Saint women to to the religious of their The their participation in the larger women's and their to work with outside their and beyond the territorial of Utah to those to printing a newspaper, the Woman's Exponent contributed to the women's and the history of print media in Utah by For example, in for the of the women of the could an to the of the for a of the Utah The book with the of the with by was of many of had been in the during the In the nineteenth century, became with on the of American so it was an for the at that The of the for women the that they were at with an and that their for were One of original printed in the Utah women of the and the before and were from the The have read a in of deal with so with you the of woman the with his is the of the men to the that and its in the women that they had power to of For religious the a that their power and authority from The of the in the book were also set to and Latter-day Saint The however, were or and the of the women's rights The production of the that the of the Woman's Exponent had goals beyond simply reporting the and that they were involved in the of the women's rights in the church Latter-day Saint women. In of that the leadership of the church the practice of plural The of was with from the women (which not be The of Latter-day Saint women remained politically active, and the Woman's Exponent continued to on and support the women's rights print media and journalism in Utah Territory, Latter-day Saint women continued to the course it For instance, in a group of women at the Woman's Exponent and the Utah It was not the first of its press all the women to their and with The had in and a in Emmeline B. Wells served as Susa Young Gates as first and Greene Richards as The in the the purpose of the of and As in article was to woman for a newspaper or other Neither social nor religious prevented women from this most participants were Latter-day Women of Utah contributed to the Woman's Exponent the to the The Woman's Exponent the of the in the After that the newspaper included about and the work of its including the were also For instance, a woman in was a of the and an active to the women's rights She was a of the the of and Latter-day Saint as the Relief and The 1, edition of the Woman's Exponent on the that in and that the “Woman of Utah had recently elected Susa Young Gates had her position as and was elected The article stated, was to by Gates continued to positions in women's and the of Utah In 1893, was to the committee of the Utah In with B. was the By she was elected president of the In later years, also served as for the By the of the she had become a as by the Salt Lake In to and Utah on the committee of the and her local was to the Woman's Exponent from women in The for this is However, the presence of a to the Woman's Exponent in her a in participated in politics and the larger women's and contributed to print media Utah Territory to a the women to The of Utah in and the of women's suffrage on the of the and the the its on women's As men the of for Utah's of the Woman's Exponent and on the 1, the newspaper included of the and by of the Utah After to make women's suffrage a in the state of The state was on the women of Utah to Martha Hughes the first to do so in Salt Lake the Woman's Exponent continued to include of the suffrage and encouraged Utah's women to participate in the the newspaper in the of some as the of and female suffrage in and in the church's the social of Latter-day Saint women They were not marginalized in the as they had been They from the of Emmeline B. Wells her position of editor In its were with that on the history of the newspaper and that the women of Despite it the the editors it was not the of Utah and Latter-day Saint women's participation in print media. Instead, were you continue in your you good and for your and you In the Woman's Exponent was by the Relief Relief in church The of the Relief including the of the Relief to its own contributed to the of the Woman's the of the lacked political For instance, in the entirety of the suffrage was in as a in a In years, suffrage and other women's rights issues were but the of was in to its The a in Latter-day Saint women's participation in journalism and print media. politics, defending plural and against negative stereotypes in an newspaper had all became a of the the nineteenth century, Latter-day Saint women “a position the of men and women as the Woman's prospectus the Woman's Exponent a platform for Latter-day Saint women to to and media that it gave to organize and with other and with women beyond their religious The newspaper became the field of in Latter-day Saint women and participated with other and the from 1872 the Woman's Exponent gave Latter-day Saint women power to for their religious fight for the rights of women throughout the organize reform and participate in politics, and contribute to the print and print history in