Elmina Shepard Taylor

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Anstis Elmina Shepard Taylor (September 12, 1830 – December 6, 1904) was the first general president of what is today the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and was a founding member of the National Council of Women.

Elmina Shepard was born in Middlefield, New York to David Spaulding Shepard and Rosella Bailey. Following her graduation from public school and Hardwick Academy, she left home in 1854 to teach school in Haverstraw, New York, where she met John Druce, a member of the LDS Church. She was converted by Druce and baptized into the church on July 5, 1856. On August 31, 1856, she married George Hamilton Taylor in Haverstraw. They left New York for Utah on April 15, 1859, and arrived in Salt Lake City on September 16.

At a meeting of the LDS Church's organization for adolescent girls held June 19, 1880, in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square, Taylor was appointed the first general president of the Young Ladies' National Mutual Improvement Association, the original name of the church's Young Women Organization. Young was the general president of the organization until her death in 1904. Under her direction, Susa Young Gates founded the Young Woman's Journal, which began publication in 1889. Just prior to Young's death, she shortened the name of the YLNMIA to the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association. Taylor was succeeded by her second counselor, Martha H. Tingey.

In 1888, Young and others met with Susan B. Anthony in Seneca Falls, New York and participated in the founding of the National Council of Women, an organization dedicated to promoting the rights of women. In 1891, Young was appointed an ex officio vice president of the organization, a position she held until her death. Young died at her home in Salt Lake City.

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[edit] References

  • Janet Peterson and LaRene Gaunt (1993), Keepers of the Flame: Presidents of the Young Women, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.
  • Susa Young Gates (1911), History of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association, Salt Lake City: General Board of the YLMIA.
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General presidents of the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Taylor (1880–1904) • Tingey (1905–1929) • Fox (1929–1937) • L.G. Cannon (1937–1948) • Reeder (1948–1961) • Jacobsen (1961–1972) • Funk (1972–1978) • E.A. Cannon (1978–1984) • Kapp (1984–1992) • Hales Beckham (1992–1997) • Nadauld (1997–2002) • Tanner (2002–2008) • Dalton (2008– )