Relief Society Building

In 1868, Sarah M. Kimball, Relief Society president for the Salt Lake Fifteenth Ward, proposed building a Relief Society building dedicated to “commerce and trade” in the form of a cooperative store and a meeting area that would be “dedicated to worship, to Art and to Science.”⁶⁶ Soon after, other ward Relief Societies began building their own Relief Society buildings. These buildings often were homes of cooperative stores as well as meeting places for Relief Society meetings.

The general Relief Society desired a building of their own in Salt Lake City, Utah. This building would house the General Officers. In 1896, Sarah M. Kimball stated, “We want to have a house and we want land to build it on and it should be in the shadow of the temple.”⁶⁷ The First Presidency proposed that the building be built just east of the temple and told sisters they would be responsible for $20,000 for its construction. The Relief Society put out a call for donations, and sisters around the world contributed, even knowing that they would probably never see or enter the building.

In 1909, after raising the needed funds, the sisters were then told that the lot they had been promised—and the money they had raised—was to be used to build the Bishop’s Building, a building that would, among other functions, house the Presiding Bishopric.⁶⁸ It would not be until 1956 that the women would receive their own building, the Relief Society Building, on 76 North Main Street, which is “in the shadow the temple.” Despite the hurt that many women felt about their donations being put toward the Bishop’s Building, women again gladly donated toward the current building. The Relief Society Building contributors (CR 11 342) show not only elaborate items that were donated to the building (see below) but also the proverbial widow’s mite donated by Relief Societies in the South Pacific. Again, although many of these women would never see or enter the Relief Society Building, they donated money and items to be part of the worldwide sisterhood the building represented.

Below is a sampling of library items related to Relief Society halls and the Relief Society Building:

Relief Society building fund donations, 1898–1901, CR 11 273

Record kept by Emmeline B. Wells of stakes, wards, and individuals who contributed donations toward the Relief Society Building. These funds were later donated to the Presiding Bishopric to help build the Bishop’s Building, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Relief Society building Committee minutes, 1900 October–1901 August, CR 11 77

Record of meetings of the Relief Society, Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association (YLMIA), and Primary about the planning and construction of a building for their joint use.

Relief Society Building contributors, circa 1956, CR 11 342

List of individuals who contributed to the Relief Society Building fund. Includes names of sisters, wards, branches, and stakes from all over the world. Indexed in CR 11 341.

Photographs of artifacts donated to the Relief Society Building fund, circa 1960, CR 11 377

Photographs of items donated toward the Relief Society Building fund.

West Layton Ward Relief Society receipt, 1901 November 22, LR 4759 21

Receipt of donations for the construction of the Relief Society Building.

Alberta Stake Relief Society Building, PH 211

Photograph of the Alberta Stake Relief Society Building.

Fourteenth Ward Relief Society hall, circa 1892, PH 2842

Photograph of the Fourteenth Ward Relief Society hall, which also housed a cooperative store.

Nineteenth Ward, Salt Lake Stake, PH 800

Photograph of the Nineteenth Ward chapel and Relief Society hall, circa 1915.