Women of Nauvoo

by Richard Neitzel Holzapfel, Jeni Broberg Holzapfel

extremely rare,very good condition

Genres: Nonfiction, Lds, History, Religion, Church, Historical

225 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Dr. Richard Holzapfel is a Professor of Church History in the Religious Education Department at BYU. He attended BYU, Hebrew Union College, and the University of California, Irvine (B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.) emphasizing in Middle Eastern Studies, Jewish History, Ancient History. Dr. Holzapfel began teaching at Brigham Young University in 1993, and has taught in the Church History, Ancient Scripture, and History departments. He is currently the Managing Director of Religious Studies Center Publications and the Editor-in-Chief of the center’s periodical The Religious Educator. In addition, he serves as an Editorial Board Member for BYU Studies. Dr. Holzapfel has received various awards and honors for his teaching, including Continuing Education Faculty Teaching Award in 2006. In 2008 he was named the BYU Honors Professor of the Year. Along with his teaching and university appointments, Dr. Holzapfel remains one of the most rigorous and widely published writers on campus.

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What incredible women - Never thought about it before but a lot of these women's husband were gone on missions most of the time so they did a lot of "living" and "building" on their own.

[Shannon Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! It was so fun and a super quick read. I really loved hearing stories about the women of Nauvoo. They were strong, brave, obedient, industrious, and faithful in all things. Their complete faith was inspiring!! I am grateful to have women like them to look up to and remind me that I can do hard things!!

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an experience. It must be read from beginning to end to get the experience.
It is inspiring and heart breaking; the women of the early history of the restored Church of Jesus Christ of LDS paid a horrendous price for their membership, and yet they did it with a song in their hearts and a faith that is staggering. They encouraged each other, they lifted each other up, and together they bore one-another's sorrows as well as rejoiced in each others happiness!
They provided a new vision of grace, of faithfulness, and of sister-ship; a new vision of what women - as wells men - are really about.

[Edy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting little book about women of Nauvoo.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world of LDS women's history is dominated by biographies. It makes sense because so many of us are starving for variety in our models of female religious experience, and let me tell you, early Mormon women took on a huge variety of roles. Much of the non-biography material is centered around very specific phenomena (polygamy, ERA, Relief Society institutional histories, etc). I appreciated this book about the lives of every day Mormon women during their seven pivotal years in Nauvoo. It is arranged by topic (how they arrived, their involvement with the temple, etc), and made highly readable by many first-hand accounts.

Institutional history is mostly limited to the chapter about the organization of the Relief Society. It focuses on every day women and what they did - most of the women quoted are not the big names.

My favorite part of this book is that it included contemporary accounts from people that lived in Nauvoo, but weren't Mormon and were not particularly hostile towards the Mormons. I've read a lot from the extremes, and these middle ground residents provided some welcome nuance to the history.

I will say that I hoped for more from the book - a stronger narrative sense of how women's lives progressed over the years in Nauvoo (the topical organization allowed for more detailed coverage of the elements of their lives, but resulted in some chronological back and forth), more than an off-hand reference about how polygamy impacted the relationships between the sisters in the Relief Society (although with all the secrecy surrounding it, it is admittedly hard to tease out), footnotes that included more than just the source, but also additional commentary from the authors about the data provided in these sources. But these are minor quibbles

All around, a solid piece of scholarship that provides more detail and nuance to the Mormon experience in Nauvoo. I enjoyed this book.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading about these strong women of the early Mormon church and, in particular, the founding of the LDS Relief Society, an organization I love, though it has definitely evolved and lost its independence over time. The organization of the Relief Society preceded the 1848 Seneca Falls convention. In the book, it quotes Sarah G. Kimball (one of my favorites - as a side note, when Joseph Smith approached her about the doctrine of polygamy, she told him to go teach it to someone else!) who said, "The sure foundations of the suffrage cause were deeply and permanently laid on the 17th of March 1842." When the Relief Society was reinstated in Utah, the book notes that "additional activities beyond the traditional roles assigned to women were rapidly introduced. The sisters increased their roles in economic, political, and commercial activities. They built and owned Relief Society halls; ran cooperatives; raised silk; bought, stored, and sold grain; and collectively supported the medical education of women as doctors and nurses, eventually establishing their own Deseret Hospital." These women also established the Woman's Exponent, owning, managing, and producing it. Mormon history is fascinating and plays an integral role in the establishment of the West in US history.

[Shirley Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a good reminder of how much the Mormon pioneer women contributed to the overall accomplishments of the pioneer trek to the West. They were the glue that held it all together and yet have received little recognition for their efforts. I liked it. It made me proud of my pioneer heritage.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My teacher used this for supplemental information in Pioneer Life. The semester ended before Christmas. Without knowing about the text, this book was a gift from my brother Philip. I was ecstatic to own my own copy! Haven't read it all the way through, yet.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at the city of Nauvoo and its women through their journals and letters. This is a most uplifting read and I came away grateful for my ancestors. I marvel at their fortitude and our luxuries.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great stories including several of my ancestors

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read; Can we ever get enough history? I know I can't.

[Allisan Looman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry and scattered, but still interesting.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing LDS women, including my own ancestor, Mary Ann Sterns Pratt.

[Mindi Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is a treasure. So many amazing stories of strength and faith!

[J Philpot]

Another great reference throughout the Work and the Glory series.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting history of sisters in Nauvoo.