Meeting Laurel

I doubt anyone remembers this post in which I despair that "I may never meet [Laurel Thatcher Ulrich]". You may only remember that I've referenced her in several posts, one about a study done on Mormon women and higher education and another on Mommies and their dreams. Clearly, I'm a big fan of this woman and have been inspired by her life and work. And on Tuesday, thanks to a Mormon feminist sister-friend, I discovered she was doing a talk in Salt Lake Thursday night. Lots of sister-friends were in attendance, some of whom may even read this blog (I love you).

Ulrich briefly referenced the first book she has written about Mormon history called A House Full of Women, which won't be published until next year. But the focus of her talk was a new church manual, Daughters in my Kindgom, and hearing a review of the book from a bona fide historian was fascinating to say the least. Her review was actually quite positive, until she cited the timeline on pages 182-184. It includes momentous deeds accomplished by the Relief Society until, of course, 1969, where the timeline actually seems to be recording the disappearance of Relief Society. To fully get her meaning, I'd recommend you read the book Women of Covenant, which also covers the history of the Relief Society.

The question and answer period permitted me to pick her brain a bit. The greatest piece of advice I gleaned (and that's saying something!) was when she said, "I try to be the same person at work as I am at church. I try to be honest about who I am." I'd like to be more like her in this regard.

Thanks, Laurel, for being one of my heroes.