Conference Speakers
General Conference Research Guide
Who was the first woman to speak in general conference?
The first woman to speak in a general session of conference was Lucy Mack Smith on October 8, 1845.1 A report of the conference in the Times and Seasons states the following:
“Mother Lucy Smith, the aged and honored parent of Joseph Smith, having expressed a wish to say a few words to the congregation, she was invited upon the Stand. She spoke at considerable length, and in an audible manner, so as to be heard by a large portion of the vast assembly.
“She commenced by saying that she was truly glad that the Lord had let her see so large a congregation.”2
In the early 20th century, three women spoke during conference in overflow meetings on Temple Square. In April 1908, recently returned missionaries Rachel Leatham and Martha M. Lagenbucher both spoke to a few hundred people waiting outside of the Tabernacle. The following April, of 1909, Lilian Jones, recently returned from the Southern States mission, spoke to a much larger crowd (approximately 2,500) present on Temple Square.3
The next instance of a woman speaking in a general session of conference occurred October 5, 1929, when President Heber J. Grant invited Louisa Y. Robinson, General Relief Society President; Ruth May Fox, General Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association President; and May Anderson, General Primary President, to speak briefly in the Saturday afternoon session. The three presidents also spoke briefly in April and October of 1930. On April 9, 1930, Miss Ruth Pyrtle, president of the National Education Association, spoke in a general session. She was not a member of the Church.4
In April 1984 Elaine A. Cannon, General Young Women President, and Barbara B. Smith, General Relief Society President, both spoke. Women have spoken regularly in general sessions from 1984 to the present.
Who was the oldest person to speak in general conference?
Elder David B. Haight (1906–2004) was 97 years and 7 months old when he gave his last conference address on April 3, 2004, during the first session of conference. He passed away three months later.
Who was the youngest person to speak in a general session of conference?
The youngest speaker in a general session of conference was Ross N. Farnsworth, born February 14, 1956. Ross was a deacon in the Mesa 6th Ward in the East Mesa Stake. He spoke in the priesthood session on April 5, 1969, when he was 13 years and 1 month old. During the 1960s it was not uncommon for Aaronic Priesthood holders to speak during the priesthood session.
Has there ever been a speaker in a general session of conference who was not a member of the Church?
There have been 10 speakers in a general session who were not members of the Church:
- 1927—General Charles F. Summerall, Chief of Staff, United States Army
- 1928—Dr. Roy O. Wyland, Director of Education, National Organizations, Boy Scouts of America
- 1930—Ruth Pyrtle, President of the National Education Association
- 1947—E. Kent Kane, grandson of Thomas L. Kane
- 1954—Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin
- 1960—Sumner G. Whittier, National Administrator of Veterans Affairs
- 1961—Sir Thomas Penberthy Bennett, architect for Hyde Park Chapel
- 1977—Arch Monson Jr., National President, Boy Scouts of America
- 1989, 1993—Eugene F. “Bud” Reid, Chairman of the International Committee of Boy Scouts of America, World Scout Committee Member, National Executive Board
- 1993—Jere B. Ratcliffe, Chief Scout Executive Board
When did the first General Authority born outside of the United States speak in conference?
John Taylor spoke in the conference held Sunday, May 5, 1839.5 He was born in Milnthorpe, Westmorland, England.
Has a speaker spoken in a language other than English at conference?
On Wednesday, April 7, 1926, Yeahgah (Yeager) Timbimboo spoke Shoshone in conference.6 Local newspapers reported, “In 1926, church president Heber J. Grant invited Yeager to speak at the faith’s general conference held in the tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. With Bishop George M. Ward standing at his side as translator, Yeager delivered what reporters at the time called a ‘profound’ address.”7
On Friday, October 4, 1946, Emile C. Dunn, former president of the Tongan Mission, bore his testimony in Tongan.8
On Saturday, October 4, 2014, Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong of the Seventy gave his address in his native Cantonese. English subtitles were seen on the screens in the Conference Center; however, there were no subtitles on TV. An English speaker read the translation over the sound of Elder Wong’s voice.9
[1] See Lucy Mack Smith, “This Gospel of Glad Tidings to All People,” in Kate Holbrook and Jennifer Reeder, eds., At the Pulpit: 185 Years of Discourses by Latter-day Saint Women (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2017), ChurchHistoriansPress.org.
[2] “Conference Minutes,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1, 1845, 1013.
[3] See Holbrook and Reeder, eds., At the Pulpit, appendix, ChurchHistoriansPress.org.
[4] See Conference Report, Apr. 1930, 163.
[5] See May 5, 1839, in Wilford Woodruff journal, 1838 January–1839 December, Wilford Woodruff journals and papers, 1828–1898, 96.
[6] See Conference Report, Apr. 1926, 136–38.
[7] Deseret News, Apr. 10, 1926, 6; see also Salt Lake Tribune, Apr. 7, 1926.
[8] See Conference Report, Oct. 1946, 101.
[9] See Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, “Rescue in Unity,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2014, 14–16.