Women's Authority in the Church: A Timeline

A rough snapshot of Mormonism for women in the last 200 years.

All I ask of our brethren is, that they will take their feet from off our necks, and permit us to stand upright. — Sarah Grimke

Re-emerging Mormon feminism

For the last year, I have been off-and-on reading Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism, a collection of feminist Mormon essays edited by Maxine Hanks and published in 1992. I wanted to devour each and every essay and ended up with a copious amount of highlights and notes.

There are constant dates thrown around in the span of the book and my brain really wanted to write a timeline with the information, so that’s what I’ve done—filled in with a few other contextual historical moments from other sources, such as A Room Full of Women by Laurel Ulrich Thatcher and the Saints books published by the church.

The information I’ve extracted from Women and Authority into this timeline is not nearly comprehensive. I highly recommend diving into the whole book, as it contains not only fascinating history (this is only some of it), but also feminist theory, discourse on gendered priesthood, theology of a mother god, and solidarity for the Mormon female experience that spans the passing of time.

I was blown away at how women (and men!) were writing about feminist issues in the church 25, 30, 40 years ago. And they’re the same issues being discussed today! Sadly, none of their work has ever been legitimized by the institution and very little has changed for Mormon women since then.

There is so much history I could have put into this timeline but didn’t. Plentiful recorded incidents of women giving blessings, more details on polygamy, and sporadic teaching of Mother God. However, that kind of timeline would be an endless pursuit. There is plenty here to think about. If you’re confused about this timeline and the inconsistencies of women’s authority, well…I think everyone is.

A timeline of Mormon women and their church authority

1827 — Emma Hale Smith assists Joseph Smith in transcribing The Book of Mormon.

1830 — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is founded, Emma is baptized as one of the first church members, D&C 25 is written as a charge aimed at Emma.¹

1832 — Emma compiles and prints hymns for the church. Women in the church exercise gifts of blessings, healing, and prophesying. This remained commonplace, especially women giving blessings, for a long time.²

1835 — Section 101 is included in the Doctrine & Covenants. It is a statement of marriage and includes,

“Inasmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife, and one woman, but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.”³

1836 — Joseph has a secret plural wife, Fanny Alger, while in Kirtland.⁴ Some historians place their relationship earlier.

1841 — Joseph Smith practices polygamy in Nauvoo. While he gradually teaches other church leaders about it, many who also start practicing polygamous marriages, it remains a secret from the public and the wide church membership. Emma did not at first know about his polygamous wives in Nauvoo.

1842 — The Relief Society is instituted per the idea of Sarah Kimball.

• Joseph Smith says that he would “ordain” the Relief Society President “to preside over the society … as the Presidency preside over the church” and officers appointed as “Deacons, Teachers, &c.”⁵ Emma Smith is elected as the president.

• Per Eliza R. Snow, Emma proclaims “If there ever were any authority on this earth, she [Emma] had it—and had it yet.”⁶

• Two weeks after the R.S. organization, Joseph says to the Relief Society, “the Society should move according to the ancient Priesthood” and that he was “going to make of this Society a kingdom of priests as in Enoch’s day—as in Paul’s day.”⁷ This statement was later altered in the official History of the Church—changing “society” to “church.”⁸

• Joseph says to the Relief Society, “I now turn the key to you in the name of God, and this society shall rejoice, and knowledge and intelligence shall flow down from this time…” This passage was also changed in History of the Church.⁹

• Joseph Smith verbally accepts women administering blessings—stating, “If the sisters should have faith to heal the sick, let all hold their tongues, and let every thing roll on.” — “There could be no devil in it if God gave his sanction by healing.”¹⁰

• Blessings are performed in Relief Society meetings by the Relief Society presidency among the sisters.

• Emma denounces polygamy and immorality in Relief Society meetings. Several of the women in the Relief Society were secretly plural wives.

  

  Depiction of the early Relief Society

1844 — The martyrdom of Prophet Joseph Smith.

1845 — Brigham Young formally disbands the Relief Society. He says the following,

“When I want Sisters or the Wives of the members of this church to get up Relief Society I will summon them to my aid but until that time let them stay at home & if you see Females huddling together veto the concern and if they say Joseph started it tell them it is a damned lie for I know he never encouraged it.”

In a meeting of High Priests that same day, he pronounces a curse on any man who “lets his wife or daughters meet again.”

Also,

“What are relief societies for? To relieve us of our best men — They relieved us of Joseph and Hyrum — that is what they will lead to — I don’t [want] the advice or counsel of any woman — they would lead us down to hell.”¹¹

1846 — The main body of saints begin to migrate west, to Utah, away from persecution. Emma, at odds with Brigham Young and against the practice of polygamy, stays in Illinois.

1849 — It is reported in the Millennial Star that English convert Eliza Jane healed her sister, anointing her with consecrated oil. She went from severe illness to completely recovered and healthy within 24 hours.¹² This is one of many specific instances of women healing by blessings over the span of 100+ years.

1851 — While compiling Joseph Smith’s history, George A. Smith changes Joseph Smith’s phrase to the Relief Society from “I turn the key to you” to “I now turn the key in your behalf.”¹³ Other variations appear in History of the Church from the original Relief Society Minutes, such as changing “society” to “church.”

1854 — Phoebe Carter Woodruff and Wilford Woodruff together place their hands on their children’s heads and give them parents’ blessings.¹⁴

1867 — Brigham Young re-institutes the Relief Society organization in Utah with Eliza R. Snow as president.¹⁵

Eliza R. Snow

1868 —

• In Cache Valley, apostle Ezra T. Benson (great-grandfather of the later President Ezra Taft Benson) calls on women who had been ordained and held “the power to rebuke diseases” to do so.¹⁶

• Sarah Granger Kimball organizes her ward Relief Society with deaconesses and teachers. ¹⁷

1869 — At the Tabernacle, Brigham Young says, “Why do you not live so as to rebuke diseases? …it is the privilege of a mother to have faith and to administer to her child; this she can do herself, as well as sending for the Elders.”¹⁸

1870 — Seraph Young votes in Utah, the first woman in the United States to do so.

1872 — The Women’s Exponent Magazine is published for and by the Relief Society. It was run completely by women.

1876 — Section 132, the teaching of polygamy, is added to the Doctrine & Covenants from a revelation Joseph Smith wrote in 1843—while he and Hyrum were trying to convince Emma to agree to polygamy. Section 101, which rebuked polygamy, was at this time removed.

1878 — The president of the Salt Lake Stake, Angus Cannon, announces that sisters have the right to anoint the sick but to be “careful” in using priesthood authority.¹⁹

1880 — John Taylor specifies that women do not hold the Priesthood other than in connection to their husbands.²⁰ Around this time, a letter circulated from the First Presidency saying that women should not be ordained to Priesthood offices, but may be appointed among their own sex. It also stated that any faithful church member might anoint and bless the sick.

1881 — Wilford Woodruff responds to Emmaline B. Wells regarding washings and anointings saying that as an ordinance, washing and anointings should only be done in temples. Washing and anointing women before “confinement” is not an ordinance and can be performed by other women. He clarifies that women weren’t members of the priesthood, but performing as members in faith.²¹

1882 — After several women were sent east by Brigham Young to obtain medical degrees and return back to Utah, the Relief Society established Deseret Hospital. It was completely staffed by women and also had a school for midwifery. The hospital ran until 1894, when it closed due to a lack of funds. The midwifery school ran until 1905. It was ultimately replaced by LDS hospital.²²

1884 — Eliza R. Snow answers the question of the necessity of being set apart to administer the laying on of hands. She says, “Any and all sisters who honor their holy endowments, not only have the right, but should feel it a duty, whenever called upon to administer to our sisters in these ordinances, which God has graciously committed to His daughters as well as to His sons.”²³

1890 —

• The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Edmunds-Tucker Act, essentially delegitimizing the church as an official institution. This is due to their practice of polygamy, which was illegal. The move granted the government the right to seize the church’s property.

• Wilford Woodruff announces the polygamy manifesto, ending all sanctioned polygamy practice. Many people continued to practice it in secret for years afterward.²⁴

1901 —

• A Deseret News article states that male or females may administer to the sick, but only the Melchizedek Priesthood could seal the anointing and blessing.

• Louisa Greene Richards said in reply of the article, “If the information given … is absolutely correct, then myself and thousands of other members of the Church have been misintructed and are laboring under a very serious mistake, which certainly should be authoritatively corrected.”²⁵

• It is clear at this time that there were subtle shifts in the language around authority, blessings, and healing. This led to subtle shifts in the “rules” and how blessings were practiced. The practice was changed from women having autonomy to give blessings and even believed to have priesthood authority, to women’s blessings being separate from priesthood authority, to them needing permission from the leaders, to ultimately no longer being “allowed” to give blessings at all (keep reading).

1903 — A lesson appears in the Young Women’s Journal that says only the Melchizedek Priesthood can lay on of hands in blessings for the sick.²⁶

1907 — Joseph F. Smith says that a wife doesn’t hold the priesthood, but she enjoys the benefits of it with him. She may give blessings by laying hands with him if requested to do so.²⁷

1908 — The Priesthood Correlation Program is born to organize the church system and boost male involvement.²⁸

1909 — Included in minutes for the 1901-1909 Oakley Idaho Second Ward Relief Society is a script for women to use in washing and anointing before childbirth. The exact date that was written is unknown.²⁹

1913 —

• President Emmeline B. Wells expresses concern and hope that the ability to give blessings isn’t taken from women from the brethren.³⁰

• Relief Society is placed among auxiliaries, rather than parallel to the priesthood. President Joseph F. Smith says in General Conference that auxiliaries are not—

  “independent of the Priesthood of the Son of God, not one of them can exist a moment in the acceptance of the Lord when they withdraw from the voice and from the counsel of those who hold the Priesthood and preside over them…nor can they exercise any rights in their organizations independently of the Priesthood and of the Church…”³¹

1914 —

• A letter from the first presidency affirms that “any good sister, full of faith in God and the efficacy of prayer” may give blessings. The letter differentiates between blessings for childbirth and blessings for sickness and that the elders should be called to anoint the sick. It specified that bishops had the final say in directing these matters.³²

• The exclusively women-run Women’s Exponent Magazine is replaced the Relief Society Magazine. By 1920, 10% of its essays were by men.³³

Emmeline B. Wells

1919 — Relief Society social services are launched.³⁴ Relief Society operated and expanded social services until the priesthood correlation push in the 1970’s.

1921 —

• Emmeline B. Wells is surprised to be released as president of the Relief Society. She was the first Relief Society president to be released, as her predecessors had remained in the position until death (like prophets and apostles).³⁵

• Apostle Rudger Clawson says in the April General Conference,

  “The Priesthood is not received, or held, or exercised in any degree by the women of the Church … the women of the Church enjoy the blessings of the Priesthood through their husbands.”

  Other comments in that same conference double down on this idea, reiterating that women do not hold the priesthood.³⁶

1935 — General Relief Society President Louise Yates Robins writes a response to Martha A. Hickman asking about washing and anointings before birth. President Robins replies,

“…this beautiful ordinance has always been with the Relief Society, and it is our earnest hope that we may continue to have that privilege, and up to the present time the Presidents of the Church have always allowed it to us.”

In regards to when priesthood leaders take a stand against it, she says, “we cannot do anything but accept their will in the matter.” She suggests when given the opportunity, to perform the ordinance “very quietly” and “with no show or discussion made of it.”³⁷

1940 — Apostle J. Reuben Clark, Jr., defines priesthood as “the authority of God bestowed upon men…” and continuously refers to male members as “the priesthood.”³⁸

1945 — Women historians such as Juanita Brooks and Fawn Brodie give birth to a revisionist Mormon history.

1946 — Joseph Fielding Smith writes to Belle S. Spafford (the new Relief Society general president), officially ending the sanction of women’s blessings. “…it is far better for us to follow the plan the Lord has given us and send for the Elders of the Church to come and administer to the sick and afflicted.”³⁹

1952 — Apostle Stephen L. Richards reiterates that women do not hold the priesthood but she “shares it with her husband, and she is the immediate beneficiary of many of its great blessings.”⁴⁰

1956 —

• Apostle John A. Widstoe writes in Priesthood and Church Government that women’s gift of “equal magnitude” (to the priesthood) is motherhood. He also says, “Men can never rise superior to the women who bear and nurture them.” This is part of, or perhaps the beginning of, the church’s glorification of motherhood and placing mothers on a pedestal.⁴¹

• In the Relief Society Magazine, 33% of articles and 75% of lessons now written by men.⁴²

1966 — A popular BYU professor teaches, “Woman … finds her fulfillment in man as man finds his in God.” Along with some unsourced verse, “Women are doormats and have been/ The years those mats applaud—/ They keep their men from going in/ With muddy feet to God”⁴³

Belle S. Spafford

1970 — The Relief Society Magazine is discontinued under the directive of the first presidency. Editor Marianne Sharp concluded its final editorial with “Moriturae te salutmus” — latin for “We salute you in death.” This discontinuation of the women’s church magazine was part of the priesthood correlation push.⁴⁴

1974 — President Belle Spafford is released as Relief Society President, after 29 years of service. At the same time, all Relief Society funds, welfare and social operations, and curriculum were brought under church priesthood—male—authority.⁴⁵

1978 — The church explicitly opposes the Equal Rights Amendment. It actively lobbied against it in the 1970’s and 1980’s. In 1978, the first presidency circulated a letter to priesthood leadership, clearly stating their stance against the ERA, citing it a “moral” issue and expressing the concern that it could keep women from their nurturing role in the home.⁴⁶

1992 — The book I am mainly referencing from, Women and Authority, was published.

1993 — The church places disciplinary action, including ex-communication, on six Mormon scholars and feminists. The editor of Women and Authority and some of its contributors are included in this group.

1995 — The Family: A Proclamation to the World statement is introduced at women's conference with no prior consultation or input from the Relief Society Presidency. The document solidifies gender roles between married couples.

2013 — Jean A. Stevens becomes the first woman to pray in a general session of General Conference.

2015 — Women begin to join as members of church councils.

2024 — Online controversy is sparked when a quote is shared on the church’s Instagram account by J. Annette Davis, First Counselor of the Relief Society. The quote was from her address at a women’s conference commemorating the birthday of the Relief Society. The quote read,

“There is no other religious organization in the world, that I know of, that has so broadly given power and authority to women. There are religions that ordain some women to positions such as priests and pastors, but very few relative to the number of women in their congregations receive that authority that their church gives them.

“By contrast, all women, 18 years and older, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who choose a covenant relationship with God in the house of the Lord are endowed with priesthood power directly from God. And as we serve in whatever calling or assignment, including ministering assignments, we are given priesthood authority to carry out those responsibilities. My dear sisters, you belong to a Church which offers all its women priesthood power and authority from God!.”

The comment section was flooded with tens of thousands of responses, mainly from LDS women sharing earnestly that what was stated had not at all been their lived experience, outlining all of the ways that women in the church are not given equality or authority.

Today — My takeaway from this history is that the brethren giveth, and the brethren taketh away. Yet, Mormon women are badass. Working in the confines of a system they believe to be led by God, they continue to do amazing things—half of the time with their hands needlessly tied behind their backs. That strength is a part of my heritage that I will always be immensely proud of.

Footnotes & Sources

1. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2018. Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, vol. 1: The Standard of Truth, 1815-1846.

2. Linda King Newell, The Historical Relationship of Mormon Women and Priesthood in Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism, 1992, edited by Maxine Hanks; Signature Books, Salt Lake City. Article is originally in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 18 (Fall 1985): 21-32.

3. Doctrine and Covenants, 1835, p. 251, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed March 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835/259

4. Saints, vol. 1.

5. As cited by Newell in Women and Authority: Minutes of the Nauvoo Female Relief Socety, 17 Mar. 1842.

6. Eliza R. Snow, Relief Society Minutes, 9 Mar. 1844. Joseph Smith Papers. https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-relief-society-minute-book/149

7. Originally cited: D. Michael Quinn, Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood Since 1843; in Maxine Hanks, ed., Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism, Jan 1 1992.

Currently available at: Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, p. 22, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed March 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-relief-society-minute-book/45#X5FE75460-752A-440D-B6EC-C65F01FC976A

8. The first use of society in this phrasing was omitted and the second “Society” was changed to “church” — rendering the reading to “…should move according to the ancient Priesthood … going to make the church a kingdom of priests as in Enoch’s day—as in Paul’s day.”

D. Michael Quinn, Mormon Women Have Had the Priesthood Since 1843; in Maxine Hanks, ed., Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism, Jan 1 1992.

Phrase and change: As cited by Quinn: Compare Nauvoo Relief Society Minutes (footnote #6) transcript and image with: B.H. Roberts, ed., History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978), 4:570.

See also 1851 timeline history and footnote #13.

9. Originally cited by Quinn: Minutes of the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, 28 Apr. 1842, 40.

Currently available at: Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, p. 34, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed March 19, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/nauvoo-relief-society-minute-book/57#XD08DE7E5-8A37-4BFB-A7E8-01276EABFDA7

Compare with variation in History of the Church (fully cited on footnote #8). See also 1851 timeline history and footnote #13.

10. Same source as footnote #10. Also seen in: The First Fifty Years of Relief Society, Apr 28, 1842. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Gospel Library. Primary source in Relief Society Minutes.

11. Laurel Ulrich Thatcher, 2017. A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870; Alfred A. Knopf, publisher.

12. As cited by Newell in Women and Authority: Eliza Jane Merrick, Several Cases of Miraculous Healing by the Power of God,” Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star 2 (1 July 1849): 205.

13. Newell, The Historical Relationship of Mormon Women and Priesthood, Women and Authority.

See also 1842 timeline history and footnotes 8 and 9.

14. As cited by Newell: Scott Kennedy, ed., Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, 9 vols. (Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1983), 4:244.

15. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2020. Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, vol. 2: No Unhallowed Hand, 1846-1893. Salt Lake City, Utah.

16. As cited by Newell in Women and Authority: Cache Valley Stake Relief Society Minutes, 1868-81, 18 June 1868, LDS archives.

17. As cited by Newell in Women and Authority: Sarah M. Kimball, Fifteenth Ward Relief Society Minutes, 1863-73.

18. As cited by Newell in Women and Authority: Brigham Young, 14 Nov. 1869, JD 13:155.

19. As cited by Newell: Reported in Woman’s Exponent 13 (15 Sept. 1884): 61.

20. As cited by Newell: Journal of Discourses 21:367-68.

21. As cited by Newell: Wilford Woodruff to Emmeline B. Wells, 27 Apr. 1888, Correspondence of the First Presidency, LDS archives.

22. Madison Sterzer, BYU, 2024. The Deseret Hospital. https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/791

23. As cited by Newell: Eliza R. Snow, Woman’s Exponent 13 (15 Sept. 1884): 61. Also included in The Fifty First Years of Relief Society.

24. PBS. The Path to Utah Statehood. PBS The American Experience. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/mormons-utah/#:~:text=Utah%20was%20admitted%20to%20the,members%20of%20the%20Republican%20Party.

25. As cited by Newell: Louisa L. G. Richards to Lorenzo Snow, 9 Apr. 1901, LDS archives.

26. As cited by Newell: “Gifts of the Spirit: Healing the Sick,” Young Women’s Journal 14 (8 Aug. 1903): 384.

27. As cited by Newell: Joseph F. Smith, “Questions and Answers,” Improvement Era 10 (Feb. 1907): 308. Also cited by Sonja Farnsworth in the same collection.

28. As cited by Hanks: Richard O. Cowan, The Church in the Twentieth Century (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1985), 75-78.

29. As cited by Newell: Oakley [Idaho] 2d Ward Relief Society Minutes, vol.1, 1901-1909, 195-97, LDS archives.

30. As cited by Newell: Relief Society Minutes, 4:124.

31. As cited by Newell: Conference Report, 4 Apr. 1913, 7.

32. As cited by Newell: Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose, “To the Presidents of Stakes and Bishops of Wards,” Messages of the First Presidency, ed. James R. Clark, 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1935-51), 4:314-15. Also cited in Church history topics: Healing.

33. As cited by Evans: “Editorial: Backward and Forward,” Relief Society Magazine 10(1923): 254.

34. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Social Services, Church History Topics. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/history/topics/social-services?lang=eng

35. Maxine Hanks, 1992. Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism, 1992, edited by Maxine Hanks; Signature Books, Salt Lake City.

36. As cited by Newell: Conference Report, Apr. 1921, 24-25.

37. As cited by Newell: Louise Y. Robinson and Julia A. F. Lund to Mrs. Ada E. Morrell, 5 Dec. 1935, copy in possession of the author.

38. As cited by Newell: Conference Report, Apr. 1940, 152-54.

39. As cited by Newell: Clark, Messages, 4:314.ttrd

40. As cited by Newell: Conference Report, 5 Oct. 1952: 99-10.

41. As cited by Newell: John A. Widstoe, Priesthood and Church Government (1939; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, rev. 1954), 38-39, 89-90.

42. Vella Neil Evans, 1992. Empowerment and Mormon Women’s Publications. In Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism, 1992, edited by Maxine Hanks; Signature Books, Salt Lake City. First appeared as part of her dissertation, “Woman’s Image in Authoritative Mormon Discourse,” University of Utah, 1985.

43. As cited by Newell: Rodney Turner, Woman and the Priesthood (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1966); also Woman and the Priesthood (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1972).

44. As cited by Evans: Marianne C. Sharp, “Editorial/Facing Forward,” Magazine 57 (1970): 895.

45. Maxine Hanks, 1992. Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism, 1992, edited by Maxine Hanks; Signature Books, Salt Lake City.

46. First Presidency statement explaining the LDS Church’s position on the ERA . (Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections & Archives, Collection MSS 225, Box 22, Folder 1.) http://exhibits.lib.usu.edu/exhibits/show/mormons-for-era/lds-position-on-era

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Further Recommended Reading

The books I cited in this article and highly recommend are Women and Authority: Re-Emerging Mormon Feminism edited by Maxine Hanks and A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women’s Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.

In addition to the above sources, I also highly recommend reading Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith by Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery. I didn’t have it on hand when writing this article but remember that much of this information, specifically before the saint’s westward migration, as well as the history of D&C 132 is corroborated in this book. Also, it’s just a fantastic read.

I also really enjoyed Pioneering the Vote by Neylan McBain for a dive into the suffrage movement in Utah among Mormon women.

Kingdom of Nauvoo by Benjamin Park is a fantastic source to dive into church events in Nauvoo alone.

I hope to eventually read In Sacred Loneliness by Todd Compton, Mormon Heirarchies of Power by D. Michael Quinn, Sister Saints: Mormon Women Since the End of Polygamy by Colleen McDannell, and American Zion by Benjamin Park—all books I have heard excellent things about and I’m sure would contribute to this topic.