Editing Woman's Exponent (section)

==History==
The editor of the ''[[Salt Lake Herald]]'', Edward L. Sloan, originally intended to create a woman's column in the ''Herald'' itself. When the staff refused to support his idea, and having heard of the idea of a journal for women circulating in the Relief Society,<ref name="EoM_Exp_article"/> Sloan decided to start the ''Exponent'' as a separate publication.{{sfn|Watson|1991|p=166-167}} He recruited [[Lula Greene Richards|Louisa Lula Greene]] as editor, and she accepted the position after she secured the approval of her great-uncle,{{sfn|Bennion|1981|p=2}} [[Brigham Young]], the [[President of the Church (LDS Church)|president]] of the LDS Church,{{sfn|Bennion|1976|pp=224,237}} who assigned it to her as a mission.<ref name="EoM_Exp_article"/> Greene moved to Salt Lake City in April 1872, and originally worked from a room in the house of another great-uncle, but later moved to a purpose-built office with living quarters.<ref name="FirstFifty_WE"/> The first issue was published on June 1, 1872.{{sfn|Kohler|2016|p=154}}
[[File:Emmeline B. Wells Writing.jpg|alt=emmeline b wells writing at a desk|thumb|Emmeline B. Wells, second editor of the ''Woman's Exponent'']]

[[Emmeline B. Wells]], who would later become general president of the [[Relief Society]], joined Greene as co-editor in the 1 December 1875 issue. They are both listed as editors on page 100 of vol. 4 no. 13;{{sfn|Richards|Wells|1875}} The two worked together to edit the magazine until Greene decided to take some time for her family in July 1877. She is last listed as editor on page 28 of vol. 6 no. 4;{{sfn|Richards|Wells|1877}} Wells was later joined by her daughter, [[Elizabeth Anne Wells Cannon|Annie Wells Cannon]], as associate editor, in June 1905. Her name first appears on page 4 of vol. 34 no. 1.{{sfn|Wells|1905}} Both continued to serve as the publication's editors until it folded.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Suffrage and Relief Society|url=https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/latter-day-saint-womens-suffrage-research-guide/suffrage-and-relief-society|access-date=2020-08-20|website=history.churchofjesuschrist.org}}</ref>

The periodical faced increasing financial pressures from the late 1800s or early 1900s, and Wells unsuccessfully lobbied the Relief Society General Board to adopt the newspaper as its official publication. The paper was forced to close in February 1914.{{sfn|Madsen|2006}}<ref name="EoM_Exp_article"/> That month, ''[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]'' recorded that the ''Exponent'' was "to give way to what is hoped to be a larger and more modern [publication], but as yet nothing has been done."<ref>{{Cite news|date=1914-02-26|title=Woman's Exponent Out of Existence|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|url=https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/details?id=14463053&q=annie+cannon+wells+editor&sort=rel|access-date=2020-08-20}}</ref> The ''[[Relief Society Magazine]]'', a separate magazine and an official publication of the LDS Church, began in January 1915.<ref name="EoM_Exp_article" />