The Friend (LDS magazine): Difference between revisions

Some have traced the precedent for the friend to [[George Q. Cannon]]'s establishment of the ''Juvenile Instructor'' as a "first-class child's paper'' in January 1866.<ref>Gary Gillespie. ''The Friend'' in Arnold K. Garr etl. al, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saints History'', p. 401</ref> Over time though this periodical shifted to being under the organorganization of the [[Deseret Sunday School Union]] and sobecame more aimed at teachers than children.

The [[Primarychurch's (LDS Church)|Primary]] organization was [[Aurelia_Spencer_Rogers#Founding_the_Primary_Association|formed in 1878]].<ref>Church Educational System, Church History in the Fulness of Times, rev. ed., Salt Lake City: LDS Church, 1993, p. 410</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Benowitz|first=June Melby|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jm8tDwAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA474&dq=primary+lds+1878&hl=en|title=Encyclopedia of American Women and Religion, 2nd Edition [2 volumes]|date=2017-08-18|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-3987-0|language=en}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=relevance here unclear|date=September 2020}} In 1890, the Free Public School Act was passed by the [[Utah Territorial Assembly|Utah Territorial]], establishing schools in the territory. Funded by taxpayers, LDS Church doctrine could not be taught in the public schools, which concerned the Primary General President, [[Louie B. Felt|Louie Felt]], who said, "If there was a time when it was important to attend to the spiritual education of our children, it is now when so many of our little ones attend the district school, where religion is forbidden to be taught." [[May Anderson]], Secretarysecretary to the General Primary General Presidency, first suggested the idea for a periodical for children in 1893.<ref name="Oman">Oman, Susan Staker. ''[https://issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume49_1981_number3/s/133094 "Nurturing LDS Primaries: Louie Felt and May Anderson, 1880-1940."]'' [[Utah Historical Quarterly]], Volume 49, Number 3, Summer 1981.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Jenson|first=Andrew|title=[[Latter-day Saint biographical encyclopedia]]: A compilation of biographical sketches of prominent men and women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints|publisher=The Andrew Jenson Memorial Association (Printed by The Deseret News Press)|year=1936|isbn=1-58958-026-5|volume=4|location=Salt Lake City, Utah|pages=[http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/BYUIBooks,5639 271], [http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/BYUIBooks,5896 273]|authorlink=Andrew Jenson}}</ref> The Children's Friend was ultimately under control of the Primary Organizationorganization.<ref>Gary Gillespie. ''The Friend'' in Arnold K. Garr etl. al, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saints History'', p. 401</ref>

[[File:May Anderson and Louie Felt.gif|200px|thumb|left|Louie Felt (right), offered her home as collateral for the printing of the Children's Friend, and May Anderson (left), the magazine's first editor. ]]

By 1896, the Primary General Presidency began lobbying for its own publication, making several appeals to the [[First Presidency (LDS Church)|First Presidency]], but were denied because, "it was too great an undertaking."<ref name="Benson2019"/> In 1899, the Primary general board published ''the Primary Helper'', a booklet that sold for 15 cents, but it was unsuccessful and only ran for one volume. In 1901 received approval from, the First Presidency toapproved publishpublishing a magazine they called ''The Children's Friend'', with the stipulation that the LDS Church would not provide any financial assistance, and if it failed the Churchchurch would not pay the debts.<ref name=Benson2019 />

The men in the printing office discouraged Felt and Anderson from printing the magazine, one of them stating, "Don't do it. Don't do it. Magazines run by women always fail. Take my advice and drop the idea." In November 1901, an office building was secured and May Anderson became the first editor.<ref name=Benson2019 /> Felt put up her home as collateral and Anderson quit her job to work full time on Primary. The magazine was first published in January 1902, and was financially stable.<ref name="Oman" /> In the first issue, Felt wrote, "With feelings of intense joy, deep devotion and profound gratitude we introduce this little book. Hope and fear alternately plead for supremacy and we humbly ask that you will exercise charity and assist us by your faith and prayers."<ref name=Benson2019 />

InitiallyThe theirinitial print run was 2,000, andwith theyit increased it to 4,000 the following year.<ref name="Benson2019">{{cite journal |last1=Benson |first1=RoseAnn |title=Sarah Louisa Bouton Felt: Thousands Called Her Mother |journal=BYU Studies Quarterly |date=2019 |volume=58 |issue=1 |url=https://byustudies.byu.edu/content/sarah-louisa-bouton-felt-thousands-called-her-mother}}</ref> By 1906, after improvements to the magazine and sales representatives created in each ward, circulation increased to 20,000. In 1924, the magazine changed to a larger size, with two colors in the cover, and included picture and serial stories. In the 1940s, center pages featured cut-out crafts for children, and lessons for children were eliminated. By 1970, circulation was at 170,000.<ref name=Harward>{{cite web |last1=Harward |first1=Conrad |title=A History of the Growth and Development of the Primary Association of the LDS Church From 1878 to 1928 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/4772/ |publisher=Brigham Young University}}</ref>{{rp|234-236}} GeneralThe presidentsPrimary ofGeneral the PrimaryPresident often doubled as editorseditor forof ''The Children's Friend''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Bigelow|first=Christopher Kimball|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=031wDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT273&lpg=PT273&dq=the+friend+lds+magazine&source=bl&ots=JWNV_D74D3&sig=ACfU3U0Ia_TdDJSpvDnYydWc3Hpp_08V1w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiuhcm_7PDrAhVaV80KHd5uDEM4MhDoATAIegQIAxAB#v=onepage&q=the%20friend%20lds%20magazine&f=false|title=Latter-day Saint Family Encyclopedia|last2=Langford|first2=Jonathan|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2019|isbn=9781684127832|location=|pages=}}</ref>

''The Children's Friend'' changed its title to ''The Friend'' at the end of 1970.<ref>Arave, Lynn. [https://www.deseret.com/2008/1/24/20066191/lds-church-terms-no-longer-in-use "LDS Church terms no longer in use"], ''[[Deseret News]]'', 24 January 2008. Retrieved on 24 March 2020.</ref> ''The Friend'' has been published since January 1971.<ref>Hansen, Ralph W. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/45227712 "Among the Mormons: A Survey of Current Literature."] ''Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought''. Winter 1970, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Winter 1970), pp. 113-120. University of Illinois Press.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Pugmire|first=Genelle|date=March 27, 2016|title=Mischievous boys set stage for creation of the LDS Primary|url=https://www.heraldextra.com/special-section/lds/spring2016/mischievous-boys-set-stage-for-creation-of-the-lds-primary/article_f5314c54-c9f8-5561-a95a-b4d91379e3c2.html|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-17|website=Daily Herald|language=en}}</ref> The First Presidency and [[Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church)|Quorum of the Twelve Apostles]] of the LDS Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began to oversee the magazine that year. Contents included "illustrated stories, quotes and messages from Churchchurch [[Generalgeneral Authoritiesauthorities]], recipes, games, activities, suggestions for [[Family Home Evening]], gospel art, and so on."<ref name=":1" /> This change also made The Friend an official organvehicle for the communication of the Churchchurch to its members.<ref>Gary Gillespie. ''The Friend'' in Arnold K. Garr etl. al, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saints History'', p. 401</ref>

[[Gordon B. Hinckley]], then a member of the quorumQuorum of the 12Twelve, explained in an article in the December ''Improvement Era'' some of the reasoning behind the change of the name of the articlechange. He wrote "The name of the magazine will ... simply be the ''Friend'', dropping the word ''Children's'', because when some youngsters get to be ten and eleven years of age, they think they are no longer children. But they still need a Friend''.<ref>Hinckley, Gordon B. "A Friend for Every Child." ''Improvement Era'' 73 (December 1970): p. 97-98. quoted in Gary Gillespie. ''The Friend'' in Arnold K. Garr etl. al, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saints History'', p. 401-402</ref>

In 2012, the magazine's contents were described by the ''[[Deseret News]]'': "''The Friend'' magazine has incorporated scriptures throughout the magazine. Each article is based on a scripture, includes different stories about Jesus and a poster is found each month titled 'Bright Ideas' that has an easy scripture for children to memorize."<ref>Petersen, Sarah. [https://www.deseret.com/2012/10/18/20508294/interactive-scripture-games-apps-for-kids#reading-the-scriptures-can-be-difficult-and-discouraging-for-famillies-with-young-kids-but-the-messages-found-in-the-scriptures-are-relevant-for-all-ages "Interactive scripture games, apps for kids"], ''[[Deseret News]]'', 18 October 2012. Retrieved on 24 March 2020.</ref> ''[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]'' criticized a 2013 article about the mothers of [[President of the Church (LDS ProphetsChurch)|LDS prophetsChurch presidents]] published in ''The Friend'' for not including the mothers' names of the mothers.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Stack|first=Peggy Fletcher|date=2013-05-06|title=Something's missing from story on Mormon prophets' moms|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=26607684&itype=storyID|url-status=live|access-date=2020-09-17}}</ref> In 2015, its circulation was estimated to be 275,000.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sambuchino|first=Chuck|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TiFjDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT408&lpg=PT408&dq=the+friend+lds+magazine&source=bl&ots=5NcMwVru5o&sig=ACfU3U1UhA96WI4iIZtH8YhnY4HNqXGFAQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiosuzW7PDrAhVaGs0KHfnQCz84PBDoATACegQIARAB#v=onepage&q=the%20friend%20lds%20magazine&f=false|title=2015 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market: The Most Trusted Guide to Getting Published|last2=Underdown|first2=Harold|publisher=Penguin|year=2014|isbn=9781599638669|location=|pages=}}</ref> That same year, the magazine ran an initiative where children sent in paper cutouts of their hands with an act of service they performed written on them;<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cannon|first=Austin|date=2015-05-20|title=The Church Is Asking Kids Everywhere to Help With This Fun Service Project|url=https://www.lds.org/church/news/friend-campaign-invites-children-to-give-us-a-hand?cid=HP_TU_5-12-2015_dCN_fCNWS_xLIDyL2-3_&lang=eng|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-17|website=LDS Living}}</ref> over 30,000 of these "helping hands" were received from children worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Thanks for Your Helping Hands!|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/friend/2015/11/thanks-for-your-helping-hands?lang=eng|access-date=2020-09-17|website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>

In 2016, the magazine's article "Savannah the Engineer," about a young girl who enters a battery-powered-car-designing contest, was viewed by one LDS [[Feminism|feminist]] as one of several instances of increasing gender equality in LDS Church-affiliated organizations.<ref>Stack, Peggy Fletcher. [https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3495658&itype=CMSID "Mormon feminists score small gains — in word, in song, in lessons, and, they hope, in life"], ''[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]'', 9 February 2016. Retrieved on 24 March 2020.</ref>

AtAs part of a panel at the [[UNICEF]] Humanitarian Action for Children panel in December 2019, [[Joy D. Jones]] mentioned that ''The Friend'' would publish articles for children about "safe health practice, including hand washing, mosquito nets, removal of standing water, immunizations, exercise, and nutrition" the following year.<ref>{{Cite AV media|url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/primary-general-president-speaks-un-geneva|title=UNICEF Humanitarian Action for Children|date=|last=|first=|type=Video|language=English|publisher=UNICEF|year=2019|time=24:35}}</ref> In August 2020, itthe waschurch announced that beginning in January 2021, ''The Friend'' would change from being published only in English to being published in a total of 23 languages every month, with another 24 language editions published bimonthly.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Walker|first=Colby|date=2020-08-14|title=Church moves to three international magazines starting in 2021|url=https://kslnewsradio.com/1931290/church-moves-to-three-international-magazines-starting-in-2021/?|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-17|website=KSLNewsRadio}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Stauffer|first=McKenzie|date=2020-08-14|title=LDS Church to replace 'Ensign,' 'New Era' with global magazines|url=https://kutv.com/news/local/lds-church-to-replace-ensign-new-era-with-global-magazines|access-date=2020-09-17|website=KUTV}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Means|first=Sean P.|date=2020-08-14|title=LDS Church phasing out Ensign, its 50-year-old magazine, for new global publications|url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/08/14/lds-church-phasing-out/|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-09-17|website=The Salt Lake Tribune|language=en-US}}</ref>