A national survey of bishops' wives was conducted to determine whether Reuben Hill's "Roller Coaster" model of family stress following a stressor event should be modified to include a honeymoon period when the precipitating event is viewed positively by the family. The honeymoon period was expected to be within the first year, and too few respondents were in their first year to give statistically significant evidence of such a pattern. Several measures did give non-significant evidence of a honeymoon phase, though.Other factors found to have an important effect on the stressfulness of the position of bishop's wife were: age of the woman (positive effect), presence and age of children (no children or only older children at home is less stressful), and whether or not the wife has a friend or relative to talk to who is also a bishop's wife (which improves overall rating of the position).

Since the 1750s American women have flocked to churches. Women have consistently been the majority in church populations. Religion was the central motivation of the female life experience. Likewise, women comprised a significant portion of the membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in its first decade. There exists little historical analysis of the contribution and experience of these women as a whole. As a result of this lack of research some historians have made erroneous assumptions of patriarchal oppression and a lack of commitment on the part of early Mormon women. This project closely examines the religious experience of these earliest Mormon women through the documentary editing of nineteen letters written between 1831 and 1843.The women come from a variety of life experiences notwithstanding consistent membership in The Church of Jesus Christ. They come from a distinct geographical base, a wide span of education, are married and single, and vary in age from twenty to sixty-four years old. Despite these differences, they demonstrate a continuity of religious commitment and dedication.Three themes dominate their correspondence: spiritual knowledge, bearing witness, and sacrifice. They exhibit knowledge of the existence of God as a Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ as Savior of the world, and Joseph Smith, Jr. as God's direct mouthpiece. They repeatedly and unabashedly testify of these truths to their relations not yet acquainted with Joseph Smith and his message and admonish them to know truth for themselves. To husbands and soon-to-be husbands already believers in Smith's message the women demonstrate the application of these beliefs in their lives and a consistent faith. This knowledge and devotion creates a high level of commitment which leads them to follow Smith over thousands of miles and through fires of persecution. They willingly sacrificed whatever they felt that God required of them. Conviction was explicitly demonstrated through their personal writings proffering an intimate glimpse of a unique religion and belief as the motivation of these women. In religion they found a degree of autonomy to define themselves not readily available in other areas of their lives, they knew Joseph Smith to be a modem prophet with the sure word of the Lord to them. The claim to direct revelation from God was singular. Their conviction to it was sure enough to enable their adherence to this persecuted prophet, belief in new doctrine, and the church which Smith established rather than fulfilling their religious desires through the mainstream religions of the day.

In this thesis, I will proceed as follows: my first chapter will be a general overview of epideictic rhetoric, focusing on the limitations of how it has traditionally been viewed and understood by theorists. At the end of that chapter I will establish a working definition of epideictic which extends traditional views about how epideictic can function in certain types of writings, focusing on the important role of the speaker in epideictic rhetoric and how it can work in enabling a community to create a collective identity. In the remainder of the thesis, I will analyze two texts in which epideictic functions in that specific way. The first is a public speech given by Artimesia Snow which was later published for a larger audience as a newspaper editorial. This speech was given in a setting which was very traditional for epideictic, and it contains many examples of epideictic elements working in recognizable ways. In my analysis, I will look at how an authoritative speaker establishes herself as a representative figure for the community which she is addressing. The second text I will analyze is an autobiography written by Martha Cox, a woman who was a devoted polygamist before the Manifesto of 1890, and who remained faithful in the church after the practice was discontinued. This autobiography is less clearly a genre in which epideictic is a useful form of rhetoric, yet throughout the text, she clearly includes epideictic elements in her rhetorical appeals. In that chapter I will examine her text, specifically looking at how epideictic works differently in nontraditional settings, and how she uses different rhetorical tools in order to invite the formation of a collective identity. Finally, I will conclude with a brief summary of my findings and a discussion of how they can help us broaden the definition of epideictic rhetoric and better understand the social and cultural function of the writings of these Mormon polygamous women.

This master's thesis project is the first half of a historical novel concerning the involvement of Elvira Field Strang Baker, the first plural wife of James Jesse Strang, with the "Beaver Island Mormons" who followed Strang from Nauvoo shortly after the death of Joseph Smith in 1844. The events portrayed are historical, although fictionalized. This portion of the novel contains a brief introduction to her childhood in Chapter One and follows her involvement with the Strangite movement beginning in April 1847 to the coronation of her husband in. Elvira was the first plural wife of James Jesse Strang who to this day is the only crowned American king. She married Strang in July 1849 and kept her marriage a secret for one year until Strang announced her as his wife during the above-mentioned coronation ceremony. Elvira was a woman ahead of her time. She was educated and had the opportunity to enjoy professional success which was rare for a woman of the mid-eighteenth century. She was a teacher, a trained tailor, an author of articles for her husband's newspapers, and one of his most capable administrators. While this portion of the novel focuses primarily on the early days of Elvira's acquaintance with James, his subsequent courtship, and the early days of their marriage, it also follows Elvira's movement within this unorthodox community that was supposed to be Zion.

World War II affected individuals across the nation, both on the home front and on the front lines. Manti, Utah received a new industry, a parachute plant, in connection with the war. Hundreds of women from Sanpete County and neighboring counties were employed through the duration of the war in everything from sewing and inspection to supervision of production. Some of the women utilized childcare facilities, some formed a union, and many found community and familial support. For many of them, this wartime wage work provided a welcomed alternative to the work usually found in rural areas, such as farm work, housework, and café work. Women were primarily motivated to work out of patriotic duty and economic opportunity. In many wartime industries, women were in previously male-dominated occupations and lost their jobs at the conclusion of the war. In contrast, the parachute plant offered its women workers the opportunity to continue working when the plant began manufacturing clothing after the war, and the surrounding rural community was largely supportive of its working women. This study makes a case for the long-term impact of wartime work upon individual women. Work experience outside the home affected the women's estimation and definition of themselves. The war period was a crucial event in women's lives, not just an important passing stage. Oral histories allow interpretation in the context of their adult lives from a long-term perspective. By delving into community and family situations and looking at these women on an individualized basis in the long-term, this study goes deeper than surveys and makes substantive contributions to our understanding of the war's influence. The period of wartime work, when viewed in the long-term context of the women's lives, was significant especially in that women had additional economic resources at their disposal and acquired new-found confidence and skills. Women's work experiences provoked desire for future work and served as a source of confidence to them. Personal, individualized victories for women, often ignored or concealed by aggregate statistics on women's work during and immediately following the war, were a reality for women in Manti and likely elsewhere in America.

Julia Hills Johnson, the 48-year-old wife of Ezekiel Johnson and mother of sixteen children, found spiritual fulfillment in the doctrines of a new religion called Mormonism. Her baptism in 1831 was a simple act that ultimately led her halfway across the American continent, and strained her marital relationship, yet filled her with a sense of spiritual contentment. Julia's commitment to her faith, her tenacity, self-determination and willingness to take risks to participate in this new religious movement sets her apart from other nineteenth-century farm women in New England and New York. Julia's religiosity was self-determined and tenacious. She chose to break with the religious and social conventions of her time to embrace ideas that were outside the social and religious norms of her society because she found spiritual fulfillment in a religious movement with doctrines and an organizational structure that to her was logical, intellectually appealing and consistent with her pre-existing concept of true Christianity. As a dominant influence in her children's lives she was determined to adhere to and inculcate her children in the Church's doctrines and organization. Throughout her twenty-two-year sojourn in Mormonism she remained dedicated to the success of what for her was the restoration of God's kingdom on earth. Her participation in that movement at times placed her and her family at personal and financial risk to adhere to the doctrines of their faith and remain in company with other converts. Julia experienced Mormonism from its earliest days to their exodus west. Because she was among the first to join her life affords us an opportunity to examine the role of women in the early church and to test historical theories intended to explain women's conversion, and women's doctrinal attitudes. From Julia's conversion and post conversion experiences, historians of nineteenth-century America, religion, women's, and Mormon history will gain greater insight into the role women played in the early history of the Church. Julia shaped the religiosity of her children, influenced the religiosity of others, and thereby influenced the development of the Church.

This historical/descriptive study analyzes the speaking career of Belle S. Spafford and attempts to document the relationship between her speaking and her influence with her peers. For over fifty years, the dedicated woman served as a spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the National Council of Women, briding the gap between the secular and religious world of women. A rhetorical analysis of four speeches indicates the following findings: Mrs. Spafford appealed to her audiences through a focus on shared values; she had credibility because of her positions of authority and used it wisely; she effectively analyzed her audiences and their collective bond of interest; and she sought to convince and produce an effect without apparent force or authority. Her well-organized speeches are examples of the historical method of presentation with her style being clear and appropriate, but not particularly vivid. Mrs. Spafford is a product of her environment and her religon. She rose to positions of power where she achieved a significant level of influence through her skillful use of communication.