Louisa Lula Greene Richards (April 8, 1849 – September 9, 1944)[1] was a poet and was the first female periodical editor in
Utah Territory. Richards's work was published under a variety of names, including Louisa L. Greene, Louise L. Green, Lula Green, and Lula G. Richards. She was a member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).
Early life and education
Louisa Lula Greene was born in
Kanesville, Iowa, to Evan M. Greene (a son of
John P. Greene) and Susan Kent.[1] Lula was the eighth of their thirteen children.[2] She was born during an outbreak of
cholera. Throughout her life, she was a member of the LDS Church.[1] Both of her grandmothers were sisters to LDS Church
presidentBrigham Young. Her family moved to Kanesville in 1846.[2] In 1852, they moved to
Salt Lake City,
Utah Territory, after Young evacuated Kanesville.[1] Greened later lived in
Provo, and her family moved to
Grantsville in 1859, and they moved again to and
Smithfield in 1864.[2]
Greene began writing poetry as a young girl and there is evidence that she wrote poetry at age fourteen.[2] From 1868 to 1869, Greene attended a private school in Salt Lake City.[2] When Greene was 18, she and her sister began a small school in
Cache County, Utah; however, Greene lacked patience with her students and did not have formal training. In 1869, she returned to school[1] at the
University of Deseret in Salt Lake City.[2]
Career
In 1869, Greene was the editor of the Smithfield Sunday School Gazette, a small periodical issued to individuals who attended the LDS Church
Sunday School in Smithfield for six issues from October to November.[2] However, in 1871, she was required to return to Smithfield due to a family illness. Lacking the money she needed for the trip, Greene submitted a poem to the Salt Lake Daily Herald and asked editor
Edward L. Sloan to buy it for $7.50, which was the amount of money she needed to return home. Sloan agreed, and her poem "Tired Out" was published on the front page of the Daily Herald.[2]
Sloan soon contacted Greene in 1872 and asked her if she would be interested in being the editor of a newspaper for Latter-day Saint women called Woman's Exponent. Greene conferred with general
Relief Society president
Eliza R. Snow, and after receiving her blessing and the approval of Brigham Young, Greene accepted Sloan's offer.[1] In 1872, Women's Exponent began publication in Salt Lake City with Greene as editor. Her name was printed as "L. L. Greene" in the first issue, but due to letters to the editor that assumed she was male, she changed her name to "Louise L. Greene" in subsequent issues. Greene edited the periodical until she was succeeded in 1877 by
Emmeline B. Wells, who edited until Women's Exponent was discontinued in 1914. Greene requested to leave her position there due to responsibilities at home and to her family.[2] However, she continued to contribute to the Exponent and other church publications.[3]
In 1873, Greene married Levi Willard Richards, the son of
Levi Richards and a nephew of church leader
Willard Richards. Levi served in many positions in the LDS Church, including as a member of the general board of the
Sunday School and as a
patriarch.[2] Lula and Levi had seven children, four of whom lived to adulthood. One of their children was the artist
Lee Greene Richards.[4][2]
Her husband, Levi, took a
plural wife, Persis Louisa Young, who was Greene's niece. They were married on the eleventh anniversary of Lula and Levi's wedding. Persis stayed at the Richards' household and helped with chores. Levi died in 1914.[1]
Richards continued to be an active member of the LDS Church. She helped with the
Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association and the
Relief Society. She was also called by the church to be a member of the General Board of the
Primary, a position she held for twenty-five years.[9] She worked in the
Salt Lake Temple from its dedication in 1893 until 1934. She continued writing until her death. Richards died on September 9, 1944,[1] in Salt Lake City.[9]
Publications
Poetry
Howe, Susan Elizabeth; Bench, Sheree Maxwell, eds. (1890). "An Apology". Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems by Mormon Women. Salt Lake City, Utah: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History/Association for Mormon Letters (published 2004).
OCLC55622597.
Howe, Susan Elizabeth; Bench, Sheree Maxwell, eds. (1890).
"On My Fourteenth Birthday". Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems by Mormon Women. Salt Lake City, Utah: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History/Association for Mormon Letters (published 2004).
OCLC55622597.
"Our Work and Our Wealth". The Children's Friend. 1 (1): 1. January 1902.
"Our Baby". The Children's Friend. 1 (2): 57–58. February 1902.
"Our Hero Washington". The Children's Friend. 1 (2): 61. February 1902.
"Angel Guides". The Children's Friend. 1 (6): 192–193. June 1902.
"Thou Shalt Not Take the Name of the Lord Thy God in Vain". The Children's Friend. 1 (7): 245–247. July 1902.
"Sacrifice". The Children's Friend. 1 (9): 308–309. September 1902. [1]
Canon, Annie Wells, ed. (1941). "Apostrophe". Our legacy: Relief Society centennial anthology of verse by Latter-day Saint women, 1835-1942. Salt Lake City, Utah: General Board of Relief Society.
OCLC4262352.
Canon, Annie Wells, ed. (1941). "The Sego Lily". Our legacy: Relief Society centennial anthology of verse by Latter-day Saint women, 1835-1942. Salt Lake City, Utah: General Board of Relief Society.
OCLC4262352.
Canon, Annie Wells, ed. (1941). "Thank God". Our legacy: Relief Society centennial anthology of verse by Latter-day Saint women, 1835-1942. Salt Lake City, Utah: General Board of Relief Society.
OCLC4262352.
^Richards, L. Lula Greene (November 1921).
"Father and Son". Improvement Era. 25 (1). Salt Lake City: General Board of Y.M.M.I.A.: 243. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
^Richards, L. Lula Greene (1922).
"Mother and Daughter". Young Woman's Journal. 33: 250. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
^Richards, L. Lula Greene Richards (1912).
"New Year's Records". The Children's Friend. 11. Salt Lake City, Utah: Primary Association: 645. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
^Richards, L. Lula Greene (January 1916).
"A Sure Defense". The Relief Society Magazine. 3. LDS Church: 546. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
^
ab"Louisa Lula Greene Richards". The First Fifty Years of Relief Society. The Church Historian's Press. Retrieved May 31, 2016.