The Women's Exponent 1872-1914

The Woman's Exponent, an 8-page monthly newspaper, began publication in Salt Lake City in 1872. "The aim of this journal," read the first issue, "will be to discuss every subject interesting and valuable to women." Conceived by leaders in the Relief Society, Exponent was run for and by women, with help from the technical and promotional equipment of The Salt Lake Herald. 

The original paper's main editors were Emmeline B. Wells, later president of the Relief Society, and Louisa Greene, who accepted the position only after receiving approval from her great uncle -- Brigham Young. The prophet even called and set her apart as an editor. Though supported by church leaders, Exponent was always an independent publication -- one with considerable influence in Utah politics. Its editorials frequently championed both polygamy and female suffrage. 

Due to financial issues, the paper shut down in 1914, after Wells unsuccessfully lobbied the Relief Society Board to adopt Exponent as its official publication. The Relief Society Magazine, a separate publication, began the following year. 

After the Church consolidated The Relief Society Magazine into the Ensign in 1970, several Cambridge-area women sought to provide a unique forum for women to share ideas and experiences with one another in print. Thus, Exponent II was born in 1974. The publication is still Massachusetts based, but women from across the nation contribute their writing and participate in the Exponent retreat. It remains a paper for, by, and about the experience of being a Mormon woman.