The polygamous wives writing club : from the diaries of Mormon pioneer women /
Harline analyses the personal writings (autobiographies and diaries) of 29 obscure Mormon pioneer women who became polygamous wives between 1847 and 1890 in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. Disillusioned with the polygamous system, for the most part the wives studied...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Oxford University Press,
2014.
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| Subjects: |
Polygamy
> Religious aspects
> Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
> History
> 19th century.
Polygamie
> Aspect religieux
> Église de Jésus-Christ des saints des derniers jours
> Histoire
> 19e siècle.
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| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | Harline analyses the personal writings (autobiographies and diaries) of 29 obscure Mormon pioneer women who became polygamous wives between 1847 and 1890 in Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. Disillusioned with the polygamous system, for the most part the wives studied here did not mention or mourn the 1890 Manifesto that phased out polygamy in the Mormon Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints renounced the practice of plural marriage in 1890. In the mid- to late nineteenth century, however -- the heyday of Mormon polygamy -- as many as three out of every ten Mormon women became polygamous wives. Paula Kelly Harline delves deep into the diaries and autobiographies of twenty-nine such women, providing a rare window into the lives they led and revealing their views and experiences of polygamy, including their well-founded belief that their domestic contributions would help to build a foundation for generations of future Mormons. Polygamous wives were participants in a controversial and very public religious practice that violated most nineteenth-century social and religious rules of a monogamous America. Harline considers the questions: Were these women content with their sacrifice? Did the benefits of polygamous marriage for the Mormons outweigh the human toll it required and the embarrassment it continues to bring? Polygamous wives faced daunting challenges not only imposed by the wider society but within the home, yet those whose writings Harline explores give voice to far more than unhappiness and discontent. The personal writings of these women, all married to different husbands, are the heart of this book -- they paint a vivid and sometimes disturbing picture of an all but vanished and still controversial way of life. |
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| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (viii, 244 pages) : illustrations (black and white), maps (black and white) |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 9780199346561 0199346569 019934650X 9780199346509 9780199346523 0199346526 |