Susa Young Gates notebook

Susa Young Gates (1856-1933)

L. Tom Perry Special Collections is pleased to announce the availability of a new digitized item: Susa Young Gates notebook (MSS SC 820). This is a holograph original of the piece “A Grateful Mother’s Standpoint” given to her, as she believed, by inspiration. The story deals with the biblical Rachel and her life in polygamy. She alludes to the then current state of polygamous families and the persecution faced by the Mormon community.

Susa Young Gates, a daughter of Brigham Young, was the author of a dozen books, the founder of many regional and national women’s organizations, editor, poetess, musician, woman suffragette, and the mother of 13 children. She founded and edited the “Young Women’s Journal” and the “Relief Society Magazine.” She organized the music and domestic science departments at Brigham Young University and was a board member for many years. She is best known for her biography of her father, Brigham Young. Gates was a regular contributor to the “Woman’s Exponent” in which this piece appeared in the Christmas issue in 1899 (page 86).