Exponent II
TypePeriodical
FormatPrint (tabloid) and online
Owner(s)Exponent II, Incorporated
Founder(s)Claudia Bushman, Carrel Hilton Sheldon, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Judy Dushku, Sue Booth-Forbes and others
EditorRachel Rueckert (2021–present; 9th)
Founded1974
HeadquartersArlington, Massachusetts

Exponent II is a quarterly periodical, the longest-running independent publication for Latter-day Saint women. At its launch, by a women's group in Massachusetts in 1974, it described itself as a "spiritual descendent" of the Woman's Exponent, founded 100 years earlier.[1] A print edition remains available, while the journal has also been published online since 2007. The Exponent II organization also runs a program of annual residential retreats since the 1980s, and supports a blog, The Exponent.

History

The Exponent II Board poses on the John Harvard Statue in Harvard Square in 1974; the board in 2014.

Following the consolidation of the Relief Society budget into the central LDS Church budget,[2] and of the Relief Society Magazine into the general church journal, the Ensign, in 1970, an independent publication called Exponent II was started in 1974 by several Cambridge, Massachusetts-area Mormon women, including Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Claudia Bushman, Carrel Hilton Sheldon, Judy Dushku and Sue Booth-Forbes. This journal had two inspirations, one being the 1972 finding of a run of the Woman's Exponent in the Widener Library of Harvard University,[2] and the other being a suggestion by one of the LDS Church leaders in the Boston area, historian Richard Bushman.[3] The group had previously produced a book, Mormon Sisters: Women in Early Utah, partly based on courses they had designed for and presented at the local LDS Institute, and some had previously worked together on a women-focused issue of Dialogue and, as a Cambridge Ward Relief Society project, a guide to Boston.[4] The group had also held two gala dinners in honour of the Woman's Exponent, the first with Maureen Ursenbach Beecher as keynote speaker, on Eliza R. Snow.[5]

The early production encouraged by the official LDS Church Historian, Leonard Arrington[5] and was aided by a small grant from the Mormon History Association to the group for library and copying expenses,[6] and was done in the homes of group members.[4] The journal is sometimes characterised as related to the New Mormon history movement.[6]

The first edition - which carried a banner headline reading "Am I Not a Woman and a Sister?" - offered articles on the Equal Rights Amendment, poetry, profiles of female Mormon civic leaders, scholars and entrepreneurs, and notices of study groups and retreats.[1] Following initial publication, some concerns were expressed to Claudia Bushman by a family friend who was also an assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve, and more later by a former Boston Stake President - then a member of the Quorum - with the result that Bushman stepped down as editor and was succeeded by Nancy Dredge.[5]

The women formed a non-profit organization with no official relation to the LDS Church, at first incorporated as Mormon Sisters, Inc., later Exponent II, Inc., which continues in existence.[4] During the 1970s, according to Alice Colton Smith, a member of the Relief Society General Board at the time, members of the Board were not permitted to subscribe to Exponent II, yet she and a few others did so under the names of their husbands.[7]

The magazine has been published online since 2007.[8]

A 40th anniversary event was held in Boston in 2014, attended by 25 of the 1974 group, and current leaders of the Exponent II organization.[2]

In 2017 the Board of Exponent II announced that a former treasurer (2012 to 2017) had misappropriated funds. In December 2018 the scale of the embezzlement was revealed to be in excess of a net 100,000 US dollars, with over 191,000 dollars taken in over 600 transactions, and over 84,000 returned before and after discovery. The former treasurer was investigated by the FBI, prosecuted, and sentenced to prison in 2019, and new financial safeguards were put in place.[9]

Goals and approach

The journal launched with twin platforms of Mormonism and feminism,[3]: 135  and while it continues to focus on the concerns and experiences of some Mormon women from a feminist perspective,[10] it modified its initial goals over time.[3] As of 1984, for example, it summarized its aims as publication on topics of concern to women, and of interest to all, on an "open forum" basis, in a variety of writing forms, and predominantly Mormon-orientated; guidelines were included for both general writing and for poetry.[11] The periodical aims to be open and non-judgmental,[12] and editorially independent of the LDS Church authorities.[3]: 141  While the Church takes no official position on the independent publication, the periodical was apparently described at a 1974 meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve as "Claudia Bushman’s Women’s Lib magazine."[5] Some key concerns of the magazine have been summarized as the struggles of women with modern life's demands, including those of family, and the roles and ways of living for women, sometimes in contrast to traditional perceptions.[13]

Publication, staffing and circulation

Exponent II is published in tabloid or magazine format, quarterly. The newspaper grew rapidly upon launch, reaching over 4,000 subscribers within its first year, from all US states, and abroad, beating a target of 500.[2]

As of 2021 the role of Editor-in-Chief is held by Rachel Rueckert,[14] in succession to Claudia Bushman (1974-1975), Nancy T. Dredge (1975-1981 and 2000-2009), Susan E. Howe (1981–1984), Susan Paxman (1984-1997), Jenny Atkinson (1997-2000), co-editors Aimee Evans Hickman and Emily Clyde Curtis (2010-2016), and Margaret Olsen Hemming (2016-2021).[15]

There is also a Managing Editor overseeing production, a post held since 2021 by Carol Ann Litster Young, and editors for Art, Layout and specific sections.[16] From the beginning, a very popular section has been the Sisters Speak column, where a question is posed, and debated by readers writing in.[6] Artwork, especially for the cover, has been produced by members of the production group, but also by other Mormon women. Some issues have listed more than 40 volunteer staff in various roles.[11]

The periodical is sold on a subscription basis, in both print and online forms, and single issues from 2014 onwards can also be purchased (some earlier issues can be accessed free).[17] It has ranged in pagination from 16 to 40 pages.

Archive

A substantial digital archive of earlier Exponent II issues in scanned form is available, free of charge, online.[18] In addition, the longest-serving editor, Susan Paxman, deposited a set of records related to the periodical's workings from 1977 to 1990, with Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.[19]

Exponent II retreats

The Exponent II organization has conducted annual residential retreats in the eastern US since the 1980s, where members and others can debate issues and share experiences. The events are popular - sometimes selling out within a day - and often oversubscribed.[20][2]

Blog

With the blessing of the Exponent II editorial board, Caroline Kline, Jana Remy and Deborah Farmer established a related blog called The Exponent in January 2005.[21] In 2023 the blog was brought onto the main Exponent II website, thus fully integrating the blog as one of the three pillars of Exponent II.[22] More than two dozen writers regularly write for the blog, and it includes Relief Society lesson materials written from a Mormon feminist perspective.[23]

Other publications

The Exponent II organization has also produced, and sold, some supplementary items. These have included a coloring book with full page biographies of 25 Mormon women, "Illuminating Ladies,"[24] "Habits of Being: Mormon Women's Material Culture," a book of essays and poetry, with authors including Jana Riess, Linda Kimball and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich,[25] and a set of Mormon feminist stickers. Also sold is the book "All God's Critters Got a Place in the Choir" by Laurel Thatcher Ulich and Emma Lou Thayne.

Governance

Exponent II is overseen by its Board, led by a President, Vice-President and Treasurer,[26] and including the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, two representatives of the Blog and the Retreats Coordinator.[27] There is also a panel of Emeritus Board Members, including Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Judy Dushku.[26]

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Brooks, Joanna; Steenblik, Rachel Hunt; Wheelwright, Hannah (2015). Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 40. ISBN 9780190248055.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Mills, Alexa (September 28, 2014). "Mormon women celebrate 40 years of faith and feminism". Boston Globe. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Dredge, Nancy Tate (Summer 2016). "Key Turning Points in Exponent II's History". Dialogue: 135–142.
  4. 1 2 3 Sheldon, Carrel Hilton (Summer 1999). "Launching Exponent II". Exponent II. 22 (4). Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher (2020). ""For the Power is In Them": Leonard Arrington and the Founders of Exponent II". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 53 (1): 107–120. doi:10.5406/dialjmormthou.53.1.0107. S2CID 218924953.
  6. 1 2 3 Bushman, Claudia L. (2015). "Exponent II: Early Decisions". Dialogue. 49 (2): 129–134.
  7. ↑ Prince, Gregory (2016). Leonard Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. p. 238. ISBN 9781607814795.
  8. ↑ Dredge, Nancy Tate, ed. (Spring 2007). "So what do you think?" (Print (tabloid) and online). Exponent II. Arlington, MA: Exponent II, Inc. 28 (3): 40. ISSN 1094-7760. Retrieved May 14, 2020. our first online publication and the process through which you accessed it ... spread the good news of our new online format
  9. ↑ Stack, Peggy Fletcher (December 2, 2018). "Former Exponent II treasurer admits to stealing more than $100K from Mormon feminist magazine". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  10. ↑ Barlow, Rich (June 17, 2006), "A Feminist Look at the Mormon Faith", Boston Globe, archived from the original on November 21, 2017, retrieved July 8, 2014
  11. 1 2 Paxman, Susan, ed. (Fall 1984). "Instructions - Contributors (and separately, Poets)". Exponent II. 10 (3): 20. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  12. ↑ Arrington, Leonard J.; Bitton, Davis (1992) [1979]. The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-Day Saints (2nd ed.). Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-252-06236-0. Its content is marked by openness, ... recognition of problems ... discussion of possible solutions
  13. ↑ Allen, James B.; Walker, Ronald W.; Whittaker, David J. (2001). Mormon History. Urbana and Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 172. ISBN 9780252026195.
  14. ↑ "Editor". Exponent II.
  15. ↑ Curtis, Emily Clyde, Hickman, Aimee Evan (September 1, 2010). "Masthead / contents page" (PDF). Exponent II. 30 (2): 2. Retrieved May 12, 2020.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "Staff". Exponent II. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Shop". Exponent II. Exponent II, Inc. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Exponent II scans". Archive.org. Brigham Young University. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  19. ↑ Paxman, Susan. Susan Paxman Collection of Exponent II Records. Provo, Utah: L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University.
  20. ↑ "Retreat". Exponent II. Retrieved May 11, 2020. here have been years when this retreat has sold out in less than 24 hours
  21. ↑ R, Jana (2006). "The Exponent II blog begins!". The Exponent Blog. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Exponent Blog Migration".
  23. ↑ K, Caroline (2016). "Then Year Retrospective Series Begins". The Exponent Blog. wordpress. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  24. ↑ Fletcher, Peggy Stack (February 28, 2017). "Want to honor influential Mormon women? Grab some crayons". Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved May 14, 2020. It is produced and marketed by Boston-born Exponent II, a magazine by and for Mormon women
  25. ↑ "Review: Elizabeth Pinborough, editor, "Habits of Being: Mormon Women's Material Culture"". By Common Consent. May 31, 2012. Retrieved May 14, 2020. Editor: Elizabeth Pinborough Publisher: Exponent II Year: 2012 Pages: 113 (and data on sold-out, second printing)
  26. 1 2 "The Board". Exponent II. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  27. ↑ "Statement for Public Release Concerning Embezzlement from Exponent II". Exponent II. December 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
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