SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Church historians from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a book featuring discourses of the church historic figure Eliza R. Snow.
The new book, Rise Up and Speak: Selected Discourses of Eliza R. Snow, combines 52 discourses and represents the service and leadership of Snow in the early days of the Church.
Eliza R. Snow was a founder, secretary, and general president of the Relief Society (the women’s organization within the Church). Additionally, she was “a friend, teacher, writer, temple worker, and supporter of organizations for children and young women.”
In the mid-to-late 1800s, Snow traveled across Utah and Idaho Territories to minister to women and share her enthusiasm for her faith. Secretaries from the Relief Society along with other observers recorded her discourses in minute books and newspapers. In 2018, researchers from the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began gathering all the discourses to transcribe. More than 2,000 record books were studied and nearly 1,300 of Snow’s discourses were discovered. All of it has been published on the Church Historian’s Press website.
Out of all the uncovered work, historians selected 52 of “the most powerful and timeless to be featured in Rise Up and Speak.” The discourses have been fully annotated and contextualized to help readers gain a deeper understanding of Snow’s teachings and the time in which she lived. Punctuation, spelling, and grammar have been standardized to help modernize her words for readers to understand better.
In addition to sharing her faith in Jesus Christ, her words include praise for women. According to the Church, Snow’s words share, “admonitions for women to awaken to their divine potential, remain engaged in their faith, become politically involved and vote, and unite in support of each other.”…